When life hands you lemons, be a lemonade maker. People who get stuck are the ones waiting for the perfect situation. The most effective people in the world are those who make the best of every situation.
If you feel inside that you are not enough, it becomes easy to think the solution is external. You might believe that the thing you are missing can be found in the right pair of shoes, the right mate, or the right job. You seek perfection outside of yourself to compensate for the imperfection inside.
When you become weary from your search for perfection you begin to feel sorry for yourself. But those who feel sorry for themselves will not find the luck they are looking for. Lemonade makers create their own luck.
Lemonade makers have a better understanding of the big picture in life, instead of limiting themselves to a nearsighted perspective of personal survival. They lift themselves up. They look for silver linings. They find a way to win.
My good friend and coach, Dan Sullivan, said in a recent talk, “You have to have full consciousness to have luck.”
How do you achieve “a more full consciousness?” It starts with humility. Humility allows you to appreciate what you have in life and the cards you have been dealt. It primes the mind to be optimistic and seek the best outcome in any situation.
If your guiding question in life is, ‘How can I make the best of this?’ your brain will find all sorts of possibilities and prize-winning paths to a better outcome. Our brains are wired such that they cannot leave an unanswered question alone.
How do you become a lemonade maker? Here are 5 of my favorite brain hacks for making the best of every situation:
1. Get your body moving! Feeling sorry for yourself is a low-energy state. Motion creates emotion. Get your heart rate pumping and force a smile on your face! Your mood will elevate, for sure.
2. The problem is not the problem. How you react to the problem is the problem. Breathe. Meditate. Learn to change your brain chemistry from fear-based emotional triggers to calm, centered thinking focused on positive outcomes.
3. Ask a better question. What are you grateful for right now? How can your smile, humor, and energy be weapons of mass production in your arsenal? Use these questions to push past your fear of failure. The brain is a liar and uses fear to keep you safe from saber-tooth tigers. Danger and fear are not the same. The chances of you getting eaten by a saber-tooth tiger are lower than you think.
4. Excellence is more important than perfection. Appreciate and commit to seeking excellence. Excellence is an achievable standard.
5. Be a contributor. Highly effective people are able to make an impact in the lives of others by sharing their knowledge and wisdom.
Now, how can you help me share this with as many people possible? If you think this can be useful to others, please share it with your network and recommend.
Image credit: CC by Rob Bertholf
