One thing I like about the holidays is that it allows for some of us to take some time out to take a deep breath relax and reflect. As I’m taking stock of 2009 and reflect on the good, bad, and the ugly - it’s becoming awfully clear that I (and most of you) have not had much time to reflect and have spent too much of our time reacting. I am guilty of this and will be much more intentional about being more reflective than reactive in 2010.
Reflection requires time, it requires us to think, process, and challenge why we are doing what we are doing. It requires discipline, the ability to think critically about a problem from different perspectives especially a 50,000 ft view. We cannot afford to be on a treadmill, doing insane things (doing the same things over and over expecting a different result) and reacting all the time. With all the electronic gadgets and connectedness, it becomes extremely difficult to slow down our reaction times and become more reflective. I am constantly trying to keep up with emails, voicemails, text messages, meetings, and a laundry list of to-do’s that never end, that I end up really accomplishing very little of consequence. Why is it that I feel like I have to answer text messages while I’m driving - it’s so stupid, yet I feel this incessant urge to get things done quickly because everything feels and seems urgent, when in reality they just aren’t that important. Unless I take time to process fully where I’m going and how I’m going to get there, I’ll always be dealing with something urgent that will keep me from being reflective.
As entrepreneurs, we are trained to react quickly - it’s actually a strength in most circumstances as large corporations can’t react as quickly as we can. I don’t think we can or should slow down our reaction times significantly. I think taking some time to get unplugged in the mornings or in the evenings whether it be 5 minutes or 60 minutes to just think will go a long way. I want to process what happened in the day - what was the highlight, what was the lowlight? If I can’t identify anything, perhaps I was just being a dumb reactive person the entire day not taking any risks or processing change that can spark the business or my personal relationships. There is something to be said for leaders and entrepreneurs to start exercising their minds, processing more, understanding more, and having a bigger, better, long-term perspective on the daily grind. How are you balancing your reflection time vs your reaction time? Do you think it’s important to your success?
I love my beach and alone driving time, or just going for long walks. Let the data sort out, and find the real reason why.
Happy New Year Andy, and Happy New Year to all of our co-friends who read this!
dk
Nice article, Andy! I think there are people who excel at either reflection/strategy or execution, and far fewer who excel at both.
I agree with this Blog post, 2009 was to put it bluntly brutal and insane. I have a US partner company that I’m dealing with and about 9 staff, plus board, plus potential capital providers.
Its hard sometimes but I found a way which works for me. Rather than respond right away, I write a response then edit it after about 30 minutes before sending. Its still very timely but it gives you a chance to reflect on what you are really trying to say.
Great piece Andy. Being an entrepreneur and running your own business requires a huge amount of focus and reaction to everything which is going on - but you are right - there must be time for reflection, and a realisation of what is really important in life…
Great insights and I can relate to your feelings of having to attend to things immediately. I need to focus more on family and other things because those things are just as big a part of success as the business side.
I am completely a slave to the ‘urgent’ as well - the ‘ding’ of a new email, the chime of a text message or the anxiety that builds when I don’t quickly return a phone call.
You are completely right about the fact that we are trained, as entrepreneurs, to be reactive, quick moving and uber responsive (lest we lose a sale, hurt our brand or fail to respond quickly enough to garner praise and the all-important buzz).
I have a very hard time finding quiet time in my week to be reflective and just sit. Last month’s ‘Octane’ suggested 10 minutes of meditation per day would make anyone a better leader and entrepreneur. Right now, I do my reflection in monthly and quarterly chunks - what went right, what was a success, what needs improvement and how can I do corrective action for areas I was weak in.
Those contemplation periods are helpful and interesting but it’s going to take a while to unwind myself down from the stress of 2009 to feel like I have the luxury to do them more often than once a month.
Great post; thanks for sharing your revelation with us.