Jailhouse Rock (How a bad thing can be a good thing)

Monopoly is the best selling board game in the world and has actually outsold all of it’s rivals and most other board games of it’s kind.

The game has been distributed to over 103 countries and has been re-produced into 37 languages.

For music fans, they have The Beatles, Elvis, Metallica and AC/DC versions.

Take a Chance on Me

With its far reach across so many countries, I’m sure everyone reading this has played Monopoly at least once in their lives.

Here’s how the scenario unfolds . . .

You roll the dice, and you move your piece to the spot on the board with the large red or blue question mark labeled “chance”

You draw the orange card and it says . . .

Go directly TO JAIL.

DO NOT PASS GO.

DO NOT COLLECT $200.

Most of the time everyone hates getting this particular “chance” card. Not only did it mean you missed the the opportunity to increase your fortune by $200 but you had to rot in jail for a while or pay the price. You could take three tries to roll doubles (good luck) or pay a $50 fine or buy a “get out of jail free” card from an opponent, if you didn’t have one yourself that is.  Either way, it sucked, usually.

But it wasn’t always a bad occurrence was it?

Back on the Chain Gang

Remember right around the time when you were low on cash and you would be approaching a block where your opponents had properties that had hotels or houses on them? In that case, going directly to jail was good thing. It allowed you to skip over the potential rental fees ahead and bought you a stay of execution, at least for a few more rolls of the dice.

The only thing that changed was your perspective.

Is it possible that other events that seem bad on the surface may possibly be a good thing? We often tend to look at the event in the present moment as if we were fortune tellers and we know for sure the future outcome. Unfortunately we’re usually misfortune tellers, always focusing on the negative rather than being neutral or positive about it.

Time is on Our Side

What if we didn’t attach a certain outcome to the event and decided instead to take a wait and see approach to things? I’ll bet there have been events in your life that at the time they happened, they seemed terrible. But then upon looking back it wasn’t really that bad at all In fact, it may have even led to something better. Whether it was personal growth, a new job, a new spouse or a relocation, it turned out fine.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” ~Leo Tolstoy

Jailbreak

Instead of locking yourself in jail over temporary events, why not start assuming that you just don’t know yet? The reality is that you actually don’t know for sure whether it’s good or bad, you’re just feeling emotion at that moment in time, which doesn’t allow you to think clearly.  Feeling the emotion of an event is normal but wallowing in is not. And remaining frozen, is even worse.

You cannot change the event, only your response to it. You have a get out of jail free card, use it next time. Think, pray, exhale and then act on making things better.

As for the event that might derail you, just let it be.

Rob Liano
Rock Star Life Coach & Sales Trainer
www.rockstarsalestraining.com
1.855.832.ROCK (7625)

 © Rob Liano and Rock Star Success Coaching, 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rob Liano and Rock Star Success Coaching with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.