If you missed last week’s newsletter, you’ll want to go back and read it first. See the link below.
Back to the story – This began with a 50-year-old professional, Dennis, who loved his job and didn’t want to leave it. And was saying: “I just can’t do this for another 10 years.”
We had become clear on how he had gotten to that point. The marching orders of his internal programming. He knew it wasn’t the firm, the clients or anything else. It was him.
Another important point – Here is where you may be saying something like:
“Of course it’s a huge amount of work. How can you not be working your tail off and exhausted every day? That’s just part of the gig.”
And, of course, that is why people crave retirement. They’re really saying:
“When the hell can I get away from this thing I say I love and that I’ve spent my life doing? I can’t wait.”
Go figure… That’s messed up. That’s for people who don’t know any better. There, I said it.
Imagine your job, whether you own your company, are an executive, professional, whatever. Think of it as a 50-gallon drum. It’s big because it’s a huge part of your life. Huge impact on your lifestyle, feelings of safety, belief in who you are, your health, mental state, your family, the time you have for them, and just about everything else.
So many are trying to put 60 or 70 gallons into that barrel. That’s why it’s running all over the floor. The walls are rotting and mold is growing. You cannot get 60 gallons in a 50-gallon drum, but by George you’ll keep trying. And you’ll blame it on your current season of life, your circumstances, your goals, everything else. You won’t blame it on yourself.
I’ll buy that your company, your firm, your circumstances, put 40 gallons into your drum. The other 20 or 30, that’s on you. That’s the difference between creating what you want and reacting to what is “out there”. And, if you are one of those who has been trying to pour 60 or 70 gallons in. That’s because you don’t know how to do anything else. And that causes you to believe you can’t do anything else. And that is just flat wrong.
Back to the story again – Dennis had figured out it was him overflowing his own drum. And he knew what had been driving that for so long.
I remember, he and his family were to be on vacation at their lake home the following week after that first session. We texted back and forth a couple of times. To his credit, he’d really been thinking about it. He texted me, and this is an exact quote:
“I never knew these darn voices were so powerful!”
He didn’t even know about the darn voices. Not until he did. That changed everything.
We’ll stop here again and will wrap this one up with the next newsletter.
Do this:
- Where are you trying to put 60 gallons into your 50-gallon container?
- What is that costing you?
- If you could only put 40 gallons in. And then use that space for growth, peace, contemplation, thinking, planning, leading. What could you create?
On that last point, I am thinking back to a CEO client who was a founder of a large family business. When we met, he was extremely stressed, busy, all the rest. He told me:
“I can’t take advantage of all the opportunities I have in front of me.”
Some five six years later, their company’s revenues are almost double what they were then. Don’t gloss over any of this. What I’m sharing is life changing.
If you missed any earlier emails in this series, you can find them
here. And if you’d like more guidance on any of this, feel free to email me.
