Years ago, I realized I think I in pictures. I'm a visual person. Quickly. I see things come together, it's easy for me to jump from A to M to Z. It happens so fast, it amazes me; sometimes it's scary.
I don't consciously think (at least that I know of) of B, or C, or Q... and that worries me. Or, at least it started to worry me years ago.
"How did I get here?" is a question I ask all too often.
Below, a note I wrote at dinner in Hoboken, New Jersey last week. This thought showed up during our conversation about the day (I'd spent 6 hours in a studio recording a new Video Series on a book project I'm considering working on). I was explaining to Jodi my own commitment to staying accountable to a health goal I had set for every day this month. By the 26th, I was at 100% and this is what I wrote:
I hadn't considered it that way before; I thought it was so important I took this picture, and sent it to my Instagram page.
I knew I'd want to see it again, later.
It was early in the 2000's when a client said, "As techie as you are, why do write things on paper, isn't it slower than just typing it in to your computer or smartphone?" [At the time I had a Treo.]
My answer then is my answer today:
"Yes! Absolutely...the reason I write things in my notebook (don't leave home without it!) is that it slows me down."
When I see or hear something, and my mind starts rolling around with it I KNOW I better uncap my pen, and put some ink on the paper. If I go too fast, if I move on to the next topic before grabbing hold of the one that's on my mind "right now," I might lose it. And, now I know better.
Below is a multi-line thought that appeared while I was in a "think-tank" session dedicated to the topic of CHANGE. During the time that a group of us discussed the topic, and listened to what other people thought about what:
Causes Change
Supports Change
Improves Change
Solidifies Change...
I said out loud, "We are talking a lot about what it takes to change, and how important it is to change, but I'm stuck on something: Change to what end?"
I continued, "Its not that change is either good...or bad, just as the radio station you're tuned to isn't inherently good or bad. You'd only change it relative to some preconceived notion of what you'd like to listen to."
Consider the last 24 hours of your work and your life.
Who have you talked to?
Where have you been?
What have you thought about?
All those questions are good ones to ask. (I have more, let me know if you'd like to chat...) and remember, if you think fast, if you talk fast, if you type fast, it might be worth it to slow yourself down.
See what you think, and you'll be able to hear what you say. There's power in there. Let yourself capture the building blocks of how you see the world and what you really want to be doing. Who knows, something big might show up, something about which you can say:
"I'd never thought of it that way before."
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