Categories
Blog

The Illusion of Control

Dr. Viktor Frankl

It is an illusion that we are in control of our lives. Once we embrace that fact and recognize the constraints of reality, we are immediately more empowered.  We can do what is in our power to do.  We can manage what we are given.

The first step is to understand our personal paradigm, our way of looking at things. We ask ourselves, “What is my perspective on life? How do we do that? By looking around us and seeing the results in our life. Do we have a lucky life or one that is filled with bad breaks?  Are our days generally good or bad?  We can see what our paradigm is by looking at the results.

We cannot resist reality. Anyone who has suffered an debilitating injury or disease, PTSD, or grief understands that these things will overcome our puny efforts at control.

All we can do is manage what we are given.

How do we manage reality?

We learn to manage by paying attention to our surroundings, our body clues, and our emotions. We ask questions about where we can make decisions and choices that will impact reality. We accept that we can shift our paradigm at any time by choosing how we respond.

Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who was imprisoned by the Nazis and lost his family to the camps, has been credited with the saying,

“Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

In other words our power over reality only exists in our response.  How do we prime ourselves for the most effective response to obtain our preferred results?

We learn. We listen to ourselves. We pay attention to how we feel; we pay attention to what is showing up for us in our contemplation, our journaling, our internal urges and ideas. This is not outer-directed, but inner-directed work.  We peel back layers to get to the heart of who we are at the center. It takes perseverance, endurance, and patience.

Allocating Energy

We each have a finite amount of energy. How will we spend that energy? Will we fight to preserve the illusion that we are in control and wail when life proves otherwise — as it will?  Or will we accept that while we are not ‘in control’, we still have the power to make choices and decisions?

It helps to ask ourselves what our priorities are? How do we want to use our energy? This is a very personal decision.

Dealing with  FEAR

Our circumstances may seem insurmountable and our initial instinct is to be afraid. This is normal. Some will blithely say that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. I take issue with that. I think those who say that often come from a place of privilege without realizing it. I prefer my own explanation which grew out of some desperately real experiences. I reframed it for myself as FEAR = Face the Evidence And Respond. I found it much more empowering. It was only later that I realized how nicely it matched Frankl’s observation.

Conclusion

Controlling life is an illusion.Choosing to deal with life ‘as it is’ frees up our energy for creative work. We manage our lives by ‘playing the cards we’re dealt’. We manage by being thoughtful about our response to outside stimuli. By embracing what we do have power over – our choice of response – we are able to more fully engage with the life we have and the people we love.

Categories
Blog

Are you ‘failing short’?

The other day, I misread the phrase, “falling short” as “failing short“. At first, I laughed, and then I began to think about what it might mean to ‘fail short‘.
To fall short is to fail to meet the expected standards, whether yours or another’s. To fail is to 1)be unsuccessful in achieving one’s goal or 2)neglect to do something.  I’m going to use the second definition for this illustration.
When we fall short, we have tried and failed to meet the target. We can assume we have given it our best effort.
What is Failing Short?
Failing short is when we neglect to do the things that we know would help us move forward. Or, we do the same thing we’ve done before and hope to have a different result. Failing short carries the weight of not doing what we said we would, of not living up to our intentions.
We fail short when we:
  • Procrastinate and put off the actions that would move us toward our goal.
  • Neglect to do what we know we should, such as sign a contract promptly, make an important phone call or answer a critical email.
  • Ignore critical measures such as income and revenue by playing out of sight, out of mind.
  • Repeat the same actions the same way we have before, even though we failed.
Falling short may be completely due to circumstances beyond our control. Failing short is completely within our power. The good news is that since we have control over our actions, we can choose to never ‘fail short’ again.
Categories
Blog

Why being a generalist is better for your business. “Specialization is for Insects.”

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” – Robert Heinlein

As a teenager, I stumbled across the above quote by Robert Heinlein.  Born into a family that taught me I would never be “enough’, I pledged to myself that I would become my own version of the quote. After all, as the oldest of 9 children, I could already change a diaper, cook a tasty meal (for 11), balance accounts, solve equations, pitch manure (we grew up on a farm), analyze a new problem, give and take orders, and fight efficiently. Consequently, I have lived my life with a hungry mind acquiring skills wherever I could. Today, I am proud to declare myself a generalist.

From Regret to Celebration

It wasn’t always this way. Though my diverse skills have served me well as a serial entrepreneur, until recently, I continued to feel as if I should have specialized.  However, being a generalist definitely has its perks. It is easier for a generalist to integrate information, practices, and ideas across fields.  David Epstein, author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, writes, “Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.”

Being a Generalist in Business:
  • allows you to have a basic knowledge of the different parts of your business – including bookkeeping, sales, marketing, administrative work, hiring and firing, managing people and more depending on the kind of business you have. You will likely have the basic skills you need.
  • means that you can ‘cross-pollinate’ ideas from one industry or field to yours. Generalists are easily bored after mastering the present learning curve. They seek new areas to explore. The end result is a wide array of experience and knowledge of different fields.
  • allows you to have the knowledge to know if the ‘expert’ you hired is doing what you hired him or her to do. It can prevent you from becoming ripped off by a specialist contractor.
  • means you are more likely to be a better problem solver. As a generalist, with cross domain experience,  you may be an analogical thinker which makes you see more creative solutions. An analogical thinker is one who draws analogies by recognizing the similarity in multiple domains or scenarios that may have little in common on the surface. Quoting Epstein again, “It is a powerful tool for solving wicked problems.”
Conclusion

Generalists have several advantages over specialists. A generalist business owner will have a wider perspective and a more holistic view of the business. Having basic skills, knowledge, and experience makes starting a business easier. Cross-pollination of ideas and analogical thinking is likely to lead to more impactful problem solving. And, if you need to, you can always hire a specialist!

Categories
Blog

Welcome to Foresight Solutions

Welcome to my new space and what is intended to be my flagship site.

Blurred abstract background interior view looking out toward to window and greenery
Image by topntp26 on Freepik

I’ve finally made the jump to independent digital publishing. I did this with the help of several folks who kept encouraging me to stop hiding and go ahead and create something.

This website and blog are the culmination of years of dreaming and ‘getting ready to get ready’. However, none of that time was wasted. As Mary Oliver once said in an interview, “Things take the time they take. How many roads did Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?”

I have no pretensions of being a saint, but I’ll acknowledge that there was some necessary personal learning and growing before I was ready to put all of myself out into the world.  As with many of you, my life was divided into parts. I’m bringing them together in this space as I learn, explore, and share “the Spirit of Business and the Business of life”.  My goal is to share my hard-won wisdom as well as lessons I’m learning as I learn them. I promise you to wholeheartedly bring my passion, experience, ideas, and thoughts to you. I hope you find education, inspiration, and motivation here.