Mildew Will Do
It's amazing what some people will settle for these days. I was with a client the other day listening to a situation that was playing out in his life. As I listened, I was reminded of something I've shared in the past.
The story relates to a challenge presented to me while facilitating some of my classes. I was trying to put into story form an aspect of discipline that we all must have to get what we truly want in life. That discipline is one where we get our needs met appropriately. My challenge was to convey this notion to my class so that they would get the idea and could apply it to both their professional and personal life.
Hitting upon a question that would help cause this concept to be grasped, I've come to ask the following question: If you really wanted a "natural un-tampered with" grape to eat and all you ever got were raisins, what would you do next?
Some of my students said that they would complain to the source that it was a grape that they wanted and not a raisin. Their rational was that if you don't ask, it's less likely that you'd get what you really want. The philosophy of the squeaky wheel was in full swing here with this bunch. They figured to that if they complained enough and in the right way, they would eventually get what they wanted. I didn't have the heart to tell them that the squeaky wheel doesn't get oiled. It merely gets replaced.
Another portion of my class attendees said they would reject the raisin at once since it was not what they wanted and were willing to wait for the real thing. Even if it meant that they would starve. It seemed strange that the action that they planned to take most likely would never bring to them what they truly wanted. Planned starvation was not too appealing to me, yet they were pretty convincing in their argument.
Other students rationalized that the raisin is only a dehydrated grape. They got creative and said they'd merely drop it into a glass of water, wait until it soaked up the water and then eat the re-hydrated raisin. After all, the only difference was one of water and that difference was not that big. The pure conviction of their plan convinced me that they were well on their way to settle for less and be okay with it. It was impressive.
As the talk continued, there were almost as many different reactions and suggestions to solve the challenge as there were students. The discussion was quite interesting.
I decided to make the problem more urgent so I put forth some new constraints. You'd be surprised at what followed as the class discovered how much this little discussion about how we face a problem can affect so much in our lives.
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Do you find this concept "provoking?" Care to read more? Want to take action that will "provoke your success?" This and fifty-seven more chapters designed to provoke your success can be found here.
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Coach John S. Nagy is CEO and Lead Business Coach for Coaching for Success. Inc., a Business Coaching Service specifically designed for top level decision makers dedicated to peak performance in all facets of their activities. He's hired to focus them continuously in activities that bring higher returns on their resource use. His programs are for the seriously committed. This means having his clients work "ON" their businesses, not just "IN" it. He's a published author and a multi-degree professional with a nationwide client base. Coach Nagy can be reached through his E-mail address at his website at http://www.coach.net and by calling 813-949-0718.
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Copyright © 1999-2007 John S. Nagy
