Circumstances…

Good morning dear reader & welcome to my world for another week. Following on from my comments on habits & especially frustrations in my last article, I have been inspired over the last few days to move onto why these outside circumstances affect us so much.

You face them every day, you are always reacting to them–positively or negatively. Think about it. What situations in your life do you wish would change right now? A different work environment perhaps which does not suck the life out of you?

Better health? A happier marriage? A more understanding boss? Less pressure?
I mean, I get it. Few of us look over our life & pronounce things perfect.

I can let circumstances get into my head way too easily. It does not even have to be anything serious to upset me. I can let the weather bother me, although this does not affect me so much now living here in Paradise on earth in Nelson. Loud talkers in public places get under my skin or simply the fact I feel like my to-do list is too long.

So far this year in my reading, I keep running into a recurring theme: effective leaders handle circumstances differently than ineffective leaders do. So, what is the difference?

There are at least three deeply significant differences. If you want to imitate the great leaders when you face challenging situations, do these three things. 1

Refuse to Let Your Circumstances Define You. Far too often, we look to our circumstances to determine what is going to happen next. Today (& every day), you will be tempted to let your circumstances define you. It shows up innocently enough:
Well, I can’t because… Okay, awesome for them but you need to understand my situation… I would love a chance at… and yet… I was going to do it but… I used to believe that was possible…

So what is the critical mistake you I will make over & over again unless we see it & address it? You will let your circumstances define you. And…. If you let your circumstances define you, they will defeat you. They will defeat you. I promise.

In fact, your circumstances will generate an excuse factory in your mind which will produce a thousand reasons why you cannot make the progress you were hoping to make. They will convince you, you cannot change, you cannot solve the problems you are facing, & you need to surrender to an inevitable fatalism.

Let this happen, & you will lead more poorly. You will live more poorly. If you let your circumstances define you, they will defeat you.

See The Opportunity. Which is exactly why you should never let your situation define you. Leaders who realize this truth manage to transcend their circumstances to move into a better tomorrow. Try to think of a great leader in history as a whole whose legacy was a product of their situation.

You can’t. Right? Because none of the great leaders we admire were made by their circumstances.  They refused to let their situation define them. Instead, they overcame them. They stopped blaming someone, or something for the obstacle. Instead, they trusted the process & the opportunity. This is what makes for greatness.

Don’t Let Success Seduce You. Of course, you know circumstances do not always work against you. Sometimes everything is going your way. Some of you are in a similar situation right now. You cannot imagine things lining up better in your favour. Which is exactly why you should still never let your circumstances define you. Because they will still defeat you.

Here is how it happens. You will stop working hard. You will stop dreaming about the future. You will even be tempted to let your present momentum carry forward indefinitely. And it will carry you, for a season. And then things will grind to a halt.

Just ask any company which has to reinvent itself after a decade on top. Ask any happily married couple who hit cruise control only to discover they started drifting toward the ditch. When you stop working on it & let circumstances define you, those same circumstances will eventually defeat you.

In fact, you will realize what every leader sliding down the far side of a success curve realizes: the greatest enemy of your future success is your current success.
If you don’t constantly fight against your circumstances & seek to transcend them, they will defeat you. Even the good circumstances.

So What Circumstances Do You Need to Fight Against Today my friends?      Well, the short answer is, all of them. At least at some level.                                      This is why many leaders are never content with the status quo. Progress requires we kick hard against the status quo, which leads me to conclude where I started: why these outside influences affect us so much?

So how would you characterize your circumstances? What are you learning about circumstances?

Thank you for taking the time to be with me once again. I hope my journey may encourage you also. This is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson, with my best wishes for the week ahead. I look forward to being with you all again next weekend.
 


www.kennbutler.com