Something to believe in
Hugh MacLoed may have coined the phrase, “the market for something to believe in is infinite.” I’m pretty sure he was the first one to draw it on the back of a business card. After kind of a rough week I woke up this morning thinking about what we believe in, and why we come to work. Stephen Covey’s second highly effective habit is: “Begin with the end in mind”. For those of us who toil in the fields of learning something like: ‘improving the educational process’ or ‘making more capable citizens’ might be tempting, but I’d like to suggest something a bit simpler. Make the ‘end’ simply doing the best job of what you’re doing.
I hate to resort to sport’s metaphors, particularly with SB Sunday looming on the horizon, but the example is apt. Imagine you’re Stephen Gostkowski* and that the game’s tied in the final seconds; this is way beyond ‘perfect season’ pressure. This is history, so what ‘end’ do you want to have in mind? I’m pretty sure you want to forget the game, the crowd, the number of hits your team mates have taken to get this far, the money, fame, etc. The only thing you want to think about is making one perfect kick, just for the pleasure of doing it. No big goal, no big deal, just kick the football, everything else will follow.
* Full disclosure moment: Prior to writing this I had no idea who the place kicker for the New England Patriots was but through the magic of Internet search it took me about 15 seconds to find out.
