Recently I was riding my road bike and zipped around a tight, blind corner extra wide so I could avoid the drainage grate in the turn.
Sounds reasonable.
EXCEPT
There is no drainage grate.
You might think – OK Paula, what are you smoking?
Alas, there was a drainage grate there for decades, BUT a few years ago it was removed when the road was resurfaced.
After decades of riding this route regularly hundreds of times, I still swing wide to avoid the grate.
This is both the power and peril of muscle memory and ingrained habits.
I would like to bet that you have one or more versions of your own drainage grate.
What is something you continue to do (or avoid) because:
- You always did it that way.
- The action is so much a part of you that you don’t even notice anymore.
- It made sense to (do it) at one point in time.
- Something has changed but you haven’t yet noticed.
What might be possible for you or your business if you popped out of this rut?
For me on the bike, it certainly made sense to swing wide. Drainage grates and road tires are a recipe for splattering your body on the ground. I led dozens of rides on that route and pointed while yelling “grate in the turn” more times than I can count.
I am willing to bet that you don’t tend to notice you’re in a rut until the walls get high and deep. Then you feel it. Then you’re “in it” and you must dig yourself out.
What if you just noticed the rut just as it is beginning to take form and you gently eased yourself back on course?
Save a lot of time, grief, money, energy, and heartache, right?
When I am coaching business owners sometimes a big epiphany and peak experience shows itself. Those quantum leaps, AHA’s, and Wahoo’s are exhilarating.
Most of the time there are no fireworks… and yet the results are as or even more powerful. These moments happen when I shine a light on something like a habit or belief that you weren’t even noticing. Then the floodgates open (and in a good way!)
So, hey – look over there – there is a drainage gate, do you see it?
The AHA you seek is in the noticing.
If you’re in a pandemic-esque rut, stuck point, or general ennui, now is the time to get some support. It’s been an isolating, lonely, and exhausting chapter. Click here to schedule an appointment and explore how working together can get you the results you seek.