Don't wait for breakfast - a short story about life!

99-SECOND READ

'Don't wait for the right opportunity: create it.'

George Bernard Shaw

Recently, I was staying in a hotel in Gran Canaria, I came down for breakfast at 8:15 one morning with my girlfriend to discover a small gathering of people standing silently outside the closed restaurant door. 

Three facts you need to be aware of:

1. The hotel serves breakfast from 8am
2. We could see people inside the restaurant helping themselves to food
3. I was hungry

So, I asked the group “Have you tried the door?”

“Yes, several times!!” came the response.

Silence.

Me, “How long have you been waiting here?”

“10 mins”

“Is there another way into the restaurant?” I asked the group.

Someone said, “I think you can go in via the pool.”

My partner and I walked to the pool… 20 seconds later, the group followed.

Within 3 minutes, we were all helping ourselves to breakfast.

Do you see what this anecdote tells us about life?

We can easily fall into the trap of following other people and accepting less-than-ideal situations, even when we can see there is an alternative. Waiting for things to happen or change - not questioning, not challenging, not seeking solutions, even when they are simple, and we can find the answer. 

Because I understand group dynamics (and because I was hungry) I chose not to accept this situation. I knew why people weren't talking - I knew that no one wanted to be the one to speak out or look silly. So I didn’t feel embarrassed to look for an alternative and ask some basic questions. I knew that doing this would reward me with a positive outcome, and ultimately benefit the whole group. 

If we want to move forward in life, we have to question, we have to use our initiative and be prepared to be different. Just because a staff member had forgotten to unlock the restaurant door, a group of guests accepted waiting hungrily in a corridor for their breakfast. So whether you don't like your job, or any part of your life:

Don’t accept it and simply wait for it to change because you see others doing the same.

The solutions are usually simple and probably staring you right in the face.

Just like my client Shabari: 

"I thought it was interesting that I set out talking to Simon with no end-goal to achieve in my mind but achieved so much. I honestly felt like something had unlocked within me and I sought out opportunities that were in front of me all along but I never reached for it."

Life is precious, you don’t want to spend it waiting in the corridor, do you?

So let me help you get your breakfast! 

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