If you don’t have time for the funny story, then feel free to scroll down to the third paragraph for the point.
So, apparently, once a person turns 40 they begin to have difficulties navigating elevators. Or is that just me? Last month, my husband gave me a birthday gift of a shopping getaway with some of my closest girlfriends. We spent the night in Indianapolis. The next morning we packed our things and headed out for our shopping adventures. We, with more luggage than necessary, headed to the elevator to descend the two stories to the lobby. The doors opened and people graciously gave us our space as we left the elevator before they entered. The doors shut and we all just looked at each other – realizing that instead of the lobby, we were now on the fourth floor. Yes, I was the one standing next to the control panel and forgot to push the button for our lobby destination so we obliviously rode to the destination chosen by someone else.
That story in-and-of itself would not be so newsletter worthy. Unfortunately, just last week I had another elevator mishap. I was in a building with multiple sets of elevators, each going to different floors of the building as well as a completely separate elevator system for the attached parking garage. I was really focused on navigating correctly; however, I found myself going down to the bowels of the building rather than going up to my correct parking level. Again, I was headed away from my destination because someone else had made a correct request of the elevator. (For the record, this time I did push the button – just the wrong button.)
With two elevator mishaps in as many months, I decided there must be a less
on. I began to think how many people live their lives as I had spent my moments on the elevator. They enter and go along for the ride each day without giving real thought to their destination, or worse, allowing others to direct their destination. I talk a lot about having a personal vision statement but this time I would just like to encourage you to have a DAILY vision. We talk during my GO System workshop about setting your next day’s priority. For my GO System family, this is a reminder. If you are not part of my GO System family, here is a new tip. At the end of each day, simply write down what the single most important thing is that you need to do the next day. Write it down, make it visible, and make it just ONE thing. When you come to work the next day, focus on that one thing as soon as possible, get it done, and know you’ve accomplished something important for that day.
A Thought to Ponder
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
~ Stephen R. Covey