One of my hobbies are the martial arts, and one reason I like is because many of the principles involved in the strategies and methods of combat also apply to other areas of life – especially business.

Two years ago, my teacher was going over what we call joint locks. If you seen martial arts films or studied martial arts, which have probably seen when someone gets an arm, wrist, finger, or leg bent in a position very uncomfortable causing much pain and tends to immobilize the other person. That is a set of lock.

In a particular exercise, the arm bent back and told me to try to escape from the lock. I fought against the blockade, but that only made the pain worse, and finally just quit trying. Then he asked me put in the same block, which I did, and immediately went to the side and turned the lock and escaped in a way that could have, myself, even if I happened to pass that way.

He said something that day would never forget: People are enclosed.

The fact is that virtually any block can safely escape if there was a need to think about how to move to escape it. What happens, however, is that people are tense and frightened, to fight against the blockade (which only makes the pain worse), and quickly just stop trying. They assume they are closed and there is nothing I can do about it. In their own minds, they've actually locked, when in fact they could have escaped at any time. Therefore, your reality becomes what's on your mind. They really are blocked and immobilized because that is what they perceive.

Perception is not reality just as real, as anyone who has been at odds with his wife knows. However, each person on the planet forms of beliefs, attitudes and actions based on their perceptions. Their perception of a situation will shape their attitudes and actions. This will then form, influence or create the current reality.

Let me say that again. Shape perceptions of reality actions that produce current.

I do not advocate a policy of denying reality. I, however, I note that we can control our perceptions, and perceptions you choose will guide our actions and those actions will shape reality. Our perceptions are like the rudder of a ship, wherever you point, which is where we go.

The CEO believes that a 75% drop in sales. They blame the bad economy, and beginning to reverse the sales force, massively in price fixing, making redundancies, or whatever this person is to do to stay alive.

Another CEO believes that the same drop in sales and wondered: "How I increase this percentage in our current environment? "Our sales tactics need to change? Do we need to market differently? Our sales have even been trained to sell? What are our competitors doing? Can someone from the outside, see our situation more clearly? Does reward high performance sales people? "

The latter may find that CEO dismissals or reductions in prices is, unfortunately, have to be part of the plan, but do you see the difference? The first president assumes no avail. The situation is hopeless and beyond their control. The best thing to do is reduce spending enough to keep the doors open. The first is general manager closed set, and never will.

The second assumes that CEO challenge can be overcome and, very quietly, asks how it could be done. They assume that they can produce a positive result, all they have to do is look at all forms they could do it, and plan accordingly. The second is general director in the same joint lock, but we know that if there is a way simply to make the right moves.

CEO who would you rather be? What do you prefer working CEO?

If you're a CEO, or manager, or a rank and file of the employees, we can all choose to perceive reality in a way that will lock us up or in a way that will lead to the results we want. There is much we can do to change the economy, but we have almost total control of what he will become.

Phil Ledgerwood is a Business Growth Specialist at Apex Business Development. He has a wide range of experience in businesses from start-up to Fortune 500 companies. An author of several books and articles as well as an accomplished speaker, Phil enjoys the mentoring part of his job the most. Phil currently runs the Kansas City LeaderCircle program, does the majority of business consulting and strategic planning, and has helped several development teams become more agile in their methodologies.

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