3 Subtle Ways To Shift Your Attitude From Can't-Do To
Can-Do
There's
a whole lot more that can be done than can't be done--especially if you learn
how to say it, solve it, and celebrate it.
A friend of mine recently came back
from a trip to Australia, where he simply marveled at the predominant “can-do”
attitude that existed throughout the country. His enthusiasm was shocking to me
only in that as I reflected on the last year, I realized how many people I had
encountered who were obsessed with what could not be done in today’s world.
It seems that globalism, technology,
and political gridlock have convinced many Americans that the change brought on
by each is making it impossible to do anything. This obsession with explaining
why things can’t happen seems so antithetical to everything that America and
our entrepreneurial spirit are founded on that I, for one, am sick of it. So I
suggest we all take on a resolution to dream a little bigger this year.
I know how challenging the world is
today. It is a very complex and dynamic place where there seem to be more
problems than answers. But therein lies the hope. I, too, have fallen victim to
obsessing about the complexities making things more difficult to navigate, but
it’s always good to take a step back and remember that no dream is achieved if
it’s not first spoken of in the light of day. So a few suggestions for anyone
who’s also tired of hearing about what can’t be done:
1. Pick one thing you want to
accomplish this year and tell everyone you work with or are close to what it
is. It’s amazing how motivated you will
be to get it done once you’ve said it out loud. For example, I recently created
and filled the role of president for the agency. To ensure that she would be
successful, and I wouldn’t lapse into doing things that for 20 years have been
my entrepreneurial duty, I had a companywide meeting where I outlined her new
leadership responsibilities. After such a public declaration, there is no
backsliding for me now--and so far it’s been a home run for all.
2. Any time you or someone you are
with identifies a problem, do not end the conversation without proposing some
fragment of a solution. This is
harder to do than you realize. I was recently in a meeting where we were all
happily complaining about how utterly impossible the marketing problem we were
wrestling was to solve. So I suggested that if we came up with a hypothesis by
happy hour, drinks were on me. Lo and behold, we came up with three. Shocking.
3. Spend more time celebrating and
acknowledging accomplishments, big and small, that both you and the people
around you achieve. This reminder of a can-do spirit
can be infectious and highly motivating. At every VIA holiday party we give out
the VIA Way awards, which are granite stones engraved with the VIA logo (long
story, but it has a meaning). You would think that getting a rock wouldn’t be
very exciting, but I promise you, people value these awards like they had just
received an Oscar. When the winners are announced they get a sincere, explosive
standing ovation from the entire agency because their recognition is the
embodiment of what we struggle every day to deliver--dreams. Everyone wants
more of that feeling, so it drives us throughout the year.
These three simple steps of saying
it, solving it, and celebrating it can be the best fertilizer to make things
grow. Yes, the world is a complicated place, for sure. But people who are
willing to dream a little bigger will wake up with smiles on their faces.
By
John Coleman http://www.fastcompany.com/3004695/3-subtle-ways-shift-your-attitude-cant-do-can-do?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=linkedin
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