In our day to day busy lives, all of us develop the ability to ignore a few things, to focus on few others that we deem important in our lives. Think about it… it happens quite often!
Anyone who drives to work, knows all the sounds we mentally ignore to continue to focus on our drive. When we cook a meal, we ignore all the clutter around us and focus on the dish being prepared (cleanup comes much later). Step into a kid’s room, the room is the definition of the word “clutter”. However, in every kid’s mind, there is a method to the madness and ONLY they can just find exactly what they are looking for – even if it takes a few hours to look for it.
There are many such examples that we can share and relate in our lives.
Being able to focus on a specific task and drawing a path towards accomplishing the same, without caring about the other little chain of disorganization that we encounter is one way our minds figure out a way to focus. We are okay leaving the coffee cup on the table, dropping the jacket on the back of the chair, leaving the condiments on the table, a half-eaten muffin on the countertop because we are rushing to school or work in the morning. Mother or housekeeper sometimes get to clean up the mess and organize the place, or these get bucketed under chores and get done later.
Those with an entrepreneurial mindset, have this innate ability to see the same landscape and figure our the opportunity that lies therein. Now try to read the above examples and see if you have ever tried to see it from an opportunity standpoint.
One boy from Africa who visited a hotel in US, looked at the tiny bath soap that was well packed and was impressed at the level of detail that was put into the hospitality front. He used the soap and the next day he realized that the once-used soap was disposed and a fresh bar of soap was kept for use. He discussed it with the hotel manager and pitched the idea of recycling soap. Properly cleansing with industrial processes and sharing recycled soap that was tested and approved for use. This non-profit became a million-dollar business pretty soon and had a global impact. Think about it, how many times would we have seen the same bar soap in the hotel!
Our perspectives are limited to our exposure, goals, day to day challenges, stresses, what we need to accomplish “today”. Step out of this comfort zone and try to look around. Question yourself why are you okay with something being this way and what can you do about it?
One question – why are you okay with the status-quo changes it all.
Let the answer evolve with you.
When we let our perspectives lead the way, we get to do something about it and evolve with it. By acting on it, we get to differentiate ourselves in ways others deem unique.