Every day, I have many, many ideas about things that I could do differently or better. Things I should start doing or stop, new S Curves I could jump to. I can’t do everything. How do I choose? How do you? How do we know what to focus on?
The short answer is focus on the problem/challenge/issue that keeps coming up. The thing we hesitate to address is probably the place where the fastest and greatest growth awaits. Or as Carol Kauffman, head of Institute of Coaching recently said to me, (you can listen to her podcast interview here) if something comes up three times––pay attention!
So, what am I paying attention to––––
1. A few weeks ago, one of our podcast engineers, Whitney Jobe, sent me a podcast that he wanted me to listen to. It was headlined Is this food destroying your immune system? Dr. Gundry. I listened for about two minutes and then stopped. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say about a food (if that’s the right word really) that keeps rearing its seductive but insidious head. Sugar. If you’ve read Disrupt Yourself, you’ll know that sugar is ‘my pretty’. I won’t kill or die for it, but it comes close.
2. By coincidence—not—Whitney Jobe sent me another podcast episode. Shawn Stevenson featuring Lisa Mosconi, author of The XX Brain and Brain Food. And what does she have to say? In brief, if you want to protect your brain health, especially as a woman, knock it off with that inflammatory sugar.
3. While meditating / thinking / having a talk with God about being more productive—what I could start or stop doing to climb my S Curve of learning more efficiently—I get this little idea: you know, you could stop eating sugar.
That’s three. Shall I continue?
4. Our family is reading a sacred text—the book of Alma–about a people who were inclined to do battle. They liked conflict, continually feuding, Hatfield-McCoy style. Then they made the decision that they wouldn’t anymore. So they buried the sword. The tradition would end with them.
5. One of our loyal LinkedIn Live listeners sent me a video from Joe DiSpenza who says Body is your unconscious mind. Unconscious—well, we can’t really know what’s going on there, can we? Maybe not totally, but at least in part it’s what our body is telling us.
6. Walk your talk, Whitney (me). You are inviting other people to do hard things. Whitney needs to do hard things too. This is about as hard as it gets for me.
So I started on Sunday and I’ve committed myself through Sunday, July 26. Fifteen days. No cookies, candy, or cake. I’ve done this before, so I know it’s doable.
But not easy.
If I want to grow faster, I need to pay attention to the signals bombarding me from various corners of the Universe. And I need to be accountable.
So, I’m telling you. I told LinkedIn Live. And my accountability group. Would you like to join me? Something you want to start or stop doing? Not for forever, but for two weeks? If you do, tell someone. It’s been said that we have a 10% chance of following through on a new goal, but if we tell someone what we’re up to, and make ourselves accountable, we up our chances to 90%. I like those odds.
Join me for this week’s podcast episode with Michelle McKenna, CIO of the NFL. She was our very first guest when we launched the podcast. I’m excited for you to hear from her again––how she recently embraced the Covid constraint preventing the 2020 NFL Draft Live, and other disruptions professional and personal since we talked to her four years ago–as well as who inspires her today. Not just those who are older, but those who are younger too.
My best,
Whitney
P.S. A reminder: Beginning in September, we are launching a membership cohort that will include weekly instruction, facilitated and peer-to-peer coaching. If you’d like to be on the waiting list, sign up here.
