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What's Wrong With What's Wrong?
There's nothing like a good old fashioned case of the flu to throw a person into a state of reflection. Reflection about what else is wrong in one's life, and that pretty quickly can be extrapolated to what all is wrong in the world, which is darned near everything if we believe what we hear, read, and see on the news.
Yes, a little case of the flu was all it took this week to tilt my glass to half empty and draining.
Have you noticed that we don't go around asking each other "hey, what's right?" We're way more apt to ask each other, "what's wrong?"
And when we have those little 1-1 meetings with ourselves, we are also not inclined to ask ourselves, "What's Right?" We are more likely to be asking ourselves "What's wrong here?" And, that can pretty quickly lead to "who's wrong." And, where does that leave us? Waiting? Worrying?
Please don't take my word for it. If you pay attention to your attention, you will easily notice what channel you're tuned into at any given moment. The "What's Wrong" channel or the "What's Right" channel.
So, what's wrong with what's wrong? Well, nothing really. If it truly helps us to identify a problem, figure out what's causing it, and take action to solve it, then it's a good thing! That would make one less problem in the world. It's only when we identify problems, and then get busy worrying about them, somehow thinking that worrying and complaining will result in a solution. This very quickly leads to a glass half full....or worse, a glass that is draining your energy and the energy of those around you.
Since we were both ailing with the flu this past week, Husband Hank and I recognized our pitiful trend, and decided to take a few minutes and run a little experiment. We decided to brainstorm all the things that were wrong or seemed wrong at the moment. We came up with 7. Then we decided to brainstorm all the things that were good or seemed right at the moment, and we came up with 28. And Voila! In just five minutes, we identified 4 times more right than wrong things. Were we ever relieved. And grateful!
So, do we just ignore the problems? The things that seem "wrong" to us? That would be denial, and we're pretty sure that only works for a while, if at all. We are merely suggesting that it may pay to invest a little attention on a regular basis to those things that are right, as well. Focusing on what was right worked better than mega-doses of Vitamin C for us, as we immediately began to get our energy back to handle the rest.
Your Coaching Challenge for the week follows, should you choose to accept it:
1. Begin to ask yourself and others, "Hey, What's Right about x situation or y situation?" "What's working well?" "What are we most proud of here?" And, stand by for some great input and positive energy.
2. Run your own experiment. Take 5 minutes and identify all the things that are wrong about x or y. Then identify all the things that are right. Enjoy!!!
We'll see you on-line next Monday! Wishing you Your Best Week Yet!
Cheers! Coach Jeanne
The Quality Coach!®, Celebrating over 20 Years of Coaching Great Leaders & Teams.
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