4 Resources You Already Have Are Enough to Crush Every Challenge Every problem has a solution.
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If Isaac Newton were a businessman, he might have said the size and significance of your goal brings with it an equal or greater amount of challenges you will have to overcome in order to achieve it.
Anyone who's pursued anything worthwhile in life or business has experienced this truth. People have, over and over, conquered insurmountable odds, but we still overlook the most critical resource we need to navigate the gauntlet to achievement. When we are thrown a curveball, we typically react with time, money, people, systems or even more sales. While those are valuable resources to any business, at the heart of them all lies resourcefulness.
Related: 3 Lessons a Young Entrepreneur Learned From Sir Richard Branson
Perhaps we don't consider resourcefulness a resource. Maybe the challenge itself casts a shadow on how we look at the situation. Whatever the case, today more than ever, your company needs resourcefulness in order to survive. The world is changing at the speed of light, and it's a matter of time before your once-cutting-edge business becomes a dinosaur.
Tony Robbins famously said, "Resourcefulness is the ultimate resource." It's your company's ability to shift with the changing winds. In other words, get good at figuring things out, solving problems and adjusting your sails to the winds.
For 12 years, I have worked with a local, family-owned homebuilder that competes against the national big boys. They leverage this position as their strongest competitive advantage. They break rules, adjust quickly and implement new ideas and solutions without being bogged down by a board of directors or investors.
This has allowed them to take calculated risks and pioneer new processes that have consistently positioned them in the top brand awareness spots in the market, in spite of their small size. They are constantly being featured in the press and winning national industry awards, currently ranked as the second fastest-growing private homebuilder in the nation, with 150 percent growth since 2016.
One benefit they enjoy is lack of competition. In one meeting, I remember the CEO saying he's not worried at all about copycats. "By the time they can get around to doing this, we'll be on to the next idea."
Here are four ways you can reap the benefits of resourcefulness.
1. Tap into your creativity.
What is the number one reason why you should shower every day? Ideas, of course. Showering, exercising, driving and other relaxing activities puts your mind in a relaxed state, which produces a flow of creative, free-form thinking.
Your brain is not meant to be stimulated 24/7. Yet in today's high-tech environment, we're constantly plugged in. According to a recent article from the New York Post, Americans check their cell phones 80 times per day. That's insane. How are your thoughts supposed to breathe under nonstop stimulation?
While we all experience a "eureka" moment every now and then, more commonly, ideas drift in unannounced, like a wandering sheep. Rather than trying to force them, focus instead on attracting them and welcoming them when they come.
Related: This Marketing Maven Makes Connections Through Creative Experiences
2. Ignite your team.
Take a hard-core look at your culture. Are your employees afraid of new ideas? Do they feel incentivized to solve problems, explore and innovate? Business owners are problem solvers. Employees often do not think the same way because they aren't given the opportunity to do so.
Fostering an ownership mentality in your workplace empowers everyone to take risks and look for new ways of doing things. Implement a way to celebrate new ideas, creative solutions and problems solved.
3. Dare to ask.
Most of us are afraid to speak up. Yet one of the common characteristics of successful people is their insatiable appetite for clarity. If you still have unanswered questions, don't view asking as a sign of weakness. It means you care about your craft and your assignment. Steve Jobs and other entrepreneurs are known for their curiosity, exposing them to unrelated fields which opens their minds to new ideas.
Great leaders don't have all the answers, but they do seem to have an endless supply of questions. Seeking answers gives you a clear understanding of your task, which in turn empowers you to figure out the best way to get there, even if it's not the most obvious.
Related: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work
4. Remember that every problem has a solution.
Problems are inherent in life. They come standard. And everyone has them, so don't be surprised when things don't go perfectly.
A few years ago, as my family was getting ready to leave, my son realized he had lost one of his shoes. We knew it was somewhere in the house, but he did not know exactly where. There was no disputing that the shoe was in our home; it was only a matter of where. And all we needed to do was take the time to look around until we found it.
Remember that solutions to your problems are already there. But they're hiding, waiting to be uncovered. You just have to snoop around long enough to find them.
Rather than banging your head against the wall, say to yourself, "The solution exists. I just have to find it." When you approach problems this way, it minimizes the size of the problem and opens up your mind to find the solution.
At the end of the day, the product or service you sell is likely very similar to what 100 other companies sell. Set yourself apart using resourcefulness to solve problems and stay relevant.
