How often do you as a leader focus on the circumstances around you, the situation in which you find yourself and your team, and the influences impacting your results? If you’re steeped in focus on what’s going on around you, you miss the opportunity to bring gratitude to your capabilities and those of your team. Author Benjamin Hardy said it best in his article on Gratitude in Inc.
But there’s actually a problem with focusing on circumstances at all – you’re actually far better off focusing on your capability.This is a powerful shift.If you focus on your circumstances, you’ll find plenty to complain about. But if you focus on your capability, then your only option is to get moving. Your capability is always above your circumstances. There is always something you can do to impact and change your life and move in the direction you want to go.Having gratitude for the opportunity to grow and move forward is how you change your present. You see all the beauty in what you currently have, and you recognize the amazing power you have to improve upon what you have.If you’re focused on your capability, then you’re more likely to put your energy into creating and moving forward. If you’re more focused on your circumstances, then you’re more likely to put your energy into consumption and avoidance.Focus on your capacity, not your circumstances. When you focus on your capacity, you realize that you have the power to create your desired future, regardless of what you see in front of you. When you focus on capacity, you stop being bogged down by all of the friction and challenge in your current circumstances.
I highly recommend reading the entire article. It gives you great strategies to literally re-wire your brain using gratitude. Good stuff!