In my role as CEO, I often ask myself “What’s really important right now?”. I try to think long-term, and about what’s really vital, not just urgent.

I’ve noticed that my instinctive response to “what’s important” usually has to do with the biggest potential problems I see facing us. And there are always plenty of problems. But if I spend most of my strategic energy on what is not going well, and leave what is going well on cruise control, what happens? I may turn potential strikeouts into base hits, but what about my potential home runs?

I think there’s a gut-level reason for my tendency to emphasize problem-solving over opportunity-seeking. Strikeouts don’t feel good, so I want to avoid them. They feel like failure and they just aren’t fun. Problems threaten to undermine the success we already have, and that’s scary. Home runs are fun, but on an emotional level I’m fine with going home knowing I made nice steady base hits every day. I don’t feel so good on the days I strike out.

Of course reality is that opportunity-seeking is vital to the long-term success of any business. A proactive rather than defensive posture is key to success. Staying optimistic and proactive in frightening economic times is easier said than done, for sure.

So I’m trying to deliberately ask myself not only “What are our worst problems?” but also “What are our best opportunities?”. Doing that I’ve been surprised at how many great opportunities we really do have in front of us, and I’m feeling more optimistic and energized about what’s possible.

What questions do you ask yourself when you’re working on the big picture?