Assign Your Horizon
ASSIGN YOUR HORIZON.
That might seem like an odd title, and it probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense at first glance.
Let's be real here.
We're in scary times right now.
EVERYONE'S health and safety is being threatened, and questions about financial stability loom large.
THAT'S A DEADLY COMBINATION.
And I promise you it will take you down if you allow it to.
And those are the key words: If You Allow It To.
"But people are dying, the mortality rates are increasing, my hours and pay just got cut, our customers dried up, our company just closed, how will I feed my family? What if we lose everything?"
Can we just take a quick sec and help you GYST?
Focus here for a sec and take a breath.
OK-before I continue, let's get something straight.
The one thing I've learned through my years and years of coaching men and women of all ages is that no one has EVER come to me for hand-holding. Ever.
Everyone has come to me for strength and balance: physically, mentally and spiritually.
So as we move forward right now, please understand the way I coach in Organizational Leadership is CLEAR. My job is to get you out of your feels, and stop the mental tailspin that happens when lose your focus and become overwhelmed.
It's backed by solid love.
Got it?
Great.
Let's continue.
Today is a quick lesson to help you re-establish your balance point and focus AMIDST the chaos and turbulence happening around you.
FIRST, YOUR COACHING CUE: Assign Your Horizon.
Notice-that's a directive.
To break this down so that you understand what it means and how to apply it, let's take a quick side step and bring in a concept from aviation called Spatial Disorientation.
When a pilot (such as one for a small aircraft or helicopter) flies a couple of thousand feet in the air, (versus commercial pilots who fly tens of thousands of feet in the air) they are taught to keep their eyes on the horizon.
Weird things can happen to your body when you go up in the air, move fast and/or fly at night.
One of those things is being able to determine which way is up and which way is down. It sounds crazy, but it's a real thing that involves part of your inner ear and your body's balancing systems. And if a pilot doesn't know which way is up or down, guess what happens?
They become VERY DISORIENTED VERY QUICKLY, to the point where it's incapacitating. I know it sounds scary-it IS. For everyone, especially the pilot.
I'll spare you the extended geeky science of it, but one thing that helps prevent that situation (and please-this is written with full respect for all of you in the Industry, and is not an article about anyone having IFR training, etc. Thank You. ) is maintaining orientation to the horizon.
That point-off in the distance becomes the IMMEDIATE point of which to calibrate direction, regain focus and balance.
Same with you.
When you feel like you've lost your focus, when you become fearful, unbalanced and out of control you have to find your horizon. That mark off in the distance to focus on and regain your stability.
The "horizon" will be different for everyone.
Sometimes it is something off in the far distance.
Sometimes when $#!= is real, it's whatever you can see 2" in front of your face.
The point being, sometimes your "horizon" has to adjust in accordance with the pressure, until you regain command and can set it farther ahead.
Does that make sense?
That's how you navigate survival in the short term.
But for growth-even in the midst of circumstances when fear is at its peak, survival skills won't be enough. You have to take back your power and move onto an offensive strategy to come out AHEAD.
That is why the directive is ASSIGN YOUR HORIZON. The big one- the one off in the distance. YOU CHOOSE IT AHEAD OF TIME.
You can only control what you can control.
Take back your power and CHOOSE WHAT IT IS YOU'RE GONNA FOCUS ON-not just to survive but to come out the other side VICTORIOUS.
