Stuck on a train for 7 hours, I discovered a mindset shift that transformed my entire approach to work and life.
A few months ago, I travelled to London by train to work with one of my favourite clients on Monday. Storm Bert had been busy doing its thing over the weekend and the weather was pretty grotty when I left home around 5pm to catch my train but off to Burton on Trent station I went and although the train was busy, it was on time. A quick change to the London train at Derby and I “should” have been in London in an hour and a half. Famous last words! The Derby train was cancelled, as were all other trains to London from Derby due to a landslide, so rather a lot of people were then sent to Birmingham. Guess what? Yep, the train we were meant to get from Birmingham was cancelled too! We all eventually piled onto a train London bound at 8:30pm.
And here comes the lesson…
Opposite me on the train was a lovely gentleman, let’s call him Bert, just like the storm. 87 years old and he had been to Sheffield for the weekend by train to visit an old friend. He was a little worried when there was an announcement that the train would be delayed and wouldn’t get to Euston till around 11pm. He needed to get to Woking and was worried about catching his last train.
The background chatter on the train was plenty of doom and gloom with people complaining, moaning, having “nightmare” journeys. Everyone was just a bit fed up, tired and wanted to get home or, for me, to my hotel.
A quick google for my new friend and all was well – the last train wasn’t until after midnight which gave him plenty of wiggle room. He beamed a huge smile at me and declared. “Well, what an adventure!!”
When I eventually got into my hotel after midnight, 7 hours since leaving home and drenched after the walk from the station, I was still smiling and thinking, “What an adventure!”. I’d met and chatted to some lovely people on the train, had a lesson in positive thinking from an octogenarian and I taught Positive Leadership to my client on Monday with a great new story!
How is your thinking impacting your day?
If you’d like to know more about how you and/or your team can think like Bert, arrange a chat with Lorna and she will be able to tell you how we can help you through our coaching and training programmes.