You can either finish reading this blog post and go on with your day or you can stop reading now.
(I knew you’d stick around.)
I appreciate your readership, but don’t let me tell you what you can or can’t do. Don’t let anyone give you only two options.
There are always alternatives. You could read this halfway through, reread it, pass it on to friends, or leave a comment. You can write your own post telling me why I’m wrong, or you could refuse to ever return to this site. But you have more than “this or that.”
Leaders refuse to answer to an ultimatum; they have the ability to create more possibilities.
Photo provided by arroclint (http://www.sxc.hu/profile/arroclint)
Life is not a multiple choice exam. Your options are not laid out plainly on a sheet of paper. When you feel trapped in an ultimatum that doesn’t have an answer you like, simply choose none of the above.
That’s great, you say, but how do I eliminate ultimatums in my life? I’m so glad you asked. In three easy steps, you too can become a non-conformist.
- Assess the situation. When doors are closed, check the windows. Look for unconventional ways to answer the ultimatum.
- Ask your friends. Talk with them about the predicament you’re in, but don’t tell them that you’ve been presented with two varieties of answers. See what ideas they come up with when they don’t feel confined to the either/or you’ve been pigeonholed into.
- Amalgamate. Combine the either/or to create a compromise. It doesn’t have to be A or F–that’s why educators dreamed up the high school and college seniors favorite letter: C.
Eliminate the ultimatums in your life…or fall prey to them and limit your possibilities.
Your take: What do you do when your are provided with an ultimatum? How do you create opportunities?
Good suggestion. Might I add that there are a lot of predicaments that could be avoided before they happen. I would have to add a number 4 saying that one should step back and think about what they are doing before they do it, and think of the outcomes. This might better prepare ones self for a solution to an ultimatum. If you know what to study for for the test, and you cover everything before hand, there is only one possibility, and that is success.