Finding a Simpler Way
What if there was a simple fix to achieving your resolution… or being your best… or to more success?
While things like persistence, commitment and purpose clearly top the list of what you need to be successful; this year I had another thought. While I can't say for certain, but what if the fix to a successful resolution came simply from a transformation in perspective?
Think for a moment about your growth as a person. Some aspects of your personal growth have been incremental (your height) while other aspects (an intimate relationship) were transformational. Doing more of the same (or less of the same) produces incremental change and while it does change things, the changes are pale in comparison to the changes that come with transformations.
We know caterpillars don’t grow into bigger caterpillars, they transform into butterflies. Hen’s eggs don’t grow into bigger eggs, they transform into chickens. I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced that as I’ve aged I’m less open to transformations in perspective. I’m more firmly rooted in my beliefs and traditional ways of doing things. On the other hand, it’s not uncommon to hear, that after experiencing a tragic life event… a major loss, a health challenge, or maybe a close call, that people step back to look at things differently and transform their lives.
One of my earliest recollections of a transformation was 30 years ago studying electrical engineering as we mathematically modelled Alternating Current electricity. It was very complex... the waveform was continuously changing and even its rate of change was continuously changing. Mathematicians created trigonometry to make the analysis simpler. But using trig seemed to make it even more challenging. Then our professors taught us the power of looking at things differently. Instead of analyzing AC electricity using "time" as the independent variable, we used “frequency”.
Without getting into what all the independent variables mean, the net result when we did this was that the complex ever-changing waveform turned into a single straight line... on a graph, it was represented as an arrow standing on end. As a result... engineering problems became extremely simple to analyze and manipulate. Simplicity was made possible not because we were any smarter, nor more persistent nor more committed. It became simple because we changed our perspective (Sorry for the obscure example, but this is basically what transformed Morse Code into TV and then into the internet).
You can bring about your own transformation without having to wait for tragedy to strike. One of the simplest and most effective ways to induce a transformation in yourself or in your people is to simply develop a more grateful mindset.
Similar to what we learned about electricity, the grateful mindset transforms how you experience life. Gratitude shifts looking at life from a series of positive or negative events and activities (that experience over time) to an always present realization of goodness and growth (the way you tune into a radio station at a specific frequency). Transforming to a grateful mindset is remarkably similar to how we shifted our engineering analysis of AC electricity.
Gratitude - resist letting the simplicity of it leave you underestimating the power of it
You can reap the benefits of transformations in every aspect of your business too. For example in sales, while doing more sales calls will lead to more sales, the increase will be incremental. But if you want a transformation in sales then your sales people need to be transformed… perhaps by finding purpose and meaning in their work, or realizing they are helping their customers achieve their dreams. This transformation of mindset is what transforms behaviour and transforms results. Which brings us back to gratitude.
Teaching and encouraging gratitude is one of the surest ways to give your people a perspective that will transform their behaviour and ultimately their lives. If you were to implement just one gratitude strategy, then do this… begin each day by writing down three things you’re grateful for. And teach this to your people. This simple gratitude practice has been proven over and over again in study after study to significantly improve well-being (and at the same time move the gratitude practitioner towards their goals).
Give it a try. You’ll be amazed at the results.
