The Pause that Refreshes
Busyness causes blindness and amnesia. You can become so busy that you lose sight of what you’re doing and forget why it matters.
Immersion without reflection produces frustration.
The pause that refreshes:
A small pause goes a long way to refresh memory and clear vision. Reflect on relationships that have enriched your life and molded your character.
You are who you are in large part because of relationships.
Write several names down. Include teachers, current or former bosses, parents, friends, or employees. Don’t forget those who challenged or corrected you.
Apart from a pause to reflect, you’ll get lost in problems and distracted by results. If you aren’t careful, you’ll define yourself by what you do, rather than who you are.
Choose five people from your list. Pick up the phone and tell one of them how you’re better because of them. Be specific. Tomorrow choose another from the list and so on.
Five small pauses this week will refresh your attitude and expand your perceptive.
Who has sharpened you? How?
What behaviors enrich others?
Dan I was fortunate to have several mentors who taught me different skills at different stages of my career. I made an effort to to keep in touch with them long after our work relationships ended. And when several of them died I felt a deep loss. So for those of you lucky to still be able to touch base, take those 5 minutes and make a call. I have also been blessed that several of the younger people I helped along the way have made an effort to stay in touch. A couple have called on Thanksgiving to say they were glad I was part of their lives. So your pause is right on!
Brad
Brad James
Good evening Dan;
This sounds a bit like a little good ole’ therapeutic self reflection.
It’s so true that deadline’s, a shortage of manpower, and the ever present unforeseen obstacle’s and challenges send many into ‘HYPER-MODE’. Once we get to this busy, hectic point, it’s like sitting 2 feet from your 60 inch flat screen TV, “your just to close to take it all in!”
When we back off it’s as though a fog has lifted & blinders have been removed. We feel invigorated and attention to detail sharpens.
I especially like the suggestion of contacting those who’ve positively influenced your life. As well, I could not agree more that we are in part who we are because of the influence of those ‘WE’ (choose) to gravitate toward’ & spend time with. We all emulate a bit of those whom we look up to and respect.
(BEWARE), just be sure we choose wisely those who we feel are worthy of our time & effort. “If you hang with rose’s, you’ll smell like a rose.” But if you hang with ‘Skunks’, people are guna catch wind of it.” The choice is yours…
Cheers Dan
SGT STEVE
Who has sharpened you? How? My colleagues have sharpened me over the years, the most as they have been the mentors typically assigned to nurturing me as a beginner at the specific trades I was involved, “Green horn” as they would say! You have to be willing to accept their guidance and expertise if you truly wish to learn from them, but don’t be afraid to “challenge yourself to do things on your own’, as the journey is yours to culminate into a successful life and career.
Many times they will teach you enough of the basics, you have to groom yourself into being the best you can be! Take criticism as it’s intended for the betterment of the company and yourself, realize those who are their for you and seek their input when in doubt, go to the “decision makers”. the ones who drive the Train. Working together with quality individuals brings out quality performances and values.
What behaviors enrich others? Attitude, toward the project, caring that the work is done in a neat and professional manner, understanding who your working for and why. Be punctual in arrival times, do what you say, and mean what you say, state things clearly if your working with multiple individuals so everyone understands the tasks they are assigened.