Better Definitions

How is your week going to go? Up to you.

Do you have projects to work on, deadlines to meet, situations to resolve and people to work with that you deem:

• Impossible
  
• Ridiculous
  
• Awful
  
• Dreaded
  
• Boring…?
  

So be it.

Only remember this: your mind is an amazing tool. And a dedicated one—dedicated to you. And it will do your bidding. If you deem things as listed above, then they’re likely to be just that. On the other hand, if you take a different tack and redefine those projects, deadlines, situations and people as:

• Challenging
  
• Different
  
• Interesting
  
• An opportunity to _______ (fill in the blank with whatever is useful to you, e.g. try a different approach, learn something new, challenge yourself, do your best work, persevere, be creative…)
  

…the outcomes you achieve may be different than the outcomes you achieve with the first list of definitions. Why? Your mind. “Impossible” shuts the mind down. Door closed. That’s it. “Challenging” leaves the door open (even if only a crack), your mind has room to be creative, and is much more likely to help you come up with something that will be useful to you in resolving something tough.

The power of how we define things has been widely researched and published, and bears taking seriously. Just ask the Swiss. 1968 Switzerland had 65% of world watch market sales and more than 80% of the profits. Then, the electronic quartz watch emerged. And the Swiss ignored it. Why? One reason: the definition of “a quality watch.” The Swiss definition of a quality watch included, without question, “A watch that involves gears and bearings and mainsprings.” End of story. And by 1980, Swiss watch sales market share had dropped to 10%, and their profits to 20%. Between 1969 and 1981, 50,000 of the 62,000 Swiss watchmakers lost their jobs. A national catastrophe. And the kicker: the Swiss themselves had invented the electronic quartz watch. It was dismissed within Switzerland, but the Japanese certainly took note, and the rest is history.

This week:

1. Identify the most important items on your calendar
   
2. Consider the definitions you are giving them—are those definitions serving you? If not,
   
3. Get creative and give your brain something better to work with—better definitions