Monday Morning

Motivation    10/3/2011

THE POSITIVE PLACE. SALES MOTIVATION AND PERSONAL GROWTH

Hope development

If you’re having difficulty developing and maintaining a positive mental attitude, then one of the biggest things you need to work on is developing and maintaining hope.

Our current economic problems have a lot of people suffering from a lack of hope -- a condition so well known that “It’s hopeless” is a common phrase used by a number of people.

Hopeless? Even in life’s darkest times, nobody need be without hope, because hope is founded on possibilities.

Until that day when life ceases to exist, there will always be possibilities -- change this, change that, develop this, develop that, create this, create that -- make one little change, and a seemingly hopeless situation changes to a situation full of promise and opportunity.

If necessity truly is the “mother of invention,” or the “father of change,” then times where, however briefly, all seem lost are the times of opportunity and growth. It’s in times of trial that we have the chance to grow and progress -- more so than any other time.

In the stock market, for example, a person with a little bit of money can invest in a seriously depressed stock, and then wait for the stock to rebound. Assuming a person has done their homework, and there’s value in a stock, then when the stock rebounds, money is made, and the stock than be sold for a gain.

In the depths of the banking crisis a few years ago, Warren Buffett was quoted as telling people that if he were them, he’d buy two bank stocks that had been seriously run down by the market turmoil. Those two stocks, both from well-run banking firms, soon rebounded, and Buffett made a mint on his investments. Today, one of them is trading at 6 times what it traded that day. Were things hopeless? In retrospect, they weren’t -- and they rarely are.

In life, we’ve got such a shallow view of the present, that we can become like a person surrounded by mountains -- all we see are the obstacles around us. But climbing one of those mountains will yield a spectacular view of the world around us -- by changing our viewpoint in a “hopeless” period, we soon find that the world around us is vast and full of opportunity.

To find that opportunity requires a mere mental change -- and it’s one that can be done in minutes. Simply spend a few minutes re-evaluating your position. Take a piece of paper, write this phrase at the top of the sheet, and then find at least 10 answers. The phrase is this: “How can I use this experience to my best advantage now and in the future.”  Although the first time you try this exercise, it may take a bit of effort to complete the list, opening up your thinking with a positive question like this puts your mind to work. Soon you are seeing the opportunity around you, finding areas of growth and potential, and putting your mental power and experience to use in reforming and adapting to the current environment, seeking and striving to find the best that your life has to offer.

No matter how hopeless your situation may become, it is quite possible to develop the habit of looking for the best in each situation. Truly difficult situations will present themselves, with the loss of loved ones, or the advent of sickness, but even when times get tough, there is always the future, and we can learn from each downturn or challenge, and use the opportunities provided there to make our lives better and more fulfilling in the years to come.

Copyright, 2011, by Daryl R. Gibson. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the non-commercial redistribution of this document as long as it remains intact with this copyright and all other lines. This license does not extend to the use of this material in a compilation, whether for profit or non-profit use. Join us at http://www.Weekdaywisdom.com.