Look Ahead!

I walked down the city mall in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago to the sound of Jingle Bells blaring from a department store and my brain was tempted to go one of two paths.

1. Where did this year go? Why are they playing Christmas Carols so early? I am so busy. I haven’t bought anything yet, Blah, Blah, Blah.

This would have been an easy path to go down and to be perfectly honest, a path that I have taken often. Or, I could take the other path:

2. What an amazing year it has been. Look how much I have achieved. Look at how much I have grown (I don’t mean weight). I can’t wait to share the next month with friends and family.

This path is not quite so easy, but it is an amazing journey when you take it. So I decided to take path number two.

Without realizing it my attitude changed immediately. I felt good, I had a smile on my face and I started to look forward to what was ahead.

As I relay this very simple but powerful story, I am again amazed at the power of the mind and the choices that it gives us in every situation.

Just recently I received a very negative email from someone who blamed me, their partner, the government, people with blue eyes (not really) for everything bad that had happened in their life.  As much as I felt some compassion for their situation, their life was in this state because of the choices that they made.

It is so easy to blame others, or indeed get so overwhelmed with what is happening around us that we stop making the right decisions and we stop looking forward to what is ahead.

So, as we approach the festive season, reflect on the positives of 2014 and celebrate the great things that have happened.

Remember our responses impact on how others then respond. So, let’s lead the way and set the scene for a great month ahead.

Have a wonderful Christmas, get some rest so that you can be firing on all cylinders as we approach another year as Optimistic Disturbers.

Until January – stay safe and be happy!

Des Penny

Proteus Leadership is one of Australia’s premier leadership training and development companies. Proteus Leadership provides leadership courses and management training to a range of industries and assists organisations to build positive workplace cultures, implement change and Create Great Leaders. Proteus also facilitates a range of world-class management courses, workshops, conferences and events across Australia and beyond with the sole purpose of bringing leaders together to connect and grow.

“Our core purpose is to Create Great Leaders that will in turn build Great companies and develop Great teams.”