You probably think I’m quoting an ex-president. Especially because a book just came out with the same title.

But I’m quoting me. And you. And every senior executive I’ve ever worked with.

Because at some point, we’ve all said this, or at least thought it.

In a moment of overwhelm, or hubris, or when we don’t trust our team or know what else to do.

Some of us might even have had a reaction just reading the quote. I know I did!

But that’s because I know I have this part of me that thinks this. Pretty regularly in fact. And I hate it.

But I’ve learned this thought can be a gift.

Because it shows me I’m in a bad state. It practically screams at me, “Don’t make any important decisions right now!”

I’ve learned that it’s my sign to talk a break. To take a walk. Even to take a breath or two.

And when I do that, my thinking begins to settle. The world becomes a bit more friendly. And it becomes clear what I need to do next.

Including finding help.

What do you do when you think you have to do it all?

I was talking with a prospective client who just lost his C-suite role. He quickly had opportunities to go back into the same role at a bigger organization.

It would have been easy. But it didn’t feel right.

For the first time, this executive really felt no pressure to work. No pressure to perform, to go back to the grind, to measure his self worth by meeting his organization’s KPI’s. His kids were through college. The house was paid off.

For the first time, he was asking the big question–

What do I want?

What would feel meaningful? What would bring joy to me and others?

If I already have enough, if I already AM enough, then what?

The truth is that many of us already fall into that camp. We just have trouble seeing it sometimes.

But when we see that we are already enough, that we’ve always been enough, that our innate state is peace, is joy, is wholeness, then we can ask ourselves, what can we create just because we want to?

When we do create from that perspective, all the other things, the money we thought we needed, the self worth and meaning that we thought was lacking, show up anyway.

My experience is that the universe has always had bigger ideas for me than I have.

How about you?

…is seeing that the maze is made up.

You have an idea of what success means. And then you judge yourself when you don’t meet this definition.

We feel bad because we didn’t meet the test that we created.

It’s crazy. And yet we all do it. Over and over. It’s human nature. And it’s practically invisible to us.

For every story of, “This is what I need to do, this is what Wall Street requires, this is what we have to do to respond to our competition” there is a story of someone succeeding doing exactly the opposite.

Exactly. The. Opposite.

Don’t believe the story in your head. The story you’ve been taught to believe.

Because the story in your heart is a lot more compelling.

The story of your innate wisdom.

Can you hear it?

Half the effort, twice the impact

When I start talking with a leader about coaching, the breathless response that I often get is that things are just fine, and besides, there is no way this busy overachiever has time for coaching, thank you very much!

And then we slow down a bit.

We start by talking about two things.

The first is output versus impact.

A pickup truck is capable of great output. But if you floor it, you’re not going anywhere. It used to be you would spin your tires. Now, you burn out your antilock breaks, which are determined to keep your wheels from spinning (and therefore keep you exactly in place).

Traction is critical. And traction is creating by moving not at maximum speed, but at the right speed. The more people you want to bring along, the bigger impact you want to have, the slower you need to go. At first. It’s only then you can build your speed, and momentum.

The second is effort versus ease.

In swimming, the most important thing is to be able to glide through the water. Efficiency comes first, then effort. This is why the best swimmers barely make a splash.

In leading, the goal is to minimize mental effort.

There is the doing (for you and your team). And there is the thinking that things and people should be different, that you should be able to go faster, that you aren’t doing a good job, that you will get fired if this doesn’t work.

The second type of thinking is a complete waste of effort. Because things are exactly as they are, until you and your team change them.

Imagine how much easier things would be if you didn’t think they should be easier?

If you can put these two simple changes into effect, I guarantee you can have twice the impact with half the effort.

And if you’d like to see how this could work for you, DM me and let’s talk.