Robbie Burns put it most eloquently: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an men / gang aft a-gley.”
Ok, he was a Scot and his poem “To a mouse” was written in 1785. The modern paraphrase is: “The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.” Hillary Clinton found that out two weeks ago. George Bush found that out Sept 11, 2001. The BC Lions found that out on Sunday. You’ve probably found that out a time or two. I have, too. In fact I had a chance to find that out again last weekend.
I’d done a mountain of research into launching my new adventure travel company and knew a lot about all of the competition. There was definitely room for me to add my bit to this industry. So, I jumped in. With both feet. I’m committed.
Now a very large player in the industry announces they’re jumping right into my market. Of course, they don’t even know about me, yet. But the timing, let’s just say, isn’t good.
My life was characterized with considerable angst for the next 24 hours or so. But then I remembered a key phrase I’ve been told so many times at business/entrepreneurial conferences: You shouldn’t ask yourself, Can I meet this challenge? but, How can I meet this challenge?
By the end of the day, I had a plan. I’m already implementing it.
Life doesn’t exist without challenges. We all know that. But those challenges can be met in a variety of ways. I don’t yet know how my plan to meet my challenge will play out, it’s way too early.
But here’s the thing that I think is important: The attitude of How can I meet it? vs simply Can I meet it? helps us to get creative and therefore makes us optimistic instead of pessimistic. And that optimistic attitude itself, never mind the creative plan, can’t help but propel us toward greater success.
Today, after I’d written this piece, I got the following Monday motivational message from a mentor of mine:
Though many see optimism as a personality trait,
studies show that it’s much more.
Expecting good things in life can make good things
happen to your mind and body. Optimists have
healthier hearts, lower stress levels, lower blood
pressure, higher pain tolerance, more successful
relationships, and age more gracefully.
So, it’s not just how I see it, is it?
Rent 2 Own tip
Contrary to all expectations, the stock market did not take a dive after the US election. Instead, economic optimism seems to be surging. The result? Interest rates have started to creep up.
With a bit of a stall in housing sales and a bit of an uptick in interest rates, we are seeing an increase in the number of applications coming through. Now may be a good time to get into that rent 2 own deal you might have been considering.
