What You Already Know
May 8, 2022“There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path”
- Morpheus in the 1999 film The Matrix
--
It’s easy to know how to communicate well: listen first, speak clearly, know your audience, etc. Of course. The hard part is doing it. Especially when you’re tired, or behind schedule, or the other person is pushing your buttons.
It’s easy to know how to be more healthy: eat nourishing foods and move your body. The hard part is doing it when your schedule is packed, you’re stressed out, and it’s your night to watch the kids.
It’s easy to know how to lead your team well: set clear expectations, be sincere and transparent, keep your commitments, and so on. The challenge is doing this when your biggest client is upset, your best team member quit yesterday, and you just found an error in the final draft sent to the printer.
Maybe instead of asking how do I do this better? we should pay more attention to what stops me from doing the things that I already know how to do?
For example:
- What justifications do you commonly use to avoid the things that would be good for you?
- What distractions are you most susceptible to?
- What are your biggest blind spots?
- Where do you need more reminders?
- Where do you need to move more slowly? (or more quickly)
- What sort of behavior in others can set you off?
Chances are, for many things you already know what to do. And you’ll move more quickly down the path you want, not by gathering more information, but by developing awareness and strategies to apply the knowledge you already have.
