Hi Friend,

I am the queen of marking emails as “unread” until I respond or tackle the item.

For a long time it was my little way of keeping it on the to-do list until it’s done.

I have realized that, of course, this is not a great way to manage my inbox.

In the past, every time I opened my Gmail app when I was out and about, I'd take a look at something. I'd skim it. Then I’d mark it as unread.

But because I read it, I kind of opened a tab in my brain, right?

I started to think about it, but I didn’t have enough time to actually close the loop and finish it until later, so it just remained an “open mental tab” in my brain instead.

So this week I did an experiment in creating mental inventory.

I took the Gmail app completely off my phone. I know, it sounds crazy.

But I’ve already noticed a few things.

It is absolutely wild to realize how many times I would automatically open the app on my phone and refresh. I even had a little routine – check text firsts, then email, then Voxer…

Even though now I’ve taken the app off my phone, that habit is so ingrained in me, mentally and physically, that my fingers keep looking for the gmail icon to tap, even though it’s no longer there.

And I haven’t lost any of the efficiency I thought I was gaining by having instant access to my email at all times.

Instead, it has saved me time and mental space.

According to Lean business principles and the idea of eliminating waste in a process; one of the biggest forms of waste is works in progress.

On a factory floor, works in progress could be newly made widgets, waiting to be painted before they’re ready to ship out.

They’ve got to sit somewhere and take up space before they’re complete and out the door.

Whenever I marked an email as ‘unread’, I was creating a mental “work in progress”, and inevitably that led going back and reading the message through again before I could actually respond.

From a Lean perspective, that “rework” is another big form of waste.

Now imagine your brain is like that factory floor. It’s got finite space.

Every new “mental” work in progress takes up more of it, leaving less room for anything else.

Whenever I do a workshop, whether it's with individual leaders or a leadership team, I always bring what I call the “magical bag of freedom”.

Before we start, everyone turns their phones on airplane mode and puts their phone in the bag.

And, of course, everyone has this terrified look in their eyes before they do. It's kind of like losing an appendage.

But, then they're able to really focus.

They get SO much more out of the day.

On breaks, they're not going back to their phone to get a rush of notifications that open up more “works in progress” and divert that mental energy away from gaining clarity.

Freeing up mental space, like closing tabs on your overheating laptop, allows your brain a chance to rest.

From there you can think bigger, become more intentional and more proactive.

I know that the thought of taking your email app off of your phone might sound horrifying.

I totally get it.

But if you’re willing to try - even just for a day - you’ll start to notice your patterns, where the bulk of your mental inventory is coming from, and what happens when you clear out the clutter in your mind.

Sending Visionary Vibes your way!

Lois

Hi Friend-

I'm not sure if you can relate, but I have zero sense of direction.

I use my gps to get everywhere, even though we’ve lived in Norfolk for almost two years now.

This inevitably leads to me opening up Google Maps when I’m out and about and using vague search terms like ‘coffee’ or ‘restaurant’ when I want to grab a bite.

And what happens?

Google uses an algorithm to show me the restaurants that it deems most ‘relevant’.

And that happens all the time in our businesses and our lives.

If we leave our destination - our Vision - vague, we leave it up to others to project their definition of success on to us.

And when we take their directions, we'll definitely get somewhere, using a lot of time and energy in the process...

but it may not ultimately be where we want to go.

Now, on the other hand, if we are able to describe our destination with crystal clarity, then we'll still hit those bumps in the road and the unexpected detours, but we're not going to just give up and go home.

Instead, with our destination defined, we'll be confident that our navigational system will adjust accordingly.

And even though it may take us in a different direction than we originally expected, ultimately, it's still going to get us where we want to go.

We know that our path and our businesses and our lives will change many many times and that's what keeps things exciting.

The important thing is that while we will continue adjusting our path and, of course, enjoying the journey along the way, our destination isn’t a moving target.

In a world where things are constantly changing, it’s a relief to know that your Vision is your anchor in the storm.

Sending Visionary vibes your way!

