Beyond Words
Sometimes inspiration and encouragement come from the most unexpected places. Like the other day when I was feeling a little bit off my game, not at all motivated or creative and to be totally honest, a bit of a grumpy pumpkin.
So I decided to medicate my blues with an amazing square of Dove dark chocolate and I unwrapped the foil to discover this written on the inside:
"Be fearlessly authentic." -- Sotiria S. from New Jersey
I don't know you Sotiria S. from New Jersey, but if I did I'd give you the biggest hug right now! (From a safe distance of course). Thank you so much for this unexpected pep talk. Oh, and many thanks to Dove for the extra delicious chocolate.
Quit Analyzing. Rely on Your Intuition
"You know the truth by the way it feels." - anonymous
In his best selling book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell makes a strong case for how intuition outperforms rational analysis. Malarkey, you say? Well, let's take this for a test drive.
Take a moment to consider how often you make a decision, or take and action, based on a tiny amount of data you've collected. As an example, you walk into a store and see three people in line and no clerk behind the counter and immediately turn around and walk back out. Why? Because you've decided that you will have to wait for a long time. Maybe those three people are together? Maybe they are only asking a question and not actually purchasing something? Nope, you know that's not the case. How? Because in just a few seconds you have gathered enough information to tell you different. By appearance, body language and distance you determined they were not together. You may have observed that they all had items in their hands, and you may also have seen variously expressions of frustration or impatience on their faces. Gladwell refers to this as "thin-slicing", which is our ability to use limited information from a narrow period of time or experience to develop a conclusion.
How about at work? Have you ever just had a "gut feeling" that the day ahead of you isn't going to be what you'd hoped? Where does that feeling come from? Is it minute observation ("thin-slicing")? I would argue that some of it is. And I would also side with Mr. Gladwell that much of our intuitive judgement is developed from our knowledge, experience and training / education. I've also seen plenty of evidence that too much information leads many people to over analyze, second guess their intuition and delay making a decision.
At this point you may be wondering how you can find the healthy balance between listening to your intuition without jumping to impulsive decisions. Next time you are faced with making a judgement or a decision, take a moment and do a gut check. What is your initial reaction? Where is that feeling coming from? Make a note of that, and then set is aside, but don't dismiss it. Then do some objective analysis of what else you know. Combine the two and give yourself a set amount of time to mull it over before making a decision.
Just for Fun
This amazing book is appropriately called a Hatch notebook. It is designed to help guide you through hatching your best ideas. I bought one last year as a tool to journal my creative business ideas and develop them into action plans. And you know that I simply cannot keep something good all to myself, so I bought a bunch more to share with my clients! Personalization is one of my things, so I added the Beyond logo to the cover and taaaa-daaaa you have the best inspiration catcher ever! Thanks to Two Tumbleweeds for hatching this terrific notebook.
Let's catch up over a virtual coffee!
There is really no way to sugar coat it, 2020 has been one heck of a year. I would love to hear how you're handling things and share what I've been up to as well.
and let's chat.
If you are enjoying Beyond A Pep Talk please share with friends and suggest they sign up! Also, I'd love to hear what you want to learn more about so that I can create content just for you. Email me at Ricki@TransitionBeyond.com with your thoughts, comments or just to share a chuckle.