Your Situation May be Better Than You Think

There’s the story of Houdini who swore he would escape from a locked prison cell in seven minutes. He was duly closed into the cell and everyone left, whereupon he removed the key he had hidden in his clothes and proceed to try to unlock the door. Fifteen minutes later, he was exhausted – he simply couldn’t unlock the door. Sweating and frustrated, he leaned against the door, and it swung open. You see, it had never been locked! You can’t unlock an unlocked door.

Often, we believe we have an insurmountable problem because we’re looking at the situation from the wrong perspective. A positive attitude and the help of someone else can often change everything – it’s all in your head.

Then there’s the story about the man who checks into a hotel for the first time in his life, and goes up to his room. Five minutes later he calls the reception desk and complains, “You’ve given me a room with no exit. How do I get out of here?” The desk clerk replies, “Sir, that’s absurd. Have you looked for the door?” The man says, “Well, there’s one door that leads to the bathroom. There’s a second door that goes into the closet. And there’s a door I haven’t tried, but it has a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.”

It’s all about the stories we tell ourselves about our circumstances, isn’t it? Perception is reality. Business owners should heed what the great Peter Drucker had to say: “Businesses once grew by one of two ways; grass roots up, or by acquisition… Today businesses grow through alliances – all kinds of alliances. Joint ventures and customer partnerings which, by the way, very few people understand.”

Finally, this story speaks for itself: One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The farmer frantically thought what to do as the stricken animal cried out to be rescued. With no obvious solution, the farmer regretfully concluded that as the donkey was old, and since the well needed to be filled in anyway, he should give up the idea of rescuing the beast, and simply fill in the well. Hopefully the poor animal would not suffer too much, he tried to persuade himself.

The farmer asked his neighbours help, and before long they all began to shovel earth quickly into the well. When the donkey realized what was happening he wailed and struggled, but then, to everyone’s relief, the noise stopped. After a while the farmer looked down into the well and was astonished by what he saw. The donkey was still alive, and progressing towards the top of the well. The donkey had discovered that by shaking off the dirt instead of letting it cover him, he could keep stepping on top of the earth as the level rose. Soon the donkey was able to step up over the edge of the well, and he happily trotted off.

Life tends to shovel dirt on top of each of us from time to time. The trick is to shake it off and take a step up.

So, instead of quitting or beating a dead horse, perhaps it’s time to get the opinion of a good mentor or coach to help you see a huge range of potential solutions to what otherwise might have seemed an impossible situation.