“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.”
- Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963), English writer and philosopher
Let’s start with the business application first. The deal you won? It’s over. Congratulations. What will you do next? The deal you lost? Probably over, also. What will you do next? Cross words spoken to a colleague, or even a Client? What will you do next?
As a coach, I’ve always believed we learn more in a loss than a win. I still hate losing, don’t get me wrong. But learning beats sulking. Any reaction at all beats blaming! (Blame is a loser’s game!) As a leader, my experience is that strategy gives us options for what to do next based on what happened to or with or because of what we just did or didn’t do.
Switching over to THE Week application. Give or take a couple of years, 2008ish years (and five days) ago, what He did next makes what we just did moot. It is finished. The gift is there for the taking. Some awful, hateful, and ultimately fatal things happened to Him, and what He did with them is a gift to all of us that keeps growing the more we pay it forward to those around us.
Faith dictates that we apply the concept to our business and broader lives. Even if we just apply it to our business, it will make a difference. When we live the idea with confidence and commitment across all aspects of our lives, whatever happens to us is a Blessing. What we do with it will Bless others.
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