Take Action

On Saturday night I was helping a friend celebrate a milestone birthday. During the evening I found myself needing to go to the bathroom, as you do after having a celebratory drink. I first knocked and no answer, yet it was a little hard to hear so politely waited. Then tried to turn the handle and open the door…. it wouldn’t turn so again assumed someone was in there. I waited… and then tried again and this time, to my relief, I pushed the door and it opened to an empty bathroom. 

So what did I take out of this ? Each time I tried to open the door I encountered a challenge until I was successful. Each time there was a result that wasn’t successful, I stood back and asked how can I do this differently to get the result I wanted. Then I changed my approach to get a new result…. a result that was hopefully going to bring me success and an empty bathroom.   

So here are 3 tips to approaching a challenge: 

  1. Take Action – without taking steps to get a result we limit our ability to get the result. “If I don’t knock I won’t get to know if the bathroom is free”

  2. Assess your results against your desired results – taking a moment, look at the outcome you wanted versus where you currently are – in this case, a rising urgency to use the bathroom

  3. Change your action – if you’re not getting the results you want, don’t let it get to you. Assess what your challenge is, change your action accordingly and then take it… inaction won’t get you the outcome you want.

So this week check in with your approach to dealing with challenges and try the above to keep moving forward.