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Paradigms and Possibilities
By karen | June 7, 2007
Sometimes the solution to a question or a problem that you are having is right in front of you. But you can’t see it. It’s there, waiting to be recognized, waiting for you to take advantage of it but you are so stuck in your thinking that you just can’t see it for what it is.
It is likely that you are so used to seeing things in one way or believing that something is one way that the new opportunities and options available just don’t fit into your ideas of how it is.
When I was a kid the finest watches in the world were made in Switzerland. The Swiss made the best mechanical watches out there. They saw some new opportunities and they improved their products with such things as second hands, waterproofing, automatic winding (remember those? Sounded like a cricket on your arm!) and so forth. They were on top of the game when it came to producing watches.
Yet, seemingly overnight their watch-making dynasty was wiped out. Not gone completely but they were no longer recognized as being the finest watchmakers in the world. They no longer carried the market share. Their sales collapsed in an instant.
It’s ironic how it happened. Another company took an invention that was actually created in Switzerland, the digital watch, and they ran with it. Seiko from Japan soon became the premier watchmaker in the world.
How could that happen?
Because even though the Swiss invented the digital watch, they were stuck in their ideas.
They had a paradigm that watches would continue to be as they always had been- mechanical. They couldn’t see the changes on the horizon. They kept doing things the way they always had and instead of getting the same results as they expected, things changed, they then experienced failures while the company who took advantage of the new idea prospered.
Things change. A million things have changed with the Internet. Long time industries have had to adjust to the fact that the Internet allows ordinary people to do things themselves that those industries always did for a price. The value of their services has diminished.
Everything changes. Life is never static.
So how does this relate to our lives on a personal level?
Well like I mentioned earlier, sometimes the answer is right there in front of us but we can’t recognize it because we expected it to come in a different package. It’s like we’re looking at a wonderful and amazing package that arrived from American Express but we walk right past it, won’t look inside it and ignore it because the package we were expecting was supposed to be wrapped in the brown paper wrapper from UPS.
When you are thinking about solutions, open your mind. Perhaps the way to accomplish it is right in front of you. It may look different than you expected.
Open up to new possibilities. There may be a way that you have never thought of before.
There is a wonderful quote that I often think of. I have no idea who said it or where it came from. If you do, please let me know and I will give credit.
are often interrupted by the people doing it”.
(update: June 30, 2007- A new friend has informed me that it was Mark Twain who said it! Should have known! Thank you, BC!)
Don’t get stuck in a paradigm of thinking it can only happen one way. The answer may be in front of you if you open up your mind to different possibilities.
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This post is included in the June 17, 2007 edition of The Personal Development Carnival which is located this week at The Power of Choice
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You can see this post along with many other great posts at the The Carnival of Life, Happiness and Meaning located at Life Insurance Lowdown.com.
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Topics: Personal Development, Living the Power |
June 17th, 2007 at 6:54 am
[…] Karen Lynch presents Paradigms and Possibilities posted at Live The Power. […]
June 29th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[…] Karen Lynch presents Paradigms and Possibilities posted at LivethePower. Sometimes the solution to a question or a problem that you are having is right in front of you. But you can’t see it. It’s there, waiting to be recognized, waiting for you to take advantage of it but you are so stuck in your thinking that you just can’t see it for what it is. […]
June 30th, 2007 at 3:36 am
Mark Twain, my friend. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. Nice thoughts. But Vision- now there’s something! BC
June 30th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Mark Twain! Wow, Thank you! No longer will I neglect giving Mark credit for saying that!
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comment and your visit!