My oldest daughter is a Senior in high school right now.  Do you know what that means?  It means it’s getting close to time for a graduation party.  That’s a great thing.  On the other hand, it means that we have quite a few home improvement projects to get done before that time.  They are important…but not exciting.  Listen to the DMJ Podcast today about Straightening the Poles.

One of the projects I need to tackle is on the back deck.  We have a nice large deck, but the poles along the edge have gotten out of whack over time.  Now, though they are secure in the ground, they have moved and are not straight.  I need to go through and straighten them by bolting them to the deck.  It’s important…but not exciting.  So I put it off.

When visiting a friend’s house he told me about some of his backyard projects.  He explained the overall plan of what he was doing in trying to create an “oasis” out back for him and his family.  Though I never get that excited about outdoor projects, I started to get energized by his vision.  I came home and looked at the back deck with a new clarity.  I started to look at what could be.  Suddenly the project was not about “straightening the poles.”  It was about creating a vision for us to have the backyard of our dreams.

What a difference!

The challenge, I think, is the same for each of us at work.  We can very easily get caught up in the day to day minutia of the work.  We end up straightening the poles.  If we want to be energized to go in and attack the day, we need to often take a step back and remind ourselves the overall goal.  What are we really trying to accomplish?  Why?

When we do this, the straightening of the poles will get taken care of too!

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