Page 82 - 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

would be if we kept agreements with each other. I told her how scared I was,

how angry I was, how her staying out had ruled out a good night’s sleep for me.
I asked her to try to understand. I talked about our life together when she was a
little girl, and I reminded her how extraordinarily truthful she was. I mentioned a
few incidents when she got in trouble, but how I had gone right to her for the
truth and always got it.

We talked for a long time that night, and she finally saw that coming home
when she says she’s coming home—indeed, doing what she says she’s going to
do—is a really “big deal.” It’s everything.

After that incident and conversation, Stephanie was extremely sensitive to
keeping her word. If she went out and promised to be back at a certain time, she
took along a watch or made certain someone she was with had one. The incident
that night was something neither of us forgot, because it got us clear on the idea

of trust and agreements. You could even say that it was a good thing.

We have heard of so many incidents where bad events in retrospect were
strokes of great fortune. A person who broke her leg skiing met a doctor in the
hospital, fell in love, married him, and had a happy relationship for life. Because
most of us have experienced a number of these incidents, we’re aware of the
dynamic. What seems bad (a broken leg) turns out unexpectedly great. We begin
to see the truth that every problem carries a gift inside it. By choosing to make
use of seemingly bad events, you can access that gift much sooner. By asking
yourself How can I use this? or What might be good about this? you can turn
your life around on a dime.

56. Storm your own brain

The term “brainstorming” is now very well-known in American business
life. I first learned it many years ago when I worked as a copywriter in an ad

agency. Whenever we would get a new account, our agency’s president would
get us all together to brainstorm for creative ideas for the client.

The main rules of a brainstorming session are: 1) there are no stupid ideas—
the more unreasonable the better; and 2) everyone must play. I have facilitated
brainstorming sessions with business managers. We go around the table and each
person puts out an idea and the facilitator writes it on the flip pad. We go around
and around until all the reasonable ideas are exhausted and the unreasonable