Are you able to be content in your current circumstance? Can you learn to be content in your current context? It’s tough for driven leaders to experience a deep sense of satisfaction. “How can I do this better?” or “How can I improve this?” are all too familiar questions. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do better, there can be a negative downside to always looking at what’s to come. Because of this, we might miss the moment. That’s why looking forward can be as distracting as looking backward.
I’m joined in this episode by my wonderful wife, Ginger. On a trip to Colorado over Christmas, she had a profound thought that I wanted her to share. She talks about how easy it is for our focus to shift toward what’s to come. Unfortunately, when we get consumed with everything that isn’t, we miss all the life that happens in the moments between wehere we are where we want to be.
There is great value in setting goals and making progress toward those things you want to achieve. The danger is when we introduce the potential for disappointment when things aren’t going like we planned. As Thomas Winninger point out, the shortest distance between two points very well may be a straight line; however, linear thinking about our lives doesn’t lead to satisfaction and joy.
In the process of examining his own life, Thomas identified a “looping” effect that takes into account the unpredictable nature of our daily journey. There is joy to be discovered in our current state. So how can we guard against being consumed by a liner mindset?
Overcome These Three Mindsets:
- Fulfillment is always somewhere other than where I am at currently
- My sole focus is the destination and I forget the joy in the journey
- It’s not turning out the way I thought it should
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Leader to Leader Podcast Episode #6 where Ginger and I discuss camping in the past
Kevin Monroe’s interview with Thomas Winninger on the Higher Purpose Podcast
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