Blind spots are not fun. They are unwanted surprises. They catch you off guard. If you’ve ever backed your car into a pole or done something similar to that, you understand the result isn’t what you expected nor what you want to have to deal with.

It’s best to remove all your blind spots.

Just because you are pursuing excellence, you are not immune to blind spots. Most will be subtle, keeping you from making progress or making the journey much more laborious than it needs to be. Some will be profound, causing you to despair, give up, and go back to your life by default.

Here are three blind spots tI want to address in this post:

Seasons. You go through seasons throughout your life. Seasons have a beginning and an end. They come to pass. In the moment, they seem extreme. It’s in these moments that you need to visit the balcony more frequently to stay on top of the bigger picture. If you don’t, you could decide to give up just before a breakthrough. Don’t let seasons blind you to your progress.

Stages. This is a more linear consideration. You are somewhere on a timeline. YOu have no doubt been through your elementary years, teenage years. You may be in your young adult life stage or older. What makes Stages a blind spot is when you assume you can do things at one stage that you used to do in a previous stage. I ran the Pittsburgh marathon in my mid-thirties. Now, in my 50’s, I doubt I could finish another marathon, let alone match my time. Don’t let stages blind you to your progress.

Life Balance. Bruce B. Miller, in his book Your Life In Rhythm, makes a strong case that the concept of life balance is bunk and is doing more harm than good. Unfortunately, the term “life balance” has become a household word and everyone recognizes it. But the danger is in assuming you can give equal energy to everything, regardless of your Seasons or Stages. You have a finite amount of time and energy in any one given day. That time and energy are subject to what you’re facing (Seasons) and where you are in your life (Stages). It’s much better to think of Life Rhythm instead. For example, if you’re sick (Season) you need to slow down and take the time to recover quicker. That means you need to change things up and not go at 100% until the season of sickness is over. That’s what Life Rhythm looks like.

ACTION STEP

• Identify what life Stage you are in right now. What are you unable to do that you used to do? What are you able to do that you weren’t able to do before?

• Thank back to a couple of Seasons you have faced in the past. How did it impact your ability to function?

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