Every one of us add to or detract from our professional and personal lives based on our own thoughts. Our thoughts influence what and how we achieve.
In turn, our actions result from the input to our conscious and subconscious mind. If we feed our mind with thoughts of doubt, worry, and discouragement, we can expect our day to contain the same. However, if we adjust our thoughts to ones filled with achievement, we can count on that kind of day. Our countenance, reactions, and general output are a reflection of our approach.
The problem is that most people do not believe this applies to them. On a daily basis, we all have to deal with the challenges of life, whether large or small. Yet if you inquire, chances are the response will be a pretense.
Your Mind is a Thought Factory
Allow me to exercise your imagination. Think of your mind as a thought factory, a busy workshop of action and production. Production in your mental factory is under the charge of two supervisors, one named Ms. Advance, and the other, Mr. Apathy. Ms. Advance as you would imagine, manages the production of positive thoughts. At the pull of a lever, wholesome, encouraging, reassuring plans and positive ideas roll down the line and into the showroom.
The other supervisor, Mr. Apathy, has objectives too. He chooses to manufacture negative, depreciating, and worrisome thoughts. Both supervisors are technically well qualified for the job. Ms. Advance specializes in producing reasons why her team can handle whatever comes their way. Mr. Apathy however, earned his degree at Indifference University. He is full of reasons why he can’t accomplish things. Nonetheless, both supervisors are obedient. They wait for your direction to snap to attention.
Deliver the Proper Thought Signal
Deliver a positive signal and Ms. Advance throws herself into action. Pulling all the right levers, she operates production with one encouraging and edifying thought after another, getting the job done right. As long as production is under her firm control, apathy is nonexistent in the factory.
Mr. Apathy however, responds to your negative signal, which he prefers to call reality. Then he too is off and running. At peak production, Mr. Apathy’s assembly line puts out discouraging, bad-news thoughts. Soon, he will have you convinced that you can’t or won’t or shouldn’t. Given sufficient time, he will drain the energy around him, stifle confidence, and transform others into a moping group of what’s-in-it-for-me types.
Thoughts Grow Stronger With Repetition
Thoughts, positive or negative, grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition. This may explain why apathetic people stay that way, and why others who are naturally enthusiastic, continue to be so, even in difficult circumstances. Being a winner is a matter of right thinking and approach, not intelligence, age, or position.
How would your car perform if every morning you put a handful of dirt in the tank? The fine-tuned engine would soon start coughing, sputtering and eventually would not start. The same is true of life. Those who believe that our professional lives are separate from our personal lives are mistaken. Hire or select a supervisor with a wrong personal life and that person will operate in the same fashion at work. What’s worse, this person will influence the people he supervises. Thoughts about oneself and attitudes toward others that are narrow, destructive, and abrasive, produce wear and tear on the work environment. These types of thoughts propel your business off the road while others drive past.
You need only one kind of supervisor in your organization, one who can promote a productive, encouraging, and edifying environment. In fact, they are available immediately. The problem is they don’t wear a sign clearly identifying their advancing or apathetic nature. You have to invest the time to find them. If you have engaged Mr. Apathy too long as a supervisor, fire him! How smoothly your organization runs under new advancing leadership will astound you.
To read case examples and the proper screening and hiring methodology, please read my blog “Why You Should Hire Slow and Fire Fast.”
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