Tuesday, September 25:

What To Do When Life Disappoints You

When we have hopes and expectations that don’t come true, we all get disappointed. So how do we not lose hope when things don’t go our way? We rethink them. We work to see things from another perspective. Here is what I mean.

Norman Bridwell is the author of the great children’s books, Clifford the Big Red Dog. In a recent interview he said, “I was not good at sports and my high school shop teacher, after a few days of class, took my tools away, telling me 'Here's a pad of paper instead. You seem to like to draw: stick to that.'” Disappointment.

He then studied art and began work as a commercial artist. He put together a collection of his drawings and started presenting them to children’s books publishers – to be considered as an illustrator. He was told that his art wasn’t good enough and it was unlikely that he would be asked to illustrate any children’s book. Disappointment.

But an editor suggested he write a story to go along with his illustrations of the big red dog. He didn’t know how to write children’s books – he had never considered it. He created the story of Clifford the Big Red Dog and both the story and illustrations have become famous. Opportunity.

Sometimes life lets us know the road we are choosing may not be the best road for us - there may be a better road - a greater road. It is hard to see this at times because we are convinced we are doing what we are supposed to do, or we think we are right. We think all we need to do is work harder but the more work we do, the less we achieve. Maybe it isn’t what we decide to do but how we are doing it.

I find in my own life if I am working so hard at something and not having the results I want or expect, I am probably going about it wrong. Sure, it requires consistent and sustained effort to achieve in today’s world. But if after this level of effort and focus results are still not where you want them to be then it may be time to reframe or rethink it.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What two other ways to look at or approach this?

2. Who has done something like this and how did they succeed at it?

3. What is my motivation for doing this in this particular way?

4. Who can I rethink this with?

Norman Bridwell’s success came from combining his art with his story – an ability he was unaware he had and an approach he never previously considered. Reframing, rethinking and coming at a challenge from an entirely new perspective can change everything. Life is filled with possibilities that come from seeing things from many perpsectives – there is never just one way to approach anything.

What challenges are you facing that could benefit from a different perspective?

Life is amazing as it has all the answers we need – sometimes we just need to learn to ask different questions.

Good news should always be shared and learning to reframe challenges to create new solutions is good news. Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. And contact me to learn how coaching can help you rethink your way around life’s challenges.