WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET!

What you see is what you get!

Many business owners out there suffer from endless Groundhog Days.  It seems no matter what they do, the same things happen with their businesses and lives, day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out. 

Perhaps it’s they have the same conversation with their staff over and over again, or perhaps their head office does that same thing they do every month and it just gets so exhausting.



Nobody wants to experience the same thing every day, especially the same problems.  It’s boring, tiring and frustrating!  Everybody dreams of being happy, fulfilled and successful.  But when someone has faced the same problem 100 times, how could it possibly be any different tomorrow?

Behaviour change can be seen as a 2-step process.

1. Create awareness.
2. Practice something different.

In this series I invite you to generate some new awarenesses and try practicing something new.

This week let’s consider Perception and how it can be changed.

Try this.

Imagine you are an Interior Designer.  Look around the room.  What do you notice?

Probably the colours, the fabrics, the materials, the layout and flow, the lighting, the decorations.

Now imagine you are a Thief!  What do you see?

Likely you see the good stuff, the jewelry, the money, and the exits!

This little exercise should demonstrate a couple of things to you:

1. Your role in the world defines what you see and what you’re looking for.
2. What you see influences your mental and emotional state of being.
3. How you see the world is completely within your control.

So how can this be applied at work and in your life?

Consider an employee, friend, child or spouse that you are frustrated with.  If you meet them while you are frustrated, what will you see when you talk with them?

Probably the things that frustrate you.

And what if you imagine you are somebody else for a change?  Imagine you are their best and most supportive friend—how would you behave differently?

Or what if you thought of them as yourself as their servant and asked, “how can I serve you?”

Do you think there will be any change in the outcome of your next conversation with them?

What did you just become aware of?

This week why not take on these practices?

1. What other ways do you know to change your state of being?  Exercise?  Going to the forest?  Changing your body position?
2. Begin with the end in mind—imagine the result you’d like from an interaction or experience.  What state of being would facilitate that experience?
3. Watch this TED Talk by Amy Cuddy entitled Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

Report back and leave your comments below!

And what other questions about your problems, goals and challenges do you have?  Send them in and I’ll answer them!