To What Do You Need to Awaken?

Woke up – to an awakening

Lyric from the song ‘Awakening’

By Scott Thomas

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It can feel like you are running a million miles an hour on the hamster wheel and still not getting where you want to go. The speed of modern life does not allow for time to reflect - to get curious about what would be most helpful to you, your team, your company, your stakeholders, or your family. It would be best if you consistently took the time to do so intentionally.

Do you pass by or pass up opportunities to pay attention to the vital in service to the urgent because you believe you must? What keeps you from focusing on what matters most? Do you genuinely not have the time for what is most vital? If so, in service to what - that which is less significant?

It makes no sense, yet I recognize it in myself and my clients. We do it all the time.

It does not have to be this way. We can choose differently. We can awaken to the understanding that what has gotten us here will not get us there and do something about it instead of staying stuck.

Essential questions are frequently counterintuitive. If they were not, everyone would ask them. And you and I both know they don’t.

The pace people run at these days reminds me of an incident that occurred during a bike trip from a rough-it-boys camp, Deerfoot Lodge, in the Adirondacks to Bar Harbor, Maine. I was fifteen at the time.

Despite riding our bikes more than one hundred miles per day, we were in constant motion. One of the boys fell asleep while pedaling. You wonder how that could happen.

You, too, can fall asleep while in constant motion. Operating on automatic pilot was part of what induced his sleep. He lost awareness of himself and what he was doing. It resulted in a crash involving the two riders behind him.

In what ways do you operate on automatic pilot? Does metaphorically sleeping adversely impact you and others?

If so:

·????? To what do you need to awaken that you are not now?

·????? What focus point will make the most difference right now?

·????? How can you make sure to follow through?

To What Do You Need to Awaken?

A few ideas from me.

What do you want to do? What are you willing to do? How do your answers to those two questions align with what you believe you must do? How can you reconcile your answers?

The most consequential question in the above group is, ‘What are you willing to do?’ Willingness is an essential and often overlooked ingredient of decision-making.

How good are your systems – for yourself, your team, or your organization? ?

Evaluating the above inquiry involves at least three questions. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you rate your performance: 1) Developing systems, 2) Initiating systems, 3) Adhering to systems? In what direction are you moving on these fronts?

Although you must have systems to begin with, the most critical question is, ‘How well do you adhere to your systems?’ If you do not follow your systems, then effectively, they do not exist. Creating and introducing them becomes detrimental because the lack of adherence undermines credibility and confidence—the unseen consequence of good intentions.

Which initiative will be most impactful? The challenge is in selecting. Because saying yes to one necessitates saying no to all the other alternatives. This is what prevents you from deciding.

The biggest mistake leaders make is trying to move forward on too many fronts to bring any of them to fruition. Implement second priorities cautiously because they will significantly reduce the likelihood of achieving the first.

There are genuinely only a few essential elements responsible for success. Identifying, clarifying, and reinforcing them is the optimal use of a leader’s attention. There will be many supporting elements that require tending.

What are you tolerating from yourself and others? Tolerations persistently drain energy. Therefore, their cost is high. They represent opportunity costs. What resources would become available by eliminating tolerations? What are the cumulative costs of leaving them unattended over time?

Here are some other questions worth considering. What is your strategy or approach? How do you demonstrate your highest values? What relationships are most critical to you? Which are most meaningful? How can you practice empathy and compassion while maintaining high standards? What support do others need from you? How can you help them stretch and become the best versions of themselves?

I propose you get input and guidance from those you trust and who improve your thinking and expand your perspectives. ??

What Focus Point Will Make the Greatest Difference Right Now?

You can get guidance answering this inquiry, and ultimately, you must arrive at your own conclusions.

Here are some sample questions to help you decide.

On what time horizons are you working? What outcomes have you deemed most critical? What supporting elements correlate with and cause the desired results? What needs to occur to move you toward them? Most importantly, what is the first step you must take? What are the relevant markers along the way?

What are the consequences for you and others of not deciding?

How Can You Make Sure To Follow Through?

Who, what, how, and when will you enlist the support you require to get and stay on track?

What do you need to stop doing? What must you start doing? What are the essentials you need to keep doing?

Leaders tend to add direct responsibilities to their plates continually. They need to do the opposite. Subtraction is vital to help the leader and others grow.

Honing in on what matters most helps you live and lead with fewer regrets. The answers are not always apparent. Yet they are accessible, and seeking them is always worthwhile.

The path to fewer regrets requires continual awakening and increased awareness. It starts by asking the right question and paying close attention to the answers. I cannot imagine anything more important for you or anyone else.

?Worthy Inquiries:?

1.???? To what do you need to awaken to? Who do you trust to help you identify the most vital for yourself?

2.???? What are you willing to do? What added capacities must you be willing to take on, and through which methods?

3.???? Who and what can improve and expand your awareness and perceptions? How will you engage them?

4.???? What is it time to stop doing? What must you start doing? What essentials do you need to keep doing? What support do you require to help decide?

5.???? What assistance do you need to follow through? What systems, people, and technologies will enable you to hold your focus? How will others know your priorities?

Please reach out to me for help awakening to what is most vital to you and develop responses to your expanded awareness to benefit you, your team, your organization, your stakeholders, or your family. I welcome the conversation.

Robert Hackman, Principal, 4C Consulting – Courageously Curious Consulting and Coaching, helps people live and lead with fewer regrets. He grows and develops leaders through executive coaching, strategy consulting, facilitation, and training of individuals, teams, and organizations. He is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He facilitates trusting environments that promote uncommonly candid conversations. Rob is also passionate about the power of Everyday Legacies and developing Legacy Mindsets. He has conducted over 50 Legacy interviews with people to date.?

He is a serious man with a dry sense of humor who loves absurdity. Rob can often be found hiking rocky elevations or making music playlists. His varied mixes, including Pandemic Playlists and Music About Men, can be found on Spotify.

Bravely bring your curiosity to a conversation with Rob, schedule via voice or text @ 484.800.2203 or [email protected] .

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