2009 - A year of opportunity? UK Fellow Graham Bird reflects on the year ahead.
Oh how the world can change in such a short period of time!
Oh how the world can change in such a short period of time! I’ve no doubt that you’ve noticed how pessimistic people have become with everyone talking doom and gloom! According to the press, we are facing an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions, a crisis that for the most part was simply unthinkable just a few short months ago. Although it cannot be proven, I really do believe that the situation has been made considerably worse by the media. Almost every news programme that I have listened to over the last few months has majored upon the apparent worsening situation. Even as the shoppers headed to the stores during the last few days of the Christmas trading period, (I don’t know about yours but my local town shops were heaving with shoppers) the press were predicting Armageddon for the retailing sector during 2009. Yet, just over a year or so ago we were tuning into the news to hear that the housing market was breaking new ground, the stock markets rising and generally, things were looking pretty good. In fact, even the pessimists of the time were predicting ‘corrections’ not crashes. Now look at what’s happening and maybe the lessons contained within?
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson
I was speaking with an Estate Agent recently who puts some of the blame for the housing market crash down to the press. He said to me, “Having read the apocalyptic predictions for the housing market in 2009, would you buy a house at this moment? Of course my response was No! His question made me think about whether people would buy (assuming they could get a mortgage of course), if the press weren’t so negative in their reporting, or in this case, their predicting?
It’s no surprise that our thinking about current circumstances mirrors what we see happening around us? A couple of years ago we were generally optimistic because we were witnessing pretty positive times, i.e. rising house prices, low inflation, etc., however, now that optimism has transformed into ugly pessimism because what we are seeing is not so tasteful. The fact is, it’s all so easy to get caught up in the overall consciousness of the nation, or more accurately today, the global consciousness. This fact may well hold the clue to steering ourselves through this challenging period. Let me explain.
Recently, I watched a very interesting training video called, ‘The Self Fulfilling Prophecy’ which is based upon documented scientific research conducted at Harvard University in the US during the 70’s. The theme of the video is both shocking and liberating as it suggests that whatever we expect to happen, we often make happen. This should come as no surprise to us as psychology has taught us that we do indeed create our own reality through our thinking. In fact, this has also been the message of some of the greatest minds of all time, minds such as Einstein, Emerson, Goethe, Gandhi, Plato and many others.
I dream, I test my dream against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true.
Walt Disney
With this view in mind, I suggest that it is not wise to get caught up in all of the current pessimism. I am not suggesting that we turn a blind eye or bury our heads in the sand as we do indeed face some major challenges yet, there are always positives if we care to look for them. Unfortunately good news does not make the headlines so don’t rely on the media to produce them; quite simply, we have to produce our own.
Seldom does an individual exceed his own expectations
Anonymous
With this view in mind, I for one do not intend to get caught up in all of the current pessimism. I am not suggesting that we turn a blind eye or bury our heads in the sand as we do indeed face some major challenges yet, there are always positives if we care to look for them. Unfortunately good news does not make the headlines so don’t rely on the media to produce them; quite simply, we have to produce our own.
As a coach, I often challenge my clients with the following question; What if? So, maybe you’d like to consider the following: What if this time of crisis is actually a time of opportunity? What if this time of decline is actually a time of growth? What if this time of pessimism is actually a time for optimism? These are interesting questions and maybe, just maybe, their answers may provide the key to unlocking the formula for getting through this period and, more importantly, thriving during it.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
John F. Kennedy
So, on a final note let me ask some ‘what if’ questions again: What if we refuse to accept the doom and gloom and have faith in the belief that the future can be/will be better? What if we live each day with an attitude of optimism, regardless of what that day may produce for us? What if we can turn the current circumstances into something better than we had before? And, what if, at the end of this year, we look back on 2009 and think, “that was my/our best year ever”? I have no guarantees other than, like attracts like, therefore a positive frame of mind, coupled with a rock solid belief in yourself, is much more likely to attract positive outcomes than not.
The thing always happens that you really believe in, and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Like you, I don’t know what 2009 has in store but one thing I do know is that with a shift in our thinking, it is possible to make it a better year than we are encouraged to think it will be.
My very best wishes,
Graham J. Bird
Fellow of Oxford Leadership Academy, UK
January 2009
