Time to Get Busy Living
If you are like me, it has felt like we’ve been in prison for the past few months. We’re starting to move into an in-between phase and I’ve been wondering: “Is this what parole feels like?” There is still a pandemic and we’ll be here for a while. We don't have complete freedom, but for obvious reasons, we still have restrictions on our lives and it is weighing heavily on us.
Our situation reminds me of one of my favorite movies and in particular one of the most moving scenes in it. The movie is The Shawshank Redemption. In the movie, Andy Dufresne, a wrongly convicted prisoner shared his vision for his future: a simple life in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. At a point when it seemed the stress was too much to bear, Andy says to his dear friend, Red, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really: Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Spoiler alert! Andy breaks out of prison that very night and makes his way to his vision. Red joins him later when he finally receives parole.
Are you 'busy living?'
What choices are you making right now? Are you 'busy living' or 'busy dying?' Perhaps, you started out strong with grand pandemic visions of 'busy living' (such as reading a book a week, like me!) and have felt inadequate because you fell off your pace. (also like me!) Perhaps, you are recognizing more 'busy dying' time than you’d like. Know that if you feeling this way,you are not alone.
In a recent HBR article, Merete Wendell-Wednellsborg found crises follow a general pattern of: “Emergency. Regression. Recovery.” This in-between phase right now may feel like a regression – almost like we’re being pulled into 'dying time.' It doesn’t have to be, however. It’s what we do during this time that will set the stage for recovery.
'Busy living' might be examining what you’ve learned the past few months and what you want to bring into your future?
'Busy living' might be clarifying the culture you want to create through your leadership.
'Busy living' might be clarifying your personal Zihuatenejo.
Be intentional and purposeful about reimagining the future. “Aim beyond business as usual.”
How can you choose to make this time “living time?”
I believe it’s the small choices and actions we take each day - the little things - that will determine the future we create. Maybe we don’t have to read a whole book a week. But maybe we could read a couple of chapters. (like me…now)
‘Little Things’ make this ‘Living Time’
The ‘little things’ - choices we make each day - are building blocks towards our future goals. If we want this to be ‘living time,’ we must act in order to make that a reality.
Consider this example: You want to leave the pandemic with an engaged, high-performing team. So, does it matter if you prepare for your virtual team meeting this afternoon? You’d probably get by just fine winging it. Perhaps no one in the meeting would notice. But if we think about every team meeting as one more building block towards creating an engaged, high performing team, we might approach it differently. It’s the incremental actions you take today that will impact your future. ‘Little things’ matter in the long run.
To make progress on a goal like having a more engaged and higher performing team, you could spend 10 minutes in your next team meeting with the following exercise:
Ask each team member to score the team’s performance through the pandemic on a scale of 1-10.
Ask each team member: what might we do as a team to improve our team’s performance going forward?
Pick one ‘little thing’ thing the team can commit to doing and follow up on it.
By involving your team, you encourage everyone to own and contribute to the improvement of the team. You show vulnerability as a team leader by not assuming you have all the answers, asking vulnerable questions, and being willing to listen. You get improvement ideas. With 10-minutes of action, you get much more in return.
Know your Zihuatanejo
We must know where we want to go. If we don't have any idea right now, then this is the time to reflect on and clarify that vision.
Andy’s vision was a quiet life in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Mine is to inspire more leaders to live with their long-run vision guiding their daily actions. When the pandemic hit, I realized that the majority of my business - and thus my ability to achieve that vision - was at risk. Thirty-six days of in-person client work was gone practically overnight. If I didn’t adapt to the new way my clients needed to work, I wouldn’t be achieving my vision anytime soon.
By knowing that vision, I’ve been able to find plenty of opportunities to continue my journey to my personal Zihuatanejo. I’ve learned to do things virtually that I thought were impossible to do virtually 6-months ago and am grateful to the clients who have taken the risk to try these new approaches out. Every day, I continue to experiment, reflect, and learn to do things differently. I’ve been amazed to discover all that I will be able to bring with me from this time to the future. My guess is you have learned some things to help you move toward your Zihuantanejo too.
But in order to make progress towards your Zihuatenejo, you must have an idea of your long-run vision.
Consider this question: What would 10 minutes of 'living time' look like for you today?
I bet you will find out you can do more than you think you can with 10 minutes. If you spend 10 minutes each day for a week, you’ll have banked more than an hour. Do that for a year and you’ve got over 60 hours in. Imagine what you can do with 60 hours invested in working towards your Zihuatanejo. And if you don't know your Zihuatenejo, now is the time to clarify that.
Let’s take the words of Andy Dufresne to heart. Let’s get busy living.