Defined by the Sigh

I was washing dishes the other night while starting up the computer to check e-mail and boiling water for SpongeBob SquarePants Macaroni and Cheese when the kid called from the back deck to pleeease come out and play with her and the puppy. Is that the phone ringing? I can't focus as I try to balance my checkbook in my head. I am busy (sigh). I am too busy (sigh). I not only think that I am too busy, I am convinced of it. 

From the recesses of my mind came a quote from a post by the HR Maven, "If you are in a hurry, you are in the wrong place." My place the other night, at that moment, was with the kid and the puppy but the obsessive, compulsive drive to complete just one more task took over, as it very often does.

Norman Fischer, the author of the article, Simple Yet Astonishing Ways To Calm Down, also offers some advice.

Breathe. "Take three conscious breaths (try it now as you are reading). This will change your mind. Whatever you are feeling will become less compulsive, less driven."

Walk. "Walking meditation - intentionally bringing awareness to your body as you move - can lift you out of a busy-ness-induced, semiconscious funk."

Repeat after me. "Sometimes just a phrase can help: 'not busy.'"  "We think we're busy, but we're not - we're just doing one thing after another."  

Fischer asks us to recognize that it is feelings and thoughts that make you feel pressured, not the tasks that you need to do.  "It goes without saying that if you've bitten off more than you can chew in a day, or in a lifetime, you'd better step back and change your circumstances, if at all possible. Let go of a few activities: Peace of mind is more important, and healthier, than those few extra accomplishments." Busy-ness, "it's not a fact, it's a choice," says Fischler.

Think about it. Don't let yourself be defined by the sigh.

Finding Leadership Balance

Leadership is sort of a mystery. It can lift you up. It  can bring you down. One thing for certain, it will always keep you on your toes. 

Leadership can be very conceptual and, at times, I find it hard to get a thought from my head into something clear that I can articulate to others.  I value it when I found others who are able to do that for me. Micheal Wade's post on leadership communications did that for me today in Finding the Leadership Balance between Filtering and Revealing.  

Personally,  the line I find the most valuable is the one I will keep in front of me always from here on out:

Wise leaders understand that there can be discreet disclosure; the type that gives a sense of the rationale behind certain policies without revealing the dirty details of management slug fests that may have prefaced the decision. These leaders disclose reasoning, not personalities.

Professionally, Micheal provided me with insight, not to mention a great discussion and coaching outline for others. Thank you Michael.