So, we are a few weeks or more into our social distancing experience; businesses are closed or inventing new ways to serve their clients and customers.  People are experiencing frustration or finding new, creative ways of connecting.

What if we emerged from this pandemic stronger than when it started?  I want you, just for a moment, to accept the idea that you and your business can get through this and not only survive, but thrive.

There have been companies that thrived through the great depression. Some businesses even successfully and profitably launched during a recession.

The reason is, their leaders and founders thought differently than the masses.  

Think about it…these companies lived and operated in the same world and had similar products to other companies that did not make it. What made them, their leadership and their teams so different?  

It wasn’t the market or the economy…it was their way of thinking.  Now these visionary leaders might not have realized they were thinking differently and they may not be able to explain their thought process or why it was so effective, but they did apply certain rules and laws to their thinking, even if it was unknowingly.

These rules and laws are exact and they work for everyone.

Successful people, from Bob Proctor and Earl Nightengale to Napleon Hill and Andrew Carnegie as well as some of the most influential and wealthy people of our time, understood these rules and principles and applied them.

Now, one belief at the core of these rules and principles is that we become what we think about.  Understanding this will help you see why typical problem-solving methods either don’t work or provide small, incremental gains.

This pandemic is real and it is out there and I’m not trying to diminish this fact, but where I see people struggling is they are focusing their attention on the problem itself.

Remember, we become what we think about and to have a deeper understanding, you can read about the scientific reason as to why that is…Reticular Activating System RAS.

People are fearful right now. Some of the questions and concerns I hear daily are, “How will my business survive this; how will I pay my bills, rent or lease? How do I rebuild after all of this? How will my credit be impacted? How do I know I’m safe? What if I or someone I love, gets sick, what will we do?  How long can we afford to live like this?”

When you are focused on finding solutions to problems, you are thinking about and putting energy on the problem instead of where you want it… on the solution.  You will never really find a solution that helps you thrive with that way of thinking; you are only putting a Band-aid on the symptom of the problem.

“Ok, that sounds crazy, how can we find solutions if we avoid thinking of the problem?”  You might be asking.

You have to be aware of the problem to know that it’s there, but then you quickly shift your focus toward new ideas.  

A really effective way of doing that is to simply ask yourself and your teams better questions.

For example, asking yourself, “How can I stop bleeding money from my account or company?” is going to provide a different answer than a more effective question like: “How can we serve in a better way that will create growth for our company”?  

I was talking with a leader of a company who said their CFO was laying people off, even though they had funding to keep the necessary staff on board.  She said their other location overseas was also furloughing people and bringing them back when this pandemic is resolved, so she’ll do the same. When people approached the CFO to take a step back and think about this and alerted her to the different rules regarding employees at this location, it was too late…the employees had been let go and projects that were moving the needle in a positive direction were put on hold.  

Because she was asking the wrong question, which was based on fear of losing, she allowed the circumstance and the decisions of others influence her decision-making.  

Now, this isn’t about bashing someone for making a decision, but to simply say that if she was aware of a different way of thinking, or simply stopped to ask the right questions, the outcome would be different.  

During the Great Depression, Campbell’s Soup asked the right questions and one of them was, “How can we serve our customers”?  They started producing recipes on their soup labels to help families stretch out their meals during the depression. They weren’t focused on how to prevent losing revenue; they were focused on an outcome of service.

Thinking from the desired outcome vs the problem is the game-changer, and that will be the differentiating factor between those who thrive and those who merely survive, if at all, through this great pandemic.

Make decisions based on having faith that you will win, instead of making decisions based in fear and playing not to lose.  Both faith and fear ask you to believe in something you can’t see; what you choose, will determine your outcome.

You have solutions and great ideas inside of you and within the talent of your teams.  The solutions are not outside of you so you can relax knowing that if you ask the right questions, your solutions and creativity will emerge.  

I thoroughly understand these laws and principles and I am thankful I have the opportunity to serve my clients in a way that is helping them get connected with solutions and helping them flourish during these unprecedented times.

If you would like to have a conversation about your unique situation, what might be holding you back, or develop a plan to help you gain forward momentum, click here to book a time that works for you on my calendar.