Optimism & Staying focused
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Back on the 31st of Jan, I wrote about in Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face and promised I'd elaborate on optimism and staying focused on finding the next challenge.
How can you do this when you feel like you've been punched in the gut? In a nut-shell as Winston Churchill said "For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else."
Seriously.
Okay, easier for me to say that in February - two weeks after I've left, two months after I was told, three months after I was part of the process to review cost containment in our region (so no surprises) and after a severance hand shake that affords me time to look for the next challenge.
I learned the hard way during the merger process between Adobe & Macromedia back in 2006 (and subsequent counseling in early 2008) to focus on what you can do vs being caught up lamenting what has changed or what you have lost.
That seems particularly hard these days as with the current global financial crisis, the media (predictably) is focusing on the negative. Negative stories sell newspapers, but they do nothing for people's confidence. Negativity creates a sense of resistance, and while resistance to unpleasant conditions is an expected human condition, it also stymies your capacity to act and focus. The reality is that in tough times there are just as many opportunities as there are in good times - maybe even more.
Some great resources worth referencing:
- Who Moved My Cheese talks about handling change;
- Jack Welch in his book Winning refers to this as not being caught in "the vortex of defeat, in which you let yourself spiral into inertia and despair". As I mentioned previously, I just happen to be reading this book when I received my news. Good timing, huh?;
- Po Bronson's article What Should I Do with My Life, Now? where he makes the point that "most people are not the architects of their own change" but "the skill and habit, of making the best of your situation, is essential training";
- I definitely used point #1 from Adam Frucci's article 7 Essential Steps to Surviving a Post-Layoff Existence :-) ; and
- Tim Ferris in The 4-Hour Workweek takes a far more practical approach:
Before spending time on a stress-inducing question, big or otherwise, ensure that the answer is "yes" to the following two questions:If you can't define it or act upon it, forget it.
- Have I decided on a single meaning for each term in this question?
- Can an answer to this question be acted upon to improve things?
Now that we're out of the negative mindset, we can focus on picking ourselves up and getting on with the job of finding the next job.
Author & coach Meiron Lees, made a good point when we met last: put your energy into the outcome you want in order to avoid distractions.
Now get going!
Labels: GFC, Personal effectiveness
posted by Lee Gale @ 7:02 PM,
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