The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling!

So goes the cry from Chicken Little (or Henny Penny in the original tale) when something falls from above and hits him on the head. Panic ensues. And as the story goes, Chicken Little convinces others that the end of the world is coming; they tag along as Chicken Little races to tell the king of their certain demise. In the end, of course, the sky did not fall at all – the world did not come to an end.

What are we to believe when we are bombarded with negative news 24 hours a day? Is our sky falling? After awhile, it becomes very difficult to find anything positive to think about in our lives. Our natural instinct is to begin to withdraw, to conserve and to protect what we have.

Start right now and design your attitude about your business. I say “design,” because ultimately, each of us has control over how and what we want to believe. Separate the facts from the speculations. Congratulate yourself and your team for the things that are going well. Identify your fears. Come to know what’s holding you back from moving ahead.

If you’ve been on my train ride for any time, you know I firmly believe that what we perceive becomes what we believe. And what we believe then dictates how we act. And how we act, then correlates to the results we get. Bam! Sure enough, our prediction came true!

So why not choose a healthy – and still prudent – course of thought, so that we develop the appropriate beliefs and actions to get the results we want? Let’s explore this in more detail.

If you have a fearful attitude about the economy, your actions begin to reflect this. You might stop ordering inventory prematurely. And several months down the road, with fewer products to sell, you discover your sales are down. Now that sales are down, you begin to tighten your belt further, so you perhaps layoff a couple of employees. Now, everyone else has to pick up the extra load and they become fearful that they might be next. That attitude of fear shows up in how neat and clean they leave their workstations. Things begin to look sloppier. The overall atmosphere of the office slowly dies down. That attitude also projects outward in their daily activities as they interface with your customers. Customers intuitively pick up on these things and so they begin to look elsewhere for a place where they WANT to shop at a place where people are GLAD to see them.  You get my point.

Change the direction of that scenario, and what new possibilities might come your way?

In an earlier article, I talked about having an attitude of gratitude. No matter how bad your situation may seem there is always much for which you can be grateful. Make it a point at the end of every workday – before you go home – to write down 3 things for which you are grateful. You’ll be amazed at the transformation.

Now, I’m not saying to ignore all the news and to keep your head in the sand. That’s a formula guaranteed to get you into trouble. In my next article, I will share some ways to get into the nitty-gritty details . . . the facts about your business. 

For today, begin your action plan by designing your attitude for the positive results you want to see in your business. Here is a free worksheet, 9 Questions – Your Attitude Checkup, to help you get started.

Define your action steps. And action, in my book, helps assuage concerns about a falling sky.

Remember . . .  It’s Your Business

Coach Darlene

PS Could you benefit from a 30-day comprehensive look at the most critical elements of your business? Check out It’s Your Business – a unique, business development program that I’ve put together with fellow coach, Kim Pichot of Complete Success.