Ate Alive

A business visionary was speaking at a business convention, addressing the problem of lack of progress in business and relationships—progress as a means of operating with a proactive sense of awareness. Many of the attendees are hoping to identify the obstacles hindering their business and personal growth.

The visionary began by saying, “I think it is important for us to see this issue as two sides of the same coin. On one side of the coin is ourselves, the reverse side is other people. Both sides suffer from neglect. I call the problem -Ate Alive.

The problem for ourselves is that we get stuck; we become immobilized by self-defeating mindsets. We procrastinAte, basically putting things off that should have been done yesterday. We ruminAte, between this decision and that decision, trying to avoid mistakes by revisiting all past mistakes. We hesitAte, while our competition flies right by. We over contemplAte, by thinking and rethinking something to death. These all lead us to vacillAte, between this course of action, or that. Then, like falling into quicksand, we begin to stagnAte, all the while sinking into oblivion. Your business, for all intent and purpose is Out of Commission.

You may attempt to defend your circumstances by making the point that the situation was unintentional. However, as we all know in business, intentional and unintentional are illusions, the bottom line is—results—or nothing. The antidote to these road-blocks is to reactivAte your mindset and end this stalemAte.

Similar types of behaviors are also evident to our relationships, business and personal. We destroy or damage these relationships through abuse, devaluation, and devour another’s self-worth in the process.

Through our communication we inflict a smorgasbord of desensitizing statements. We berAte people for making mistakes. We negAte their value with unrealistic comparisons. We deflAte their enthusiasm with excessive criticism. We dominAte by reminding them that we hold their future employment in our hands. We aggravAte their attempts at improvement by concealing the real problems. These all serve to devastAte the employees’ moral. The anecdote is to change the way we relAte, by beginning to differentiAte between positive and negative interactions.

We, as human beings, must avoid the desire to misstAte and debAte, as a means to put off others. We needn’t fixAte on finding fault. We frustrAte those we need and care about, and then we attempt to placAte them by saying we’re sorry—or I didn’t mean it.

In order for businesses, and people, to grow, we must first get out of our own way. Both businesses and people are at the mercy of one’s mindset. Change the mindset—you change the results. Make the time to identify your negative mindsets and then resolve to transform them into positive—proactive mindsets.” 

V.P. Mosser

©2001-2005 V.P. Mosser
You're welcome to use this article in your Ezine or website as long as you include this blurb.
Successful entrepreneur, V.P. Mosser is the creator of the Learn the Lessons Series, the Life's Journey publication and numerous thought-provoking articles. To learn more and receive free chapters or issues, visit http://www.learnthelessons.com

[ Top of page ] [ Back ] [ Home ] [ Next ]