Buy Now, Pay Later
If you sat me down and asked what my long term health goals were, I would describe a version of myself decades from now that was the beacon of wellness. I would imagine her vital signs as way above par and for good measure (since its my imagination) she would be reviewing them while on a 15 mile hike.
Last year, faced with this very question, I considered my ‘today’. It is a poorly kept secret that I have a strong ‘penchant’ for snacks – and the lead singer of this band is Trader Joe’s plantain chips. I joke about it often. But aside even this one vice, I realized there was a disconnect between my immediate and instinctive decisions and this healthy future I envisioned.
If you ask most leaders to pause, reflect and honestly articulate the way they want to be remembered, they would eventually generally say, typically in this order:
(1) one who made a positive impact on people, and…
(2) one who positively impacted business outcomes
The details, if offered, would differ by person but this is where most would land.
So why do we lean into the instinctive short term decisions that are counter to the long-term outcomes we truly want?
If we want to be remembered as someone who made a positive impact on people - what does our natural/instinctive perspective, posture and practice towards people TODAY indicate this memory will be?
We can very easily justify our instinctive short-term decisions.
My decision to indulge in food counter to my long-term health goals were always justifiable. I was tired. I had a long day. I deserved. And hey, I will be better ‘tomorrow’.
But the disconnect between our instincts today and our outcomes tomorrow is completely imaginary. They are one and the same.
Further, we can’t ‘kick the can down the road’. We can not procastinate the outcomes we want and expect to make up for it all at once.
It’s more effective to workout ten minutes a day for 24 days, than one 4 hour stretch one day a month.
We can’t save our ‘good treatment’ of people (customers, employees etc) for few and far between moments. Your long term desire to be remembered as a great leader is determined by your daily interaction with and deposit in people today.
The legacy we want will not magically happen. The enduring is a composite score of all of the ‘immediates’ to come.
It is better to just BE in a steady state of becoming the kind of person whose life naturally yields your long term goal.
My intention with Love as a KPI, is to enable leaders to truly understand that the tangible outcomes they want for their businesses, teams and selves, is subject to their proclivities today.
And, a course-correct is possible.
Join us a live discussion on Love as a KPI to learn more about HOW, on Monday October 23rd at 7pm EST
- - Register: bit.ly/lovekpi
