Be Aware
In her book The Unthinkable, Amanda Riley writes about how people survive in emergencies.
In the middle of the situation, people go through three stages: denial, deliberation, and action. The ones who survive move through these stages with wisdom and efficiency. Too long in the denial, and deliberation stages can cause one to miss the needed action. Bad thinking causes one to act too soon.
Awareness of the three stages can offer great insight as we make decisions in our personal and professional lives.
In our daily lives, we each have a tendency to spend too much time in a stage. Some deny too long, some get stuck in deliberation, and there are those, like me, who jump to action too soon.
I heard a wise speaker say that “the journey of life is like walking down a path at night holding a lantern. You can only see a few feet in front of you as you walk. However, when you turn around, the entire journey is illuminated.”
When one turns around to look at life’s journey, it is easy to see where too much time was taken in a particular stage, preventing action, missing the opportunity, or causing more harm than good.
We can do nothing about the past, but maybe awareness of the three stages can offer us a bit of insight into today’s decisions, both professionally and personally.
A great gift is a spouse, a friend, or a co-worker who can offer a view that shakes you, helps move you along, or helps you sit in one stage a bit longer to do the deep work. Transparency is key.
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