Choose The Powerful Mindset Of Beethoven And Mother Teresa.

Strife Doesn't Have To Cripple A Life.

Apparently it’s a lot easier to identify what we are against over identifying what we are for.?The current political landscape proves this.?You hear more about, “I don’t like that candidate because they stand for this.”?It takes more brain power to define what you?do?want.?Judgement is easy because thinking takes a back seat.?That’s why wisdom and judgement go together.?Wisdom is judgement refined.?Wisdom is scarce, unrefined judgement abounds.

Ever eat at 5 Guys??It’s a restaurant chain serving hamburgers and fries.?Not exactly a novel concept.?In my experience there, it costs significantly more than McDonalds but doesn’t deliver more value in my bag.?Maybe that’s why the nearby locations are no longer in business.

In picking a fight with Goliath your weaponry and resolve must be superior.?I imagine 5 Guys management discussing their business mission as, “We’ll make good hamburgers and fries with bigger smiles from our workers demonstrating how badly we want success.”?When you’re hungry, paying more for a bigger smile doesn’t fill your stomach.?Their food is fine, but their why pay more part is sketchy.?Five Guys appears to tussle with defining the difference of being against McDonalds more than being for something else.

It’s a lesson in asking yourself, “What are we doing and why are we doing it?”?Business intelligence suggests success lies behind doing it better or doing it cheaper or creating a new category.?Few would say beating McDonalds at their own game is sound wisdom.?Burger King, Wendy’s and a few others are already embroiled in that fight.?And the same products with a different sign is not a new category.?A new hamburger category??Better have a huge war chest.

Being for something promotes forward action.?Being against something means instigating a fight.?In 1967 Mother Teresa turned down an opportunity to march against the Vietnam war saying, “I will march instead for something you are for but not something you are against.”?Mother Teresa saw the contrast between a positive and negative effort.?One brings change, the other merely condemns.

It shines the light on the dilemma for any business person, choosing and acting upon what are you for is a lot harder than stating what you are against.?There are perils in pursuits toward excellence absent in being a critic.

Music virtuoso Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) is known the world over, even by those who don’t appreciate classical music.?Over a period of 45 years he produced 722 works, the first one composed when he was 11 years old.?Work encompassing operas, piano sonatas, symphonies, concertos and string quartets spanned solo performances to large orchestras.

Perhaps as popular now as ever, Beethoven’s immense body of work is performed globally, influences countless movie scores and kindles other music genres.?But it wasn’t all roses for Beethoven.?Some music historians believe the passion and depth of Beethoven’s music was inspired by the demons he wrestled and the tragedies he endured.?At one low point Beethoven clawed his way back from contemplating suicide at age 32.?Misfortune chased him his entire life:

• The second child of 7, 4 of Beethoven’s siblings died as infants.
• His father was an unreliable, abusive alcoholic.
• His mother died when he was 16, leaving Ludwig to raise his younger brothers.
• He was likely dyslexic, foiling his education, he dropped out of school at 16.
• He never married, unlucky in love, having relationships with married women or those of an unreachable, aristocratic class.
• He was emotionally distraught over being denied access to a disabled son he fathered with a married woman.
• At age 42 he went broke paying for medical care for his younger brother who contracted tuberculosis.
• He started losing his hearing at age 28 and was completely deaf by the time he was 44.
• Prior to dying at age 56, he suffered a painful litany of severe medical issues, many from the effects of alcoholism.

Pinballing from one disaster to the next, no one would blame Beethoven if he led a simple life being?against?family anguish, fateful misery, medical trauma and the torture of deafness.?But he didn’t.?He lived a life?for?producing his art, contributing to the joy of others and leaving the world better than he found it.

Standing for something surely defines what you want, but more importantly, a clearly defined mission becomes actionable.?Declaring a purpose streamlines decision making comparing objectives and elevates your brand among competitors.?Failing to define your mission creates confusion among customers, clouds your crystal ball and clips your wings of opportunity.?You don’t want that.

The Chinese symbol for Crisis contains 2 ideographs, one for danger the other opportunity.?Your mindset chooses the preference.?The optimist sees opportunity, the pessimist sees danger. When trouble strikes, what do you see?

Beethoven and Mother Teresa are poster people for making optimistic choices to positively impact the world.?Strife doesn’t have to cripple a life.?Adopting a mindset of what you and your business stand for is a cornerstone of success.