5.15am alarm rings!
I jump out of bed, shower, get dressed, pick up my bags (all organised & packed the night before), pop my thongs on (an efficiency thing so I can run when needed), grab my heels out of the cupboard & off I go, en-route to the airport for an early flight to Brisbane.
A relatively smooth trip into the airport, breeze through the departure gates, need to quickly change my shoes to enable Qantas Club entry, when I discover,
“Houston we have a problem!”
ODD HEELS!!
In my consideration (by keeping lights off to avoid waking up the sleeping family), I picked up black heels that don’t match! Arghhh!
Now I gotta be honest, this is not the first time I haven't had my shit together.
Once, I actually facilitated an entire day, in odd boots. And if that was not humiliating enough, they were both LEFT BOOTS! Yup! The funniest bit, I had no idea until my client asked me the next day if I was trying to be trendy…. Seriously!
Another time, I got home after a long week of facilitating only to realise I had left my laptop in the seat pocket of the aeroplane. Doh.
Another time, I left my laptop charger on the kitchen table at home, whilst I had to run ten workshops in Darwin. Nothing like running around in 40 degrees humidity in a desperate attempt to locate an Apple store only to find they don’t exist in Darwin! (Thank god for my fab client, Cath, who drove & bought me a new one. Absolute Lifesaver!).
Just yesterday morning, I have arrived at the airport, bright & early, to discover, this time, my iPhone is nowhere in sight (again, hoping it is on the kitchen bench!) And it goes on…..
And this girl runs her own business you are thinking?
Here’s the thing, in the moment, these things feel like HUGE dilemmas. The humiliation of odd shoes, the inconvenience of getting my laptop back or buying a new charger, or god forbid, being without my iPhone for ONE WHOLE DAY! But they are not.
Ironically, from the external, most people, think everyone else has their shit together! The perfect marriage, the successful business person, the mother of the year, the healthy family. Yet on the inside, we can feel like this crazy person, quietly losing our shit internally. (Unfortunately for me, mine is more transparent).
The key question, is when it comes to the important stuff, do we have our shit together? Are we focussing on the stuff that matters?
What matters for me, is when I am with my team & clients, they get the best of me - to ensure they get the most value from my services.
When I with my family & friends, they get the best of me - to get the love & support they need. When it comes to me, I get the best of me - to maintain my own health & wellbeing. There will be times that we all lose our shit. Sometimes more serious than other times.
In these moments, we gotta:
- Get over ourselves (sometimes even laugh at ourselves),
- Remember what really matters to us
- Focus on the next best steps/action we need to take,
- Be prepared to ask for help, and
- As one of my favourite books says “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff!”
Plus, for me nothing a little shopping expedition couldn’t fix (what a great excuse for another pair of heels!)
Keep smiling!
BLYTHE ROWE & Her Life on Heels.
The founder & director of Human Incite, is widely recognised for her passion, energy and her ability to shake things up. Blythe is brilliant at revving-up productivity & performance in organisations. Her passion made her to be an advocate in creating sustainable behavioural changes & creating meaningful relationships both personally and professionally with her most recent Keynote 'Science of Connection'. Her enthusiasm simply is infectious.