Today, practice 164 with kman’s krazies, was all about the OG. You see, today, was our last practice with the original gangsta – Lauren. She turns the page to her next chapter in Cincy starting this afternoon. She chose to come practice with her now former teammates because she is deeply connected. FM, baby. So, when given the chance to take practice wherever she wanted, she took us to her favorite place – 7 good minutes. OG and her 16 teammates connected for 7 good minutes in one direction. Since it was a team of 17, I decided to participate too. It was good.
I learned a lot about the process, my partner, and myself. Emily grew up in one of my favorite parts of the USA, near the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive – two of my favorite cycling roads. I had to block my brain from commenting right away which wasn’t hard as her story was more interesting to me than my own. This is great learning about the process. The process begins with insatiable curiosity. There is no substitute for becoming crazy curious about your partners, teammates, spouses, and friends. 7 good minutes misses it’s meaning when you haven’t trained your brain to understand another and quieted your own little voice to focus every ounce of concentration outside of you. Simple, not easy. Mind awareness is a skill that has to be built – slowly.
Deep relationships are possible when you are ready to give someone the gift of your interest. Deep relationships are possible when you want to understand another and are ready to patiently take the time. Deep relationships are possible when you force your mind to forget your current worries, insecurities, fears, and doubts and focus solely on another. Deep relationships require we learn to focus attention vs. distributing it.
Focus vs. distribute.
Our modern world is priming us to distribute attention and constantly scan the Savannah for something or someone. Instead of the ancient Savannnah we’re now scanning something much nearer our face – the iPhone. So, our face is focused near at hand, searching around the world, and expecting answers in an instant. Kinda krazy huh, kman. We’re becoming masters of distributing attention at the expense of mastering the discipline of focusing. If you want mastery, friend, focus has got to become your discipline. Don’t miss this. Master this. Master the ability to focus deeply on another and on your craft. Slow down and reflect…
Today, as you prepare for Christmas and a special season with those you love, prepare your brain to tune in to a few members of your family. Make it your mission to understand them a bit more deeply. Pick a few targets you are interested in investing in. Practice 7 good minutes and just do it in one direction. You just may find you have more in common with Aunt Lucy, Uncle Elmo, or cousin Cathy. And, remember, you never know how long you’re gonna have to give a teammate this great gift of understanding. You never know when a chapter’s about to change around you. So, take a few deep breathes. Clear your mind. And have some fun for 7 good minutes giving someone you love a great gift. Give them the gift of understanding – it costs nothing and the return just might be priceless.
Good…
BUILT TO LEAD 