Many years ago my brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, a devastating situation with absolutely no recourse. While many of us would have gotten stuck in the pain of the situation my brother saw things differently. He looked at the news he had been given and asked himself, “What if this was meant to be good news?” He knew he couldn’t change what had happened to him, all he could do was change how he interpreted the situation. My brother chose to believe that the cancer that had invaded his body was there for a reason. Armed with this passionate belief, my brother shared his story with everyone who would listen. He visited churches across Canada; he spoke to friends and strangers alike. He spoke of hope, awareness and the bountiful life he would lead in heaven. He opened hearts and healed old wounds; he gave back life to people who had been dying inside. He moved countless people with his story of seeking out the greater purpose.

When my brother passed away he left as an accomplished man, someone who had lead his life with meaning and shared his pain so that others could heal in theirs. I still think today about the awesome lesson he taught us. How he looked at a devastating situation and how he asked himself, “What if this was all meant to be good news?”

Think about your own business, where could you apply this lesson? If a new competitor moves into your market space, a new technology threatens your existence or your VP of Sales resigns, how would you handle the news? Too often in most companies panic sets in, pessimism and skepticism are a natural and common reaction. However, what if instead of panic you were to look for the underlying opportunity in the cards that have been played.

For example, what if a new competitor was in fact moving into your market space? How could you turn this into good news? Here are some ideas:

• You could leverage off their branding and awareness activity to build your own name.

• The new competitor could cause your other competitors even more pain and distraction therefore allowing you to take an even bigger step forward?

• This new competitor could help reinforce the significance of your product or your market sector therefore leading to more people wanting to buy what you sell.

• You could learn new ideas, new ways of positioning and new insight from a new competitor.

• A new competitor could reinforce to potential customers just how complete your solution is.

• You could welcome this as a wake up call and start connecting more with your own customers.

What are some of the other possible benefits that would support the belief that a new competitor in your industry could in fact be good news?

Every company needs a strategy for turning the low points in their business into good news? What could you do to reshape your interpretation of the world as it has unfolded for you? What new beliefs could you have? Shifting your thoughts from negative to positive can give you a whole new view of the situation, a whole new perspective of what lies ahead. Shifting your thoughts can turn a negative stranglehold into an empowering view of what lies ahead!

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS

List as many ideas for the following …

What are the current aspects of your business that you have been treating as bad news?

How could you shift each of these situations to be good news?

Regards,

Curt Skene
curt@aahhah.com
http://www.aahhah.com/