Bamboo farmers know that energy is precious, and every drop of water matters. If you waste water on weeds, your bamboo suffers. The same is true for leaders and teams. When energy is spent on grudges, resentments, or old conflicts, less is left to nurture what truly matters: your goals, your people, and your growth.
This pandemic has dragged on for what seems like years. It looks as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel; we just hope it’s not a train barrelling our way.
During challenging times like the one we’re in now, it’s important to think about how to recharge ourselves. I like to think of my energy like punch in a punchbowl. My family, friends, and others can put their straws in my punchbowl and drink as much punch as they would like.
Every year instead of setting a New Year’s resolutions, I pick a word that I use as a theme throughout the year. Last year, 2018, I chose the word “momentum.” I have to give momentum lots of credit for helping me power through and finish my new book, What’s Going Well.
Since we only have the capacity to focus on a fraction of what we encounter, our brains are constantly filtering what gets our attention. In this filtering process, our brains are easily distracted because we are wired to pay attention to any new stimulus, especially if we perceive it to be a threat to our survival. This filtering causes us to have what psychologists call a negativity bias.