Lois

Hi Visionary,

I know it’s been a while since my last Vision webinar, and with everything going on in our world right now, I wanted to extend a very warm hello and let you know that I’m thinking about you.

When everything in our lives seems to be in flux, it can feel like we're in reactive mode. So today, I wanted to shine a light your way and encourage you around how Visioning can help you even in times of uncertainty.

Even when everything around us is in limbo, we can still make our lives happen, instead of letting them happen to us.

Recently, one of my Visionaries reached out to me because she was feeling really off. She felt like she was in "fire-fighting mode" and not able to focus on or be intentional about her life. On top of that, the outbreak of the Coronavirus is directly affecting her work, and she was feeling overwhelmed and depleted.

I realized that many other Visionaries were likely feeling a lot of the same pressures and concerns, and I wanted to let you in on the ideas that I shared with her about how to apply some of our Visioning strategies even in the most uncertain situations.

In a time when we’re focused on minute-to-minute updates, it can be refreshing to think about the long-term view. When there’s so much we can’t control, you can still control your definition of success and be proactive and intentional toward creating the future you want.

Here are some ways Visioning can help you during times of uncertainty:

Ground yourself in long-term thinking.

This too shall pass. While it’s important that we all stay up-to-date with what’s happening, at the same time, feeling a collective focus on what’s right in front of us can be scary and exhausting. Re-grounding ourselves in long-term thinking can alleviate some of the stress and help us remember that our Vision is our compass, and just like a GPS, when we hit a roadblock or obstacle - like the one in front of us right now - we can recalibrate and set a new course to keep moving forward.

The Visionary mindset is about moving towards what we do want instead of away from what we don’t want. If we think about moving away from what we don’t want, we’re responding from a reactive stance. If we think about moving towards what we do want, we’re able to respond from a proactive stance.

One of my Visionaries from Massachusetts once told me, "If you ask different questions, you’ll get different answers," and I think it's a brilliant reminder. So, how can we change the questions we’re asking ourselves right now, and in doing so, get different, more uplifting answers?

Short-term Visioning

When there’s so much going on, and things are changing so rapidly, it can be comforting to know you always have the tool of short-term Visioning in your pocket. We talk about Vision as a definition of success at a specific point in the future, and while we often think of a 3-year or 5-year Vision, that specific point in the future can be much sooner.

In fact, a Vision for the day can be extremely powerful. A daily Vision could be a sentence or a short paragraph. It’s something you can do in the morning or at night for the next day. You could write it in a journal or on the back of a napkin.

Right now it can feel like success is defined by being in control, understanding everything that’s going on, and doing everything you can about it...but that can also feel like a never-ending battle.

A daily Vision can help you re-think that idea of success and shift it. The truth is that external factors are always beyond our control. We can read or watch the news all day and still not know all the latest updates. We can be trying our best, and we still might feel like we could be doing more.

A daily Vision allows us to reclaim our definition of success, and it can be as simple as:

"I’m getting into bed, and I’m proud that today, when challenges came up, I kept reminding myself that this too shall pass."

OR

"I’m winding down for the night, and I’m glad that today I looked for the silver lining in this situation and found it."

OR

"I’m getting into bed, and I feel really good that today I flipped the switch and looked for the opportunities as things are changing."

When writing your daily Vision, remember to write it in the present tense. Writing your Vision like it has already happened helps you make decisions throughout the day that get you closer to making it a reality rather than taking you farther away from it.

Focusing on the evidence you’ve gotten to where you wanted to go helps connect you not just with the results you want to achieve but the feeling, mindset or perspective you want to cultivate throughout the day.

Oftentimes we pin our definition of success to someone or something else, but Visioning reminds us that while we can’t control situations or people, we can define success in terms of the only thing we can control - ourselves.

It’s important that our daily Vision is at the intersection of inspiring and attainable so that we know we're working towards something realistic, instead of a pie-in-the-sky fantasy for the day.

Visualization

Now more than ever it’s tempting to reach for our phones as soon as we open our eyes in the morning and start scrolling for the latest updates. But what if you kept your eyes closed for just 2 more minutes and visualized yourself moving through your day?

