In this series of posts, I’m writing about obvious changes taking place in our society. These changes may be depressing to some readers. However, I believe these changes provide the greatest opportunity of modern civilization.
Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich says that “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.”
I agree completely. I’ve built my life on the thought that every time I see failure, it is a clue to search for the opportunity within it. I can always find it.
Now is the time for our society to find the opportunity within the challenge we face. The first step requires each person to take 100% responsibility for the results in his life.
We can no longer afford to blame other people or other situations for our challenges. These challenges come to us at this time in history because we are ready for them.
With this responsibility fully in hand, the next step is to ponder on the question “How can I?”
Our family doesn’t have many rules about behavior and speech. We make agreements and live within them. However, we have one hard and fast rule about language. We don’t allow the use of the word “can’t.” We may say, “won’t.” However, “can’t” isn’t allowed.
We believe that any person can do anything by answering the question “How can I?”
For example, in January 2009, our family was 8 weeks behind with some of our bills and we were carrying over a million dollars in debt.
We had a family meeting to discuss the situation and make a plan. Were we going to sell our dream house or take massive action to make significant money?
We made a decision to take massive action. We said “How can we (I) make significant money?” We put together a marketing plan. We cut out the things that didn’t make money. We decided to work only in areas that produce significant revenue. Five months after we made that decision, we were no longer 8 weeks behind on our bills. We were 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
At that point, we once again asked “How can we (I) improve this system?” We made other decisions, we decided to expand one business and close another. We gained clarity on what we were doing. We easily saw what was working and what wasn’t working.
In other words, we CHANGED what we were doing! That may seem remarkable. It is not. Change is the necessity of life. Our five senses work off the principle of change. Your eyes naturally follow motion. Your nose automatically picks up new scents and forgets old ones.
If you eat the same food every day, it becomes tasteless. If you see the same thing every day, you quit noticing it. If you hear the same thing over and over, you quit hearing it.
Change is how we live. It is how we thrive.
I’ll tell you more in my next post.