Clean Out Your Ears
Turn Up Your Hearing Aid Because
Opportunity Still Knocks!
The Way We Define Ourselves Can Deafen Us To Opportunity’s Knock
Back in the 1990’s, one of the great question debated by legal scholars, journalist, politicians and stand up comics was, “what is the definition of ‘is’?” Most of us remember where that came from, don’t we? The point was that whether certain acts (according to certain attorney’s) actually took place depended on how one defined “is”. Supporters of the individual whose actions or non-actions (depending on your definition of “is”) triggered the debate became deaf to the charges because their definition of “is” was different from those who weren’t supporters.
Two sales people, selling the same product drive down the same street. They both see a business that has just opened. One drives by saying, “I’ll send them a letter, I don’t make cold calls anymore.” The other makes a U-turn, pulls in and introduces herself. The first sales persons letter arrived…two days after the one who made the cold call wrote an order for $50,000. How we define ourselves deafens us to everyday opportunities.
And it’s not just how we define ourselves. Some people have allowed other people to define them. Parents, teachers and peers sometimes program self-defeating definitions of a person’s abilities into them…definitions that limit their capacity for success, blunt their to grow professionally, and stymie their attempts to set and achieve goals.
So, right now, resolve to identify those definitions of yourself (whether self created or programmed into you by others) and begin redefining yourself. Make an honest appraisal of your abilities—then raise it 10%. Focus on redefining yourself in light of that honest appraisal, set new goals and be alert for the knocking of exciting, new opportunities.
The Experiences We’ve Had Can Deafen Us To Opportunity’s Knock
My Uncle Jess ran one of the big saws in a sawmill in Huttig, Arkansas for so long that his hearing deteriorated. Specialists determined that while the noise level of the workplace had caused some damage to the ear, his hearing loose was mainly due to the amount of fine sawdust particles that managed to get into his ear canal. Over time this hardened and formed a barrier to normal sound. After several treatments to remove years of accumulated sawdust, he regained almost 50% of his hearing. The daily experience of working in a sawmill during the 50’s and 60’s deafened him.
Now, you may not work in a sawmill, but the daily particles of the sawdust that is created in your profession have a way of penetrating the ear canal of the mind and settling in the subconscious, often deafening us to opportunities. We’ve all experienced career setbacks, disappointments on the outcome of projects and even what we might consider outright failures. Unless we clean out our “subconscious “mental ears” these incidents can form barriers to our ability to clearly hear opportunity knocking.
How, you might ask can we “clean out” the sawdust of experience? One good way is to take an inventory of your “successes” and periodically go over them. Take time to relive the thrill you felt when you experienced a difficult project coming together. The sense of accomplishment you had when you received a promotions or an award. Reminding yourself of your “successes” is like washing out your ears—and you become less likely to turn a deaf ear to the challenges inherent in new opportunities.
The Alliances We Form Can Deafen Us To Opportunity’s Knock
Last week (July 25, 2007), I read the synopsis of a research study that seemed to indicate that obesity was catching! The thesis was based on the fact that people who were overweight tended to have friends and peers who were overweight. It went on to say that thin people who became close friends of overweight people began to gain weight. One of the theories for these findings was that people tend to define themselves and what is acceptable by the attitudes and mores of their associates. Thus, they become deaf to the dangers of obesity in order to conform to the peer group, whose opinion they value.
Over the years, I’ve written hundreds of words in Monday Morning about the type of individuals we select as our peers. It is human nature to want to be accepted by those whose friendship we want to cultivate or maintain. Too often, we absorb their values and conform to their attitudes (allowing them to define us) rather than being true to ourselves. Negative, spiteful, petty, and sometimes jealous peers can cause us to become deaf to opportunities by their unenthusiastic response to ideas, their defeatist outlooks and sometimes outright attempts to discourage us.
Does this mean we need to abandon our old friends and become “Lone Rangers?” Not at all. It means we need to seek out new relationships with people who are visionary, who are upbeat and who stimulate us to become the best person we can become.
The Fears We Feed Can Deafen Us To Opportunity’s Knock
We are the sum total, according to William James, father of modern psychology of the thoughts we’ve been thinking all of our lives. The definitions we have labeled ourselves with, the experiences we dwell on, the people we associate with influence that thinking. When our definitions, thinking and influence of our peers is continually lacking vision, full of failures and setbacks we plant, water and cultivate irrational fears that, like an avalanche roaring down a mountain blocks out our ability to hear anything but impending danger.
During the War-Between-The-States, a Confederate general outlined a bold battle plan. One of his young officers became agitated as he saw all the things that could go wrong during this daring raid. In spite of his best efforts, the general could not get the young man to hear the upside of the plan. The young officer argued his case, always beginning his point with “General, I fear this (this or that can happen)…” Finally, the general looked into his eyes and said, “Son, never give counsel to your fears!”
Have a GREAT and profitable Week
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com
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