Going inward can help us remember that outside factors will always be at play, but we’re not at their whim. This isn’t about visualizing a fantasy or the best day ever - this is about picturing yourself moving through the day and showing up the way you want to show up.

When we can picture what we want our day to look like, we can then take intentional action to make it happen.

I truly hope these Visioning tips inspire you to use them during this time. Remember, you were born with an innate power to create change. You are a leader in your life and business who can create your future, instead of allowing your future to happen to you.

If you need support, I’m here for you.

Don't hesitate to hit reply, or set up a time to reconnect.

Sending Visionary vibes your way,

Lois

Hi Visionary,

Last week we talked about strategies to ride the wave of uncertainty, and today I wanted to send another one your way!

I’ve talked to several people in the past few days who feel like they’re trying to do so many things...and failing at all of them.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever felt that way, but I certainly have, and it’s the worst! Several years ago I was working in the specialty foods industry and pitched the idea of taking two months to travel around the West Coast and discover new products we could add to our offerings. I got the green light from my boss at the time and took off, but just a few days in I was feeling terrible. I was working super hard every day, but I kept feeling like it wasn’t enough.

Not long after, I decided that I was simply unwilling to continue feeling like a failure.

I realized that if I continued pinning my definition of success to completing every single thing I wanted to in a given day, I would never feel successful a day in my life!

So I took the concept of Visioning--something I had always associated with the long-term, and applied it to the short-term. I started writing daily Visions, and that helped me shift from feeling like a daily failure to feeling like a daily success.

My very first daily Vision was "I’m getting into bed and I feel a little bit better than I did when I woke up." One single sentence that had nothing to do with a to-do list and everything to do with evidence. Evidence that I had gotten to where I wanted to go by the end of the day.

And y’now what? It worked!

I got into bed that night, and it was true! I did feel a little better than I did when I woke up that morning. A one-sentence daily Vision may not sound like much, but for me, it was huge! I had made my Vision a reality, and for the first time on that trip I fell asleep feeling like a success.

That feeling carried over to the next morning, and I ran with it. I kept writing daily Visions, and as I kept achieving them I started building more momentum - feeling less discouraged and more empowered.

Since then, daily Visioning has been a powerful tool in my tool kit, and I want you to have it, too!

Let’s start with the Four Characteristics of an Effective Daily Vision

#1 It’s written in the Present Tense

Writing your Vision like it has already happened helps you make decisions throughout the day that get you closer to making it a reality rather than farther away.

#2 It’s All About the Evidence

Focusing on the evidence you’ve gotten to where you wanted to go by the end of the day helps connect you not just with the results you want to achieve but the feeling, mindset or perspective you want to cultivate.

#3 It’s All About You

Oftentimes we pin our definition of success to someone or something else, but Visioning reminds us that while we can’t control situations or people, we can define success in terms of the only thing we can control - ourselves.

#4 It’s Not a Fantasy

It’s important that our daily Vision is at the intersection of inspiring and attainable so we truly believe we can make it happen, even if we don’t exactly know how.

Let’s take another look my first Daily Vision, and see how these four characteristics apply:

"I’m getting into bed and I feel a little better than when I woke up."

It’s written in the present tense: Even though I wrote down this daily Vision in the morning, I made it sound like it was my reality already.

It’s all about the evidence: This daily Vision speaks to a feeling, not a laundry-list of to-do’s.

It’s all about me: When I wrote this Vision, I had no idea what the day ahead of me would hold, but that didn’t matter because it was about me rather than someone or something else.

It’s Not a Fantasy: I wasn’t in a great place, so writing a Vision for a day filled with rainbows and butterflies would have felt like a silly dream. Instead I focused on incremental progress and giving myself credit for that.

I hope this concept of a daily Vision sparks some new ideas for you, and next week I’ll be sending some more specific examples of daily Visions and how to get the most out of yours.

If you need support (or just want to share your daily Vision!), I’m here for you.

Don't hesitate to hit reply, or set up a time to reconnect.

Sending Visionary vibes your way!

Lois