Q: You went flat out all week but never completed your critical task.\u00a0 What happened?<\/p>\n
A: You forgot to slow down.<\/p>\n
Here is an analogy.\u00a0 I love mountain biking.\u00a0 The gnarlier the path the better. But sometimes I get so caught up in negotiating the next rocks and drops that I fly right past the turnoff. I end up lost. Sometimes I have to climb all the way back up.<\/p>\n
Have you ever been in the flow like this, where you completely loose track of time?\u00a0 It feels so good!\u00a0 You just don\u2019t want it to stop. But what was the cost of having to repair the mistake? Sometimes in hindsight it was totally worth the cost.\u00a0 But at other times, we are only able to listen to the strongest medicine such as a missed business deal, an accident or a fling that cost the marriage for our self awareness to develop. Often it is the worst costs that force our long-term focus to mature. These are the lessons that change our behaviour.<\/p>\n
Impulse Control: \u00a0Indulgence is a textbook ADHD symptom.<\/p>\n
Some mountain bikers say they are going too fast to prevent a mistake about ten percent of the time. \u00a0So far, it has been blind luck that they haven\u2019t been injured.\u00a0 And they are fine with it.\u00a0 Being too \u201cin the moment\u201d in the workplace might include forgetting to follow-up on an initiative, getting a parking ticket, or enjoying researching for an article for way too long.<\/p>\n
How does one become aware when they have derailed from their task?\u00a0 When lost in the moment people can become blind to choices we are making.<\/p>\n
The solution is to develop the habit of checking if you are present.\u00a0 But that can only happen when you have decided, and I mean really decided, that the direction you are taking is what you truly want.<\/p>\n
I recommend using a reminder device. \u00a0An elastic.\u00a0 An egg timer.\u00a0 A ring.\u00a0 A bracelet.\u00a0 Or post it notes.\u00a0 Set calendar appointment alarms with questions in the title.\u00a0 Anything that will cause you to ask yourself: \u201cAm I actually doing what it is that I want<\/span> to be doing with this time?\u201d<\/p>\n I have found that strengthening our self-discipline muscle means being fine with saying no to indulgences and wanting to say yes to what it is we really need.\u00a0 Saying no means that you can stay focused on what you really want to say yes to<\/b>.<\/p>\n Believing in yourself and your vision is a necessity.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not enough.\u00a0 You need to make the decision you want it enough to do the work.\u00a0 This means living like a person who earns it especially when nobody is looking. \u00a0Have you ever had a moment when you suddenly become aware of what you are doing e.g. you pulled out of the driveway to the left as if you were going to work, but you needed to go right? \u00a0You snapped out of autopilot.\u00a0 Congratulations!\u00a0 We can do the same thing just as we slip into an indulgence that might protect us from social threat, or from feeling uncomfortable from effort.\u00a0 Snap out of your autopilot and into your presence so that you are aware of what choices you are really making.\u00a0 Once you have decided for yourself the rest is much much easier. A coach can help with this.<\/p>\n If I asked you when you have done this before, you would give me a long list of when you did a great job of snapping back into being present.\u00a0 You can do this: it is a question of degree and how much you want it.<\/p>\n