W.I.N. Wednesday: Dropping the ball does not mean you are out of the game.
The last few months I have dropped the ball on a few projects, writing this blog every week is one of them. There are several factors such as work travel, fatigue, the flu, mental blocks when I sit down to write and others. Ultimately, they are all excuses, resulting in feelings of guilt for dropping the ball. I decided to practice what I preach and focus on What’s Important Now. That meant practicing some self-compassion, picking the ball back up and going in search for an idea to inspire today’s blog. That search led me to the following quote from Lisa Buscomb:
“Every morning you have the opportunity to change your life. To start something new. To end something that no longer feels right. To love your self a little more. To love others more and show more kindness. To say yes or to say no. To take a small step or a giant leap. Life doesn't have to stand still. And the truth is it never will. So why not make the changes you want to see. Take the chances. Each day you have the opportunity to change the path you are on. To move closer to living the life you want to live. Everything you dream of is possible, it's never too late.”
Reading this reminded me that just because I dropped the ball, there is nothing stopping me from picking it up and getting back in the game except for me. In addition to preaching W.I.N. and self-compassion, I also talk about striving for small incremental daily improvements every day. I have grown fond of the word ‘striving’. For me striving embraces the Challenge Mindset and encourages approach behaviors. Striving to me is all about the journey in pursuit of excellence and the understanding that this is not a linear path forward. There are ups and downs and setbacks and steps forward. As Marianne Davies would say, it is about “learning in the ugly zone”.
It is easy to focus on what I have not done, and neglect what I have accomplished. While I dropped the ball on this blog, some e-mails and one or two other projects, there are many areas of my life where I have maintained my commitment to the pursuit of excellence and maintained alignment with my personal and professional values. Even though I stay off social media outside of LinkedIn, I continually remind myself to avoid falling into the “comparison trap” and comparing my productivity to the apparent productivity of others.
When Lisa Buscomb writes, “Every morning you have the opportunity to change your life.”, understand that that change can be one small thing. You pick up just one ball that you dropped, start something new or end one thing that no longer feels right. Reading her words helped me to reframe and reset my mindset, I hope it will do the same for you.
What’s Important Now? Have some self-compassion and understand that every day you have the opportunity to change your life.
Take care.
Brian Willis
www.lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com.
ONE QUESTION BRINGING FOCUS AND CLARITY IN THE CHAOS AND COMPLEXITY OF TODAY'S WORLD.
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