Aha! Moment Monday
Have you ever noticed how some people are better than others at making lemonade?
Dale Carnegie said, “When fate hands you a lemon make lemonade.” Some people wear their failures and setbacks like an excuse to stay barricaded in their world and others squeeze the heck out of those situations until they become sweet, unplanned aspects of their success story.
Terry Fox didn’t attempt his run across Canada until after he got cancer and had one leg amputated. Thousands of people each year, for over 38 years now, take strides and make strides every September to raise millions of dollars in Terry’s honor towards cancer being a thing of the past.
William Wrigley Jr. was a soap and baking soda salesman and gave chewing gum as a gift with purchase. When he realized his chewing gum was more popular than his products he switched to manufacturing Juicy Fruit, Spearmint and Doublemint grossing billions in revenue.
Albert Einstein languished at school. Eventually he was asked by the authorities to leave the school because he was setting a bad example for other students. In Einstein’s words, “I failed the school and the school failed me” but Einstein far from failed humankind as a result of being ousted from the traditional education system.
Did any of these greats see a significant shift coming? Would they have become a legend without the sharp bend?
Aha! ~ ALL great stories start with a pivot
Steve Jobs says “…you can only connect the dots backwards…” which means it’s virtually impossible to see a pivot coming. In fact an entrepreneur’s ongoing calling is to know when to stay the course and when to change direction.
When you go after the pivot and expect the pivot, you’re inviting disruption and change into your life being fully prepared to embrace the pivot knowing it’s absolutely crucial to your success.
If Aristotle was accurate in saying “…we are what we repeatedly do…” would it not be meaningful to sometimes step outside our routine zone – lemon in hand – and get a little juiced? And from a glass that’s even more than half full?
In fact, why don’t we just grab a few more glasses right now and celebrate … with a twist?!
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