What Do You Want?

What do you want?

It seems like an easy question. But as you consider your response, you might discover more about what you DON'T want than what you actually do.

As humans, our brains are wired to seek out problems and search for what's not working. Our ancestors who paid more attention to potential threats and negative situations were more likely to stay alive. So over time, we developed a heightened sensitivity to negative stimuli to survive.

‍

We're wired to pay attention to what we don't want.

What does this have to do with what we want? Our negativity bias sets us up to focus our energy on solving problems and fixing things rather than envisioning and achieving ideal outcomes for our future.

At the organizational level, employees may collectively spend a disproportionate amount of time solving non-essential problems for weeks, months…dare I say years? They work very hard to plug holes and bridge gaps while still not achieving the desired outcomes.

Now, let's consider the question again - but this time accounting for our brain's natural tendency to focus on what we don't want.

1. Take a few deep breaths and clear your mind.
2. Erase all existing problems, processes, and systems from your brain. Forget the past (just for this exercise) and start fresh.
3. Imagine a wide open world - where everything is possible.

So, I'll ask again - what do you WANT? Once you're clear on this, it becomes achievable.