I can’t say this better than Seth Godin did:
“We Have Limits…
There are challenges, limited resources, people or organisations working against you. Your knee hurts, the boss is a jerk, the systems are down.
We Have Opportunities…
There are opportunities, new sources of leverage and ideas just waiting to be embraced. You can share something, give something, make something better.
There Are Always Limits, And There Are Always Opportunities…
The ones we rehearse and focus on are the ones that shape our attitude and our actions.
How many times a day do you think about or announce the limits you face, the people who cannot be trusted, the problems that are weighing you down?
The Problem with Problems…
…is that they always keep us from focusing on opportunities, on a chance to contribute and to make something better.
Focusing on our opportunities doesn’t mean the problems don’t exist, it merely means that we are far more likely to do something that matters.
Gratitude and opportunity create more of the same.”
Your Action Plan
And so, now that you think about it, where are your opportunities to:
- Refine your thinking?
- Create a new approach?
- Share something with someone?
- Appreciate, even the little things in your life?
- Gift someone something they don’t know they need?
- Make something better?
This really is an astute, pragmatic fix. Just a small shift in what you focus on brings about many more opportunities for you to be more effective and support others in doing so too.
I think you’ll find several fresh opportunities—if you look for them 
.
Your next Leadership Bulletin will appear in your inbox on 21 January 2015. Meanwhile, all the very best for Christmas, New Year and the holiday season.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Stevens has worked with leaders for more than 25-years—hundreds of them.
She’s supported leader after leader (including those who previously struggled to confront the difficult, let alone persuasively deal with the it) flourish—and become confident, courageous and impressively influential.
Carolyn is authentic and results-oriented. She draws on an eclectic array of approaches, tools and techniques to suit the situation.
