What if you had to?

About 14 years ago my company paid for all of the salary employees to attend a Stephen Covey's '7 Habits for Highly Effective People' seminar. I'm sure it cost the company a great deal of money, and many of the employees didn't get anything out of it. Like many seminars, it had good points and bad, thinks to take from it and things to forget. I enjoyed it, still being rather impressionable and open I guess being just out of college. I enjoyed it so much that I volunteered to take the training necessary to become a facilitator in those same 7 Habits, so that we could bring it to the entire hourly population at the plant. It is amazing how much more you learn when you have to facilitate the material!

In any case, after these years I doubt I can name all 7 Habits. I still have the training material, gathering dust in a corner. But I still remember one important phrase I heard when I was originally taking the seminar. "What if I had to?"

The facilitator at the time brought up this phrase to make some point that I don't remember - but the gist of the idea is that we too often put up barriers, too often think that something can't be done, too often don't give ourselves enough credit for the things we can do. By saying that phrase, many of those barriers and negative thoughts can be erased.


I've said that phrase to myself over the years since then when I get stressed, or worried that something won't/can't get done. It especially comes in handy when my 'To Do' list at work gets long, and the phone is ringing, with 153 emails to answer. It is very easy at that point to get overloaded and self-destruct into a heap. However, by saying and thinking about these 5 words, I've found they've given me strength and resolve, and a better sense of purpose, when I find myself in those positions.


When you think about the words - really think about them - they hit home (at least to me). What if you had to? What would you do differently if you had to? How could you succeed if everything depended on it? What if failure was not an option?


Some might say that this may just add stress to the situation. I disagree. It is when you are stressed the most and not thinking clearly that this brings clarity to the situation. You immediately prioritize what is most important. In most cases, the path becomes remarkably clear, as the fog lifts from your brain waves, showing you the way. You may not like the answer or the path shown, but deep in your heart you know that probably is the only road to take. 

When I look at the path that our government has taken these last years/decades, I realize that they constantly look for the quick and easy fix. They are not solving the real problems, the underlying issues that they are making bigger and nastier by not addressing. We are now at the point where we need to demand of the government to answer the question - "What if YOU had to?" What if you had to fix the health care system - really fix it? What if you had to fix the debt problems? What if you had to fix social security, medicare, etc. etc. etc.  What if you had to fix these problems so that we don't fall off another financial cliff into oblivion?


First, they'd say that they are trying to do just that. They'd never admit to you that in order to fix it right, they are worried that they'd never get reelected. They don't want to make the hard choices. The truth of the matter is, the only choices that are left are hard. I believe the American people can accept that truth if properly told to us. No doubt we will be mad, and angry and our lives greatly affected. But show us the way, the path that deep down in our hearts we know to be true, and we'll follow it. We'll follow it because we know that it'll be better for our kids, our grandkids, and for the generations to follow. We'll follow that path because we've asked that question of ourselves. Americans have shown for more than 200 years that we are willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work to solve the grandest of problems - we just need to be pointed down the path.  When asked at the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 what kind of government we had, Benjamin Franklin responded "A Republic, if you can keep it". That caveat holds no less true today.



'What if you had to?' That has a lot more promise in it than the words - 'What if we don't.'