Last week I encouraged the team in Denver to be aware of the context that drives them to think and behave the way that they do.

I, too, decided to take on that exercise during the past week.  I can readily see that I have two basic conceptual frameworks that drive how I see and interact with the world.

One mental framework I operate from is:  “Life works”.   The other place I operate from is:  “Life is a struggle and I am likely to end up being disappointed”.

I could easily see both frameworks at play yesterday as I attempted to check in with my son in Boston to see if he received his Hanukah present.  I went on line to see a picture of where the delivery person dropped off the package so I called Nicholas to see if he ever got it.

He replied that he did not.  I then confirmed the address with him over the phone and was surprised to find out that I mis read his note and put sixth street in the address instead of eight street.  He went to eighth street and still could not find the package.  This reinforced the notion that the world, indeed, is not a safe place, life sucks, and I will be disappointed.

I contacted Amazon and owned my mistake.  To my shock and delight they agreed to send out another package to the correct address without any additional charges.  This reinforced the notion that “Life works”.

A few minutes later I went on line to purchase fan gear for my son, his wife, and grandson.  My debit card was denied for some reason.  For a nano second I slipped into operating from the old context that Life is not easy – it’s a struggle and I will likely be disappointed”.  The good news is that I visited that context momentarily and then rapidly returned to the notion  that LIFE WORKS.

The moment I shifted to the notion that life works I get a text from my bank’s fraud alert system warning me of a potential purchase to a vendor it did not recognize.  WOW!!  Chase bank is looking out on my behalf.

I confirmed that I, indeed, made the purchase, and was subsequently instructed how to complete the order.

I have met some people in my life who operate from a spiritual context that suggests that everything that happens to them was “divinely guided”.  Others operate from a context that suggests that we are here to learn lessons.

When it comes to business the context I choose to most often operate with is: Within the context that LIFE WORKS  Each interaction I have with a client, vendor, or prospect is a platform for me to bring my gifts.  A trigger is a signal that my gift is needed so it is very important for me to rapidly work through my own emotional upset (driven by another context ) so I can take advantage of the opportunity to be of greater service inside of the conversation.

Within the context that LIFE DOES NOT WORK then when I get triggered I have got to protect myself to survive because I clearly can’t count on life to work out