Tuesday, February 7, 2012

MIND THE GAP

During a recent trip to London I received some thought-provoking advice from a recorded voice as I made my way onto the Heathrow Express heading into Paddington station.  Over and over the voice instructed me and my fellow travelers to do one thing, three words - MIND THE GAP. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmclPnAy1A

As I gazed out the window at the rolling English countryside I realized that this wonderful voice was almost like my inner voice, my self talk.  It seems that many people have a gap between where they are and where they want to get to--to their vision.  If you're one of these people (I sure am), welcome to the masses.  Take a guess at the number of people, that if you asked them, 'Are you where you want to be in life?'--with career, health, spirituality, relationships, finances and all the other wonderful areas that make up their life--would answer an emphatic NO.  I'm guessing for me it would be somewhere between 7-9 people out of every 10 I ask.

So, about 30 minutes later, I stepped off the train in Paddington station and right onto a sign at my feet with three simple words on it, 10 letters...

I smiled and said out loud to the amusement of the young lady exiting next to me, "Okay, okay, I got it."  I'm certain she thought I was talking about the gap between the train and the platform.

So during my time in London, and after a wonderfully inspirational performance of Wicked at the Victoria Theater, I began to "mind the gap." 

A few things showed up for me:
  1. My book  project was not where it needed to be
  2. My earnings for the year were okay, but certainly not where I wanted them to stay
  3. My relationship with my wife and kids (and a few others) needed some more "quality" attention (notice the word quality; by this I mean that I am with them not just in body, but also brought my head and heart along...no iPhone, computer or any other wonderfully distractive gizmos)
  4. My health was not where I wanted it to be as I stood just two years out from the big 5-0

What to do now?  Simple.  Number one: create a picture--a vision--of how it will be when I get to where I want to be and the gap no longer exists; and number two: identify what actions I need to take to move toward the vision.

Interesting for me as I sit in a coffee shop completing this blog post--two months after that trip to London--is that the gaps I identified after encouragement from an anonymous electronic voice with a delightful English accent have moved a great deal closer to closure--to the vision.

So?  MIND THE GAP!

Be well
Danny

2 comments:

  1. Hello! Sent over here by Bob Abernethy!

    It's been years since I've been to London, and I had no idea they still had that "Mind the Gap" warning. We're thinking of taking the daughters this summer. They will be highly amused.

    But what I was really thinking when I read your post was this: How did he know I just received editorial notes today, and the gap between what the editor wants and what I currently have is a little bigger than I expected??

    However, it is just a gap and maybe not as wide as I think. Do I want to publish a book or not? Yes? Then I need to strike the right attitude and get busy.

    Thanks for the reminder!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great insight, Dianne. And let me know when your book is ready!

      Delete