“Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Shakespeare
Dear friends and Colleagues:
I’ve attended a number of conferences. I go to these things to try to educate myself about new ideas or to look for new opportunities, but now I have some advice – don’t go to conferences! At least not during challenging times. Here is why – the thinking is so negative! Its become “let me tell you how bad things are.” It is reverse one-upmanship!
Here are some examples of what I heard: “I don’t know what to say except ‘good luck’, you’ll need it.” “The odds on getting any particular decision right is less than zero.” And that is not all – TV, newspapers, Wall Street, the negativity never ends.
Flying home after the last conference I attended, it occurred to me that we’re in a crisis, a crisis of imagination. We have gone from imagining what is possible to being afraid of what might happen. But we’ve moved from hope to fear. That’s not only sad, it’s dangerous. It represents a fundamentally different way of looking at the world, of making sense of the signs of opportunity, and ultimately, it becomes a self-filling prophecy. Fear is paralyzing. Rational thought is reduced and creativity is all about eliminated.
I’m no Pollyanna, but haven’t we had enough of negative thinking?
We can change out thinking. I think we have to. It’s time to stop hiding behind excuses that negativity allows (some might call it a crutch – it won’t hold any of us up for long). It’s time to be positive and make some good things happen. Here are some thoughts of what we can do:
Once you change your thinking, I’m sure you’ll find many more ways to turn your thoughts to the great possibilities of the future. If you get a chance, let us know your ideas.
You’re in our thoughts,
Steve Polo
