Lessons from Coffee: What Do I Want?

When you walk into your favorite coffee place in the morning, I doubt that the first thing on your mind is, “How are the coffee bean plantations doing today?” If you are a true coffee aficionado, you may know that your preferred beans come from Columbia or Nicaragua, but you probably don’t worry much about the well-being of the coffee growers.

But companies such as Starbucks, Keurig Green Mountain, Illycaffe and others who rely on coffee beans for their very existence and continued growth, do. Coffee plantations world-wide have been experiencing unusual fluctuations in heat, rain and other environmental factors, which impact the available supply of beans for – guess what – your cup of joe! And those companies are investing boots-on-the-ground, as well as substantial funds, to help local coffee-growers find solutions to their issues.

Why should you care? Beyond caring about the price of your coffee-addiction doubling or tripling in the very near future. . . because these companies are demonstrating an approach to their problems that we all should be mindful of when approaching our own.

Too often, we (I!) expend entirely too much energy on bemoaning a problem: you can’t find a job, your current job is lame, your boyfriend/girlfriend left you for another, the economy is trashed, politics are killing us all, what’s that rash on your elbow?, your cell died in the middle of an important call . . . need I go on?

Problems! We all have them, of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Just like the coffee companies. And we need to do more of what they do: invest boots-on-the-ground and funds in getting creative. Looking beyond the problem to creative ways of addressing whatever the situation. Boots-on-the-ground would mean doing your research, on the web or in brainstorming with friends. Reading books (there’s a thought!), meditating on the question, seeking advice from those who’ve had similar issues. Funds? Well, that’s obvious. Take classes, seminars, get training of one sort or another, invest in a path that will take you past the issue.

It all starts with how you think about your issue. With getting off the blame-game, the “woe-is-me” pity party, the “it’s impossible” litany, just dumping that entire way of looking at things, and adopting the “It is what it is. Fine. Here’s what I want, let’s get on with it.”

Key words? “Here’s what I want,” rather than “Here’s what I don’t want.” That simple change in semantics will change the direction of your thought, which in turn, will get you on the path to resolving your issue, whatever it is. Yay!