Are You Looking in the Wrong Direction and You Don't Even Know It?
Bird-watching…
Around this time of year, we start to see a lot of bird-watchers along the lane from where I live. There are a couple of fields nearby that are home to the rare short-eared owl (yes, seriously!).
My teenage boys often laugh at these oh-so-serious birdwatchers with their camouflage clothes, their large (also camouflage) cameras and their extra-long lenses. Those gadget-guys gather around one field, sometimes for hours and hours, all staring in the same direction.
It's a result if they get to see a bird, and, I suspect, many of them go home disappointed.
The Secret That We Know…
We know a secret, though. We drive this lane almost every day and we know that, although the birds do nest on both sides of the lane, we most often see them being active in one particular field -- and it's not the one the birdwatchers are monitoring so intently.
Those boys with their toys are looking the wrong way, and, rather meanly, I admit, this makes us laugh.
As those first birdwatchers emerge this year, it reminded me it's the same with anything we do. The metaphorical birds are there for us -- we just need to look in the right direction.
We all have ambitions and projects we want to achieve. We all have a direction of travel. We go in search of strategies and tactics that we think will get us there faster -- but they don't always work because we don't always choose wisely.
We want to get fitter, but we exercise unproductively. We want to make more impact, but we still do the busy-work. We want to grow our business, but we apply marketing tactics that don't get results.
I think it's a bit like those birdwatchers; the solutions that will work for us are there in plain sight, we just need to shift our perspective to be able to see them.
So, let me ask: does this apply anywhere in your life or business at the moment? Is there something that feels like a struggle? An area where you know you're working hard, and you know the tactics have worked for other people, but they're not getting results for you?
Chances are, you're looking in the wrong direction for a solution. There IS something that will work for you, if you could only see it.
And in order to see it, try turning away from what you're currently doing, and look in a different direction. You might find the solution you were searching for was there all along!
With love,
Cathy