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Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.
-- Margaret Thatcher
 

 

Wednesday, March 3, 1999

Beyond problems

Do you spend a lot of your time and effort solving problems? Unfortunately, when you solve a problem it usually just gets you back to where you started. What if you never had to solve another problem again? What if you could devote all your energy to creating positive value?

There is a way. Simply stop solving problems and start seizing opportunities. You can do it any time you wish. You don’t need to change your job title or run away from the circumstances which confront you. Just change your focus and intent.

When you set out to solve a problem, you’ve already lost ground, and you spend your time playing catch up. Yet without altering the circumstances one bit, you can just as easily set out to seize the opportunity, to make something positive out of what you once may have considered a problem. Your goal becomes more ambitious -- to gain a positive benefit from the situation. It doesn’t require a change in circumstance, just a change in attitude and in your expectations.

Most of your “problem-solving” skills translate quite nicely into “value-creating” skills. Raise your expectations. Go beyond solving problems and build something great.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1999 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.