Escape from an Uncomfortable Circumstance By Focusing on Solutions

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Theodore Roosevelt

When does an inspiration transform from a dream to a goal? Why does someone decide to work toward one goal, but not another? What is the difference between making the choice to take action or not?

Some people prefer to stay within their comfort zone and primarily take action on goals with favorable odds. Others like a challenge and want to see how far they can push themselves. The feeling of accomplishment is directly correlated to the difficulty of reaching a goal. The greater the challenge, the greater the payoff and feeling of success.

Consider the dreams you have for growing your business. Explore the strategies which have worked and compare them to the ideas that appeared to be a good idea, but never panned out. How did your perception affect the outcome of success?

Choosing your focus as you work toward your goal affects the perception of difficulty. When you focus on all of the reasons something will not work then you have already predetermined the outcome without even giving it a chance. Negative thoughts foster negative emotions. This affects your perception and the action you take.

Being caught in an uncomfortable situation and feeling desperate about the circumstances is like being in quicksand. Think about it. If you ever fell into quicksand, the natural reaction would be to fight your way out of it. You don't want to get sucked into it and drown. You know you are in a dangerous situation, a place you don't want to be, and you are reactive. In school they teach you that if you ever are caught in quicksand to actually relax. For me, that would be counterintuitive.

On the other hand, the quicksand analogy applies to all uncomfortable circumstances. When you become reactive and focus on the fact that you need to escape as quickly as possible, you are focused on the problem and are reactive. All senses are tuned into the discomfort of the situation at hand. When you accept the fact that you are in an uncomfortable situation, you have a chance to relax. Once you begin to relax you might see opportunities that you were not able to see when feeling anxious. This change in perception contributes to solutions and possible positive outcome.

Think about relaxing in quicksand. Of course the goal will be to get out of the quicksand. Once you relax you buy yourself time because you have stopped fighting the circumstance and might see options that you were unable to see when in a panic. The chances of survival increase because you are now going with the flow instead of being resistant to the circumstances.

Activity: List 5 activities you have avoided because of discomfort. Write the reasons why you have avoided them. Then list one way you might be able to approach this activity differently. If you cannot do that, then ask someone else for suggestions. The goal is not to change the activity, but how you perceive it.