Great athletes often make their greatest progress
when the odds are against them - they train for it. Golfers practice
hitting out of the rough, trapeze artists practice falling, football
quarterbacks train to focus while the clock is running out. And yet
most of us plan our week as if everything will go our way and nothing
will interfere.
It's never that way. There is always the unseen complication, the
congested traffic, the key participant arriving late, the plane
delayed, the wrong directions, the technology fail, the electrical
outage. Instead of just planning a little extra time as a buffer in
your schedule, imagine what it would be like if you were really ready
to take advantage of these intrusions.
Next time something stops your intended flow, take a moment to step
free and reevaluate the possibilities of the moment. Say to yourself,
"This turn of events has made something previously
unthinkable now possible. I will leverage this inconvenience and do
something extraordinary with the opportunity I now have to do other
than what was planned."
One of my good friends used to say the trouble with planning is that
you get what you plan for, and that's all. An impediment to your
objective may be the very event that allows you to slough off
expectations and detect a treasure hitherto hidden by momentum and
will.
Practice this week turning impediments into assets. If you master this,
you will be in the company of the greats who exploit disruption at
every turn, harnessing the natural order of the universe for their
benefit.
“There are two
ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter
yourself to meet them.”
― Phyllis Bottome
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