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“You can run all you want,
but the baggage you travel with will
continue to hold you down until you let some of it go.”
I found myself power-hosing some wooden decking over the weekend.
It’s one of the few manual jobs I do, as my usual mindset is ‘out-source.com’…
But I was amazed at how better the deck looked after getting blasted with this high-pressure water – it literally made the deck look like new again.
3 things struck me:
1. A lot of dirt builds up naturally over time on everything.
And the same thing can happen to us – in work and life. Stuff happens – and we can hold onto situations and experiences internally – baggage – and not realise that they are ‘dirtying’ our mindset. And that of course affects our outlook, attitude, optimism and energy.
2. It’s important to clean the dirt away periodically.
The same can be said for us and our teams. It’s vital to have periodic mental resets, where we literally drop the old baggage (mindsets, attitude) and embrace the new. We have to consciously drop old mindsets and refresh to embrace new ones. This might mean taking a break – or speaking with someone who will challenge your viewpoint – or just by becoming aware of the mindsets you’re carrying around and the impact on results.
3. Water in high pressure is an incredible tool!
Water coming from a tap at home is low pressure and it has various uses. But increase the pressure and it can tackle more arduous activities – like power-hosing to cut through very sticky dirt.
And it’s just the same for us. We can take our focus and have it broadly spread over many projects or we can narrow our focus to the critical few things that really make the difference. And just like the high pressure water, create more intense focus to achieve more difficult things.
Which one is relevant to you? And what can you do about it?
Shane
New: Check out my CEO Questions Series here. 14 thought provoking questions to better leadership over 14 days. As this email goes out, we’re at Day 5.
