Who gets the worst of you as a CEO?
Who gets the worst of you?
Is it you?
Do you force yourself to be sleep deprived, eat low nutrient food, skip meals, fill your day with transactions, life and work admin, just surviving each day and then beat yourself up about your progress?
Is it your partner?
Do you interact only to align what needs to be done, who needs to be where and when missing any intimacy or connection in fact often being curt, short and direct as resentment creeps in because of all the sacrifices it feels like you’re making without the balance that comes from connection?
Is it your kids?
Do you yell and pressure and hurry them out the door in the morning, then do the same with homework, dinner, bed time. Just moving them around all day making sure they are doing what they SHOULD using carrot and stick but never really experiencing them and them you?
They’re all easy traps to fall into. I’m not exempt by any stretch. We borrow time from ourselves and start compromising our health and energy. We turn our partners into pure assistants as we seek to get back on top of everything we believe needs to be done.
Parenting takes a back seat as the cycle of sleeping too late becomes being too tired in the morning and the ripple effects continue day after day, you feel like Sisyphus pushing your kids up a hill.
Just as this is an easy trap to fall into it’s also easy to start the process of turning it around. We can start to ask ourselves,
What can I do today that we bring more love, connection and laughter?
What can I do today that will bring a little more energy, enthusiasm and joy?
What can I do today that will bring more novelty, adventure and excitement?
It was a tidy that moved you where ever you are. If you’re stuck in survival then it was subtle wave after wave than nudged you in that direction.
It is a subtle wave that will nudge you back.
Why not try it?
Ask yourself these questions every day for the next 7 days. Don’t take my word for it. Just see what happens. They’re going to pass anyway.