For the sake of this post I am literally going to be using the metaphor of actually running in the dark. Picture what that would be like. Imagine it. Not blindly of course. I did have a lamp to guide my way attached to my head as a I ran. A couple of blinkers too. I would never suggest running in the dark literally with out at least something to guide your steps a little bit.
I got this notion in my head what a great analogy it might be. Once in a while we need to run in the dark. Nothing guiding but our little head lamp lighting the way. We wait until it’s safe to go sometimes into challenges at work or in life. We wait and we wait and we wait before we jump in. We like to be fully prepared before taking on anything new. We wait to long.
Going in slightly blind and unprepared can challenge you to grow in ways you’ve not even imagined until you do it. You cannot always be prepared for everything. It’s exhausting. Also, you don’t have all the time in the world, it’s not a renewable resource. It’s finite and fleeting.
Here’s what I learned.
Running in the dark forces you to be much more present and aware. You just don’t know what to expect, so your mind focuses you and grounds you to be super present. Your mind is trying to protect you so nothing blind sides you out of your peripheral. You have to pay attention in a 360 degree position. Being completely present is never a bad thing. There is a lot to learn by just being there during the journey.
You remember more. As you run in uncharted territory your going to pick up on behaviors and actions that you wouldn’t with every step planned out. This gives you a blessing or two to share back to your team or group as recognition. It also makes you catalog on the fly what’s not working in real time. Your mind is a sponge in uncharted territory, let it run. Balance the analytical approach you are comfortable with, with some intuition.
You’re stretching yourself to learn on the fly and becoming a agile problem solver. You don’t know what’s around the corner beyond what your head lamp can eliminate. You literally are learning what to do next a few steps at a time. You will find yourself making choices and taking risks much freer than you if it was all charted out for you.
That’s just a few lessons. You can get a lot from becoming a brave-heart charging headlong into the unknown and not waiting for it to be all planned out. Just try it. You’ll surprise yourself with the level of learns you will experience and how creative you are in real time.
If you have the time or the chance, log some of those learns in the comments below. Thanks for the views and I hope Monday goes well for you.
✌🏻 Shawn
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