Reflections: Velcro and Teflon

Here is a short and quick – but I hope impactful – tip for this week.

Quick story: I was speaking with a colleague earlier this week reflecting on our work. She is also in business for herself in a fascinating, niche market. She recently spent 18 months living abroad, is settling back into life in the USA and focused on taking her business to another level.

These evaluative conversations with a trusted partner are necessary and vital. I’ll list the sections of our talk, so you can see if there is a step you need to take.

We were:

• reviewing the current state of our businesses (when was the last time you reviewed your current state – where are you now, where are you going?)
• talking about our various projects (it’s easy get involved in too many things and not make real progress on anything)
• checking the support systems we have in place (because the lone ranger mentality simply doesn’t work)
• looking at the numbers (at the end of the day the numbers won’t be ignored.)

She had experienced some real growth in an area and I congratulated her on that. She said, “Yes, I know it, but my mind always goes to what I haven’t done.”

Can’t we all relate to that?

I encouraged her with the words of Dr. Rick Hanson, author of Hardwiring Happiness:

Our minds are like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive experiences.

She said that was exactly how she was thinking – like she had blinders on to see only those parts that weren’t up to par.

Is there a way to change the way we think? Yes, read more about one-on-one coaching to learn how.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.