In a mastermind meeting inside the Dreaming Co the other day, we were discussing our challenges, opportunities, problems, ideas, and solutions, and one of my dear friends started her time by saying “My problems have become my opportunities.”
It’s a powerful and incredibly life-changing statement when you can wrap your mind around it.
Even as I’m the one technically “running” this mastermind, I think there’s nothing better I could say than that right there.
That day, I was facing my own set of challenges and problems, looking for solutions all around me, but I definitely wasn’t looking at my problems as opportunities.
There’s something that happens in your creative brain when you begin to look at your problems as opportunities instead of just more problems. When you reframe a problem into an opportunity, your mind immediately begins to look for new ideas and creative solutions instead of just a quick fix.
When we don’t look at a problem as an opportunity, it continues to be a problem until we find some way to put a band-aid on it. When we view our problems as nothing more than problems, our minds aren’t given the opportunity to come up with creative solutions. We might find a quick fix for now, but ultimately, we’re not fixing anything.
Here’s the honest truth about where we were at during this meeting… I was looking at a problem in my life simply as a problem. I wasn’t looking at it as an opportunity to stay focused on what mattered most. Actually, what I had been doing was what I call “scraping the bottom of the barrel.” Meaning that instead of staying focused on our long-term goals of building up two brand new businesses, I was instead trying to scramble to scrape together whatever I could, which was ultimately taking me away from the time that could have been spent building up the businesses.
Basically, we had a short-term problem that needed a quick fix. But instead of finding creative ways to create a solution by looking at the problem as an opportunity, I was only looking at the problem as the problem it was and doing whatever I could (no matter how big of a waste of time it was) to find a quick fix.
Having lost our sole source of income six months ago, our savings are now depleted, and we’re working on commission-based businesses, and we were at the bottom of the hypothetical barrel.
But during that day’s mastermind, something clicked. I started to understand that as long as I continue to see these issues as problems instead of opportunities, they will continue to arise repeatedly.
The reality is, we are in a situation where our yes has to be lasered focused right now. Brian is all in on building up his roofing book of business while starting another new business at the same time. I am all in with the dreaming Co., and the flower farm which essentially means we are both building two businesses (that’s four altogether!) while also trying to pay our bills.
As the old saying goes, it takes money to make money. And while that is true, it also takes focus and intention. And focus and intention are something that I can give right now. So, instead of being distracted by trying to find a quick fix, I started looking at this little problem as an opportunity to think outside the box.
Instead of heading back to our storage unit to try to sell more stuff, which would take me days at a time, I decided instead to put my focus back on the business. How can I share openly about The Dreaming Co? How can I talk about the blessing it has been in so many lives and get people to see the vision about why they need to be there, too? How can I create meaningful and valuable experiences at the farm that can also help generate income for us?
I started asking myself questions that ultimately led to our problem becoming opportunities.
Losing our income, selling things that we’ve owned, borrowing, and asking for money has all been an incredibly humbling experience. But I know that our best years, days, and opportunities for generosity are ahead of us, not behind us. And it’s because I’m choosing to look at this very minor problem as an opportunity.
I wonder what problem you can reframe into an opportunity for growth? Instead of getting stuck in the same cycle over and over again, how can you make a shift and a change simply by changing your mindset and your perspective?
Every single thing we’ve gone through in the past six months has helped prepare us for all the things we’re currently walking towards. Those are stories for another day, but God’s hand in our lives and the provision he’s provided is absolutely undeniable.
And I believe that being in that mastermind and hearing my dear friend say the words, “my problems have become my opportunities,” was part of that provision in the form of wisdom and a mindset shift that I will carry forward with me for the rest of my life.
Got problems? What if you actually just have a whole bunch of opportunities?
until tomorrow
-xo-Allison
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