Frank Carson used to say about his jokes, “It’s the way your tell em.”
With problems and goals it’s the way you see them.
Think for a moment about a challenge that you have that you have not yet managed to conquer, or a goal that you have not yet achieved. It could be a difficult patient relationship, a new job, a clinical procedure that you struggle with, weight loss, anxiety, etc.
For the duration of this short exercise put the problem or goal on a stool that you can walk around and look at from 360 degrees, from above, below or from a distance.
The lenses
Now imagine that you have three pairs of glasses each with lenses with differing properties.
· Problem lens, that when you wear these, you only see the problems, mistakes, and errors.
· Challenge lens, when wearing these you see the challenges, there are possibilities that with the right plan you can achieve, and it will be a challenge.
· Opportunities lens, when wearing these you can see the opportunities that were not visible to you before. You can see options and a path forward that can take you beyond where you hoped and maybe in new and fabulous directions, new people, new information, new actions.
Please humour me, put the pairs of glasses on, one at a time, walk round your situation, (yes I mean actually get up and walk around the stool) noticing what you notice, see what you see, hear what you hear, think what you think, feel what you feel. Pay attention, listen, and feel your internal wisdom.
When you have viewed your situation from different perspective and through the lenses of problem, challenge and opportunity, what are your thoughts, insights and new possibilities.
Action point
Take a moment with a pen and paper or your phone, write down, three things that you can do as a result of embracing a new way of seeing.
