Is there any doctor who would care first about the immune system of his patients rather than of his own? Do you know any farmer who intentionally leaves the weeds to invade his crop? How many pessimists do you know who have achieved significant success? Have you ever read of a top athlete who does not keep track of his own performance?
So why, so often, we are reluctant to scrap the dead weight which inevitably appears in our lives? More important, what can we immediately do in order to build an immune system which should automatically protect us from the bad influences. This applies in our lives (from jobs towards relationships), applies in projects but may well be applicable to organisations and countries.
There may be several ways of looking at this topic, but from my experience the four best things to do in order to enable your immune system are:
- First of all, be aware of the most dangerous forms of degradation: those actions which – like the blind spots – are not perceivable and do not produce any immediate results. Spotting that slow, not so obvious, regress which does not leave any noticeable changes in the short term is the first step for building an immune system. HINT: religiously implement a measurement system, and compare the current status with a previous state (for the web use web analytics, for your waist grab a tailor ruler)
- This may be counter intuitive, and is a paradox when related to the previous point: develop a tolerance to failure. Everyone can make mistakes, including us. But way too often, we fall in love with our own current way of doing things, either because we hate to be wrong or because we don’t want to beat ourselves up with regrets and remorse. So ignite your immune system by allowing to be wrong – after all is just part of being human. HINT: make a brief inventory of wrongdoings and accept them as a part of who you are, then envision a way to take corrective action and renew your habits with a proper way of doing things
- See things in a different light, a bright light. There are enough shadows from the past fueled by fears and frustrations which may blur our clear way of seeing things. Our past experiences have shaped our emotional paths and thought patterns and it takes time, acceptance and effort to change those. However, the now moment presents us the reality like a virgin territory – it is up to us what and how we decide to see. Using “the old pair of eyes” will show us the world as an old dusted museum, whereas looking through “the present pair of eyes” will bring more discoveries to us. HINT: boost your immune system by living in the right now, present time which enables us to see more the positive aspects of the surrounding activities, contexts, people, experiences…
- Make yourself the most important person in your life. This advice was suggested by the flight attendants when explaining the role of oxygen masks: first put your own mask, then apply it to your kid. This may sound very selfish, but is not. Let’s me be clear on this: unless we first take care of ourselves, and make ourselves stronger first, we can not be truly be kind others, without jeopardizing our own immune system. HINT: First help yourself, then help others
Bottom line: build your immune system by measuring everything, by accepting and then replacing the bad habits, by seeing the bright side of things through the right-now lens and by placing yourself first in the priority queue.
{ 0 comments }
