don’t let inertia choose for you.
by bill reeb
inertia can be like drifting, which actually describes what many people do. what i mean is, many people just do more of what they did yesterday to keep afloat, or robotically attempt the next incremental step forward from where they are right now. it is as if they are treading water working hard throughout life and just letting the current take them wherever it is going.
more: do you have a goal or just a speed? | what are you giving priority? | 3 early warning signals for overachievers | learn more by letting go | don’t let others block your path | how overachievers can get ‘unstuck’
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the breakdown in this approach is that it presumes you are exactly where you want to be right now and that the current is going in the direction you want to go. overachievers often find themselves in this predicament: working hard treading water going with the current without a clear direction in mind.
putting a business face on this idea, best-selling author tom peters has recommended that companies perform “business process re-engineering” about once out of every five years with “continuous process improvement” during the four years in between. this is business-speak for “make sure you like where you are, you like what you are doing, and you like where you are going about once every five years, and then for the four years in between, keep trying to take incremental steps forward.”
in my leadership classes, i facilitate a segment on strategy early in the curriculum. i set the stage by sharing thoughts that are articulated in this book and then ask each individual to perform a short exercise.
when i first introduce the idea of this self-analysis and vision exercise, i can immediately see the “oh crap” look on almost everyone’s faces.
this look can best be interpreted as “i hate this touchy-feely stuff and i don’t want to waste my time doing it.” when they get started though, their attitudes change quickly. during the first few minutes of the exercise, i can almost see each member of the class experiencing a mental, internal battle between the extreme positions of two common personas: the “martyr” and the “self-indulgent.” on the martyr side, you have someone who wakes up every day saying, “i may not be chasing the goals i want, but thinking that i have the privilege to manufacture the life of my choosing will only get me in trouble. i have obligations and i just need to buckle down and do what is expected of me.” then you have the self-indulgent perspective, which overachievers commonly squelch on a daily basis. that perspective is one of, “how did i get here? where do i want to go? why haven’t i been doing exactly what i want? do i deserve to be able to do what i want?”
within a very short period of time, people are engaged, writing down their thoughts. and before you know it, my silly, touchy-feely exercise has become a focusing event for many.
the reason is simple … they realized they have been limiting their options as if they only had one possible direction to choose.
it is as if we wake up and find ourselves on a set of railroad tracks, and even though we might occasionally struggle with where we are, those tracks allow us to go only forward or backward. so, there we are – stuck on those rails. then, along comes an exercise that allows you to instantly imagine a new set of tracks going in any direction you choose. it pushes you to imagine that there is a rail switcher immediately ahead. here is your chance to easily alter the direction you are heading as you will no longer be constrained by the current rails you are riding.
don’t be afraid to change directions. don’t let inertia drive your life. engage the switcher that is dead ahead.
one of my favorite quotes clearly applies here: “insanity is doing the same things over and over again expecting different results.”
in what important areas have you allowed inertia to drive your direction? what rail switcher directly ahead is it time for you to engage?