We bond via our similar and shared beliefs, practices and understandings.
Could be anything – small or large. A hobby, an interest, a political view, a common emotion.
Some are wonderful and give us lots of fun and excitement and some are not so wonderful and helpful to us in the long run.
Here’s my selection this week for a common idea that we bond over at work that might behoove us to take a look at:
“I don’t have enough time!”
We really love this one, don’t we.
We want coworkers, bosses and boards, and our staff to understand how busy we are with everything.
It becomes kind of a personal rallying call of perceived truth among us all that we are all only too happy to reinforce with each other.
And oh, the joy of that bonding moment when we hear in return, “I know! There’s just so much to do!!”
Sweet!
But really, are we doing ourselves any favors by repeating this mantra out loud and in our minds?
Is it in anyway moving anything forward?
Could we possibly slip into using it as an excuse or a defense?
Does it not perpetuate a form of victimhood?
I know we’re real busy, sometimes crazy busy.
However, don’t we just dig our hole deeper and send out a signal to others of our unwillingness to take full responsibility for ourselves?
How about challenging ourselves to drop that phrase from our conversations for a while.
See if we feel better. See if it helps us turn our focus more to accepting and moving through challenges not being rolled over by them.
Maybe free up some energy to look at elevating the skills needed to navigate our way to better results.
There’s always plenty of work; let’s just not make it any harder by joining the “Oh no! I’ve got too much to do” club.
Maybe we go with something like “I have a lot to do so I am on it with my planning and prioritizing!”
Just say’n, I think we need to be mindful of how we define our work – it has an impact.