Perfection  

A question I ask my clients, especially those dealing with a major challenge is “What is so perfect about this when it clearly isn’t?”  It puts everything in an entirely different perspective.  It takes one’s focus away from what they’re being deprived of or what they’re missing because something isn’t going the way they want, to why this might be the best thing that happened to them.  I know, for many thinking of a major problem as a gift or something perfect is a stretch, but think about it for a moment…if you bring to mind something that’s really challenging you right now, at work, home, wherever….what is perfect about it?  What have you learned about yourself, about your environment (all environments), about what’s possible or what you hadn’t seen before?

Reflection  

If, for a moment you started from the premise that “this is just perfect for me right now”, how might that turn your life around?  I often watch 2 colleagues deal with the same problem and respond to it, speaking about it in totally opposite ways.  One might say that it’s insurmountable, they can’t move forward, nothing is possible and look at their world in every negative way imaginable while the other, dealing with exactly the same problem will tell me he learned how amazing his team was, they’re pumped and trying to figure out the answer together so even through chaos they are energized and doing more than ever.  The first one was dwelling on everything that wasn’t working.  The second had been asked the question “What is so perfect about this….?” Attitude is contagious.  It goes both ways.  Which do you want?  And which might you think will energize everyone around you?

So How Do You Do That?  

Start by picking the elements that are working, that are perfect for you and show you just what you’re made of.  Think carefully.  Don’t just pick the first thing that comes to mind.  If you begin by nailing down what is perfect (and you can see it as such), it will happen and the rest will begin to unfold as it should with a lot less effort.   Perfection doesn’t just happen, it’s perception and perspective as much as anything else.

Tech Stuff   

Google Desktop Search is a tool I use all day long.  If I want to find an email, a document, a file of any kind that I know is on my computer it does a search almost instantly of all the emails, documents and websites I’ve accessed from the most recent to the oldest so I can not only find the document but can read emails I had deleted after reading, and conversations that had gone poof into the night for some reason.  It saves a ton of time and reminds me of files I had on my system that I had forgotten about. 

Last But Not Least:   As always this newsletter will be posted here. Please feel free to share your comments, insights and perhaps a subject or two you’d like to open for discussion and we’ll look at it for future a future newsletter or blog post.  Our blog can be found at http://betterperspective.blogspot.com    To sign up for our Self-Coaching program It’s All About You…and Others, visit here:  http://www.itsallaboutyouandothers.com/intro.htm  

Life is perfect, don’t you think?   

Donna Karlin