Photo courtesy of birthmarkleg
I met with one of my consulting clients, Sally, this morning to help her setup a WordPress blog site. She had been having trouble getting everything setup with the hosting company, domain, etc… She had taken the day off to spend it working on her new site. So everything in her plans were riding on the fact that we were going to be able to get it all setup by the time I left.
But life threw us a curve ball and we were unable to complete the setup. It was still early in the morning and she instantly became frustrated (as anyone would have) about the fact that she was missing work for nothing. She was going to use up a perfectly good day off and not be able to take advantage of it. I saw this as a great opportunity to try and turn some lemons into lemonade.
Sally was new to the ideas of web design and blogging and still wasn’t quite sure which way she wanted to go with her new site. So I thought this would be a great opportunity for her to learn more about WHAT she was going to do before we actually implemented it. When I really thought about it, this was a better way to ease into this new pursuit than to just jump right in.
So I immediately opened a web browser on her computer and started bringing up different web sites. I brought up sites for different blogging themes, an “Introduction To Blogging” site and a few relevant others. After encouraging her to take advantage of what the day still had to offer, she relaxed and was actually quite excited about this new plan for her day off. By the time I left we were both happy about the situation and she was looking forward to digging into this new adventure.
At the end of the day she sent me this email:
“What I do today is important because
I am exchanging a day of my life for it.”
Author Unknown
Great idea. 99% of the time my day does not follow my plan! I have learned I am too rigid with my “to do” list. I do need to stop and re-evaluate my plan without throwing the day away..I just have to learn how.
@JaneDeere: It’s not always easy, is it? I struggle with being too rigid myself. Every time I make a definitive plan for my day I try to remind myself that life is all about forming a plan and then making adjustments along the way. Thanks for giving your input.
“a sow’s ear into at least a linen, if not silk, purse!”, haha, I’ve never heard that one before.
I think this is one of my greatest strengths, positive thinking, and hopefully it will prove as successful in my upcoming consulting business as it has in yours.
Good to see it in action!
@Matt R.: There’s no doubt that staying positive will get you much further in life than many other of the ‘sought after’ qualities. I certainly hope that this quality adds to your success.
Good point — I try to do the same. People get frustrated when they are too attached to plans and preconceived notions of what ought to happen.
ari
I can certainly understand Sally’s frustration. I’m sure we’ve all had plenty of situations that didn’t work out even remotely close to what we originally wanted. But since that’s bound to happen no matter what, turning lemons into lemonade is a valuable life skill.
@Ari: Thanks for stopping by and for always giving solid input.
Anyone reading this should check out his blog. It’s VERY insightful!
@Hunter Nuttall: Well said. Staying flexible and positive will get you through almost any situation.