My Personal Newscast
I was driving one day to an appointment while listening to the radio newscast. It was an election period and the commentator was describing each candidate’s daily schedule of events:
“The day of candidate So-And-So will start with a meeting with such-and-such workers … and then the other candidate Mrs. So-And-So will be visiting this hospital and then this factory…”
I stopped for a second, and turned the radio off. And I asked myself the question: What about my newscast? What would be my newscast today? What do I have on my agenda? What are my intentions for the day?
Rather than spending these precious minutes listening to what was going to be the official planning of each political candidate, I started to consider my own day. I began to review my schedule. The appointment at 9 am with… the conference call at 11 am with…, and so on. I took the time to visualize each activity by appreciating the stakes involved and clarifying my own intentions and my feelings, as well. It was a time to re-center and re-anticipate what I really wanted from these meetings or these phone calls. A bit like athletes who visualize the course before doing it for real. I discovered that defining my own morning news, my own intentions of the day had surprising effects on the outcome of my day.
What is happening in your day today? And what are you intentional about today? Try it and see!
This article is an excerpt from: The Yin and Yang of Leadership: A Theoretical and Practical Guide to Democratic Leading (2018)