Friday, September 23, 2011

Facing Your World Everyday

A massive tidal wave of catastrophic and epic proportion heads towards the shore.
First surfer: We are going to die!
Second surfer: Run!
Third surfer: I’ll be an idiot to miss this Big One. Surf’s up!

What’s the colour of your sunglasses? Let’s backtrack a few steps: Do you think it will be sunny tomorrow? If you take the half-full approach of optimism, then it may be sunnier than it is. Perhaps a lemonade-stand, entrepreneur, born in primary school said: ‘If life deals you lemons, make lemonade!’ A used-car salesperson turned lemons into the pre-owned car business. One-armed female surfer, Bethany Hamilton returns to competition and ranks well as a professional. 
Richard Bolles wrote ‘What Colour Is Your Parachute?’ – an analogy for your career. The aforementioned tale about the three surfers, relate to our body’s instinctive approach to fear: fright, flight and fight. Edward De Bono proposed his thesis on critical thinking called ‘Six Thinking Hats’. I met a female taxi-driver on Sunday, en route to my 10K race and she wore a leather cowboy hat; she happily shared that she did not do line-dancing, but her prominent hat kept the sunlight out of her face. Interesting! Here are some ways to wear your daily ‘hat’ and face the world with a renewed attitude:

1)    Make plans.
2)    Set goals.
3)    Explore something new.
4)    Express your uniqueness.
5)    Filter out the bad bits.
6)    Enjoy moments in the day.
7)    Relish small gains.

Leadership Lessons: How do you face each day with a sense of purpose? How do you put a spin on each seemingly ordinary day? What is your analogy for keeping you grounded, yet be in the sunlight?

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