Special Note:
Stephen has created a new blog that chronicles a nine month
journey of seven amazing men standing firmly in their integrity.
Please take a moment to check it out. Go to
www.theaconcaguaproject.com
Just keep stepping. That is the council I give myself when things get tough. All I have to do is take the next step. I can even pause if I want to. I may not stop for long, because there is a momentum to taking action. It’s like dancing or hiking or driving a business project forward. I must keep moving. I heard that about Sharks once, which is; that if they stop they die. Apparently they must keep the oxygen moving through their grey like bodies. I think it’s important for us as humans to do that. It’s not easy to keep moving at times. It would be easier to take a squat and give up on the dream. And like I told someone lately; “easy is not always better.”
What is the value in movement? Movement is life. Motion is a concentric circle swirling upward toward greater evolution. Flowing through life and business is the very thing we live for. If we are not in motion to some degree we die. We may not die physically; however we can die spiritually. Our brains turn to mashed mush and we cannot do our critical thinking anymore. It’s the very reason some retired folks are not in love with life. They stop moving and start watching the grass grow. If the grass is growing, then get up and mow it. Do something and keep moving. Now most of us are so busy you may think I am in a state of disillusionment. I don’t think so, because many super busy people are just running in circles rather than taking steps forward. Can you see the difference? Being busy for the sake of being busy is not productive. This is equally true for those of us that are being lazy, as this is not productive either.
I speak to the beauty and grace of momentum. Most people love that state of flow. As a leader, you know your objective; and now you keep stepping. You step when it hurts and you step when it flows. It requires a certain vigilance and inner discipline. Most of us move pretty well in the direction of our outcomes, until we get tired. This is the shark-like characteristic I am encouraging us as leaders to own. Keep stepping even when you don’t want to. Make sure you pause long enough to consider where you are going and yet keep the energy in motion. I have at times had to reach way down in my gut to do this. It hurts at times. It can hurt physically and emotionally. This is where the maturity of leadership prevails or gets “turned out”. You will grow as you move past your limitations as a man or a woman. It’s not always supposed to be easy and yet…it can be Graceful. It’s rewarded by the deep Self satisfaction of my esteem. It’s rewarded by serving others as a leader even as some of us may not want to.
What project do you want to keep moving forward on? What is the next step to take? In what area of your personal life requires your persistence and emotional wherewithal? What is the next step for you there? This week, I encourage your participation in stepping. Keep moving and by weeks end, see if you notice the flow and momentum in your mood and moral. It’s not a race. It’s a slowed down, easy, clear motion.
Have fun and let me know how you’re stepping?
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment
The Get Real Blog 
Stephen,
Your point is well taken. Sometimes even when it doesn’t look like it is working it is time to keep moving. I think of cold calling in the world of sales. Sometimes you make call after call after call and no results. And then the next five turn into meaningful conversations.
Whether it is in the gym doing one more rep, on the phone making one more call or in study reading one more chapter its that next step that gets us where we want to go.
And your point that it is OK to pause but not stop…I see it abundantly people who have reached their pinnacle and stopped and now the world just doesn’t world as well as it used to.
Keep banging the drum,
John
Comment by John Gies September 10, 2010 @ 5:58 amstephen, movement by circular motion will lead to same results and also we feel stuck,movement by forward motion will make us to move inspite of our setbacks,obstacles,
Comment by ashok September 10, 2010 @ 9:17 ami commit that i move forward to design a product called REFLECTION to market for my company open minds,
your article and blog always helps me to move forward in my leadership,and life,
may your mountain journey full of joy and happiness and all the participants get the best of you and your leadership god bless
Ah, so much power we give the shark in Our Lives…as it circles and encrircles us…desirous of what it wants! Ya know?
Comment by Nanette Cheval September 10, 2010 @ 8:05 pm