Occasionally I encounter a bright yellow sign containing the words “Caution: Watch Your Step.” My immediate reaction is to slow down, scan the surrounding area, and determine how best to proceed with more caution than I would have ever considered had the sign not been posted.
While these signs are helpful and effective, they only address a small percentage of the situations in life where a misstep may occur.
The hole in the ceiling shown at left was the result of an electrician’s misstep. This skilled laborer knew where he could not step and yet somehow managed to place his foot in the wrong place.
So What?
If you are like me, then most of your missteps happen in contexts void of any signs warning of possible danger. When doing something familiar and routine, it is easy to go through the motions without fully focusing on the task. And, it is just as easy to get so consumed by a task that I’m not able to see what’s happening all around me.
As we approach mid-year, I invite you to join me in an exercise of slowing down enough to see where you are headed in 2019 and if your current path is capable of getting you to that destination.
- What goals did you establish for yourself for the year (personal, professional, spiritual, etc.)? What progress have you made on each? What missteps have you taken so far? Do any goals need to be modified or eliminated as the result of other changes in your life or in the world?
- Short of placing hundreds or thousands of yellow warning signs in your path for the next six months, what are some helpful tools you can use as your early warning system to alert you in advance when you wander into territory that carries a higher than usual risk of a misstep?