What Are You Not Seeing?

This is a question that one of my mentors, Alex Mandossian (Virtual Book Tour Secrets) says we should ask of ourselves everyday for reasons which I'll explain later. I have been asking myself this question on a regular basis.

However, I was reminded about this because of some passport photos. My passport was stolen recently and I applied for a new one. Unfortunately, my application was delayed because as a letter from the Passport Office said:

"I had omitted to enclose two recent photographs."

When I read the letter I have to admit I was pretty frustrated. Here in the UK we have a system for passport applications called "Check and Send". You can pay an additional fee for an authorised Post Office to check your passport application and make sure that everything has been correctly completed and that all the relevant enclosures had been included before sending off your passport. It costs a bit extra but the peace of mind is worth it. I used the check and send system.

At the post office my photos were duly checked to ensure that they complied with the regulations and my application, photos and supporting documents were placed in a transparent plastic bag which was sealed before my eyes. Now you can understand my frustration. How could they not have received my photos?

When I contacted the passport office I was informed that they had received my photos but that the photos I sent were identical to those on my now cancelled passport. I was told I had to send photos that had been taken within the past month.

The thing is the photos I sent had been taken this month. They were similar to the photos I had before after all the subject was the same but they were not identical. I had dressed similarly for both photos but there were several noticeable differences. For instance, I was wearing different earrings in the photos. I pointed out the differences and was relieved to hear that my application could now be processed. Phew!

I hope you can see the point of this story. All too often we look at things with really seeing. We often see what we want to see. Sometimes we are confronted with situations and we jump to conclusions without truly evaluating the evidence.

Sometimes there are small changes that we can make to our lives and or our business that can have a dramatic effect to our results but we are too close to the situation or too caught up with our own drama to see what those things are. This is where a coach can help because a coach has a less cluttered view and does not have the same level of emotional involvement as you do in that particular situation.

This is not to say that a coach does not care about their clients and the results they achieve. However, if a coach were to get swept up in the emotional currents of their clients' situations then they would lose their objectivity and their effectiveness as a coach would be compromised.

So what is it that you're not seeing? How could you improve your viewpoint? Consider what's in your 'picture' that you are not seeing and consider what is missing from your 'picture'.

Focusing on these things will:

~ Considerably enhance your point of view,

~ Enable you to respond to situations rather than react, and

~ Immeasurably improve your results.