Something I’ve heard a lot lately is the following: “The definition of insanity is doing that you’ve always done and expecting different results.”
I don’t know who said this but I think it’s so true. It reminds me of a gerbil running furiously inside a wheel going nowhere fast. It’s great exercise, though.
There is so much behind this saying. We forget that without a vision of what we want in our lives most of what we do is an exercise. We’re bombarded with so many options, changes, choices, get-rich-quick schemes that, in our haste to grab at something, we forget what we’re all about. I know I’ve done that.
How can we jump off the gerbil wheel and stop the insanity?
Finding a coach who can work with you is of paramount importance. Without an objective look at what you want to do it’s easy to get off track. This is true whether you want to be a published author, a workshop leader, or you simply want to create a legacy for the generation that will follow you.
While watching the Winter Olympics, I noticed that the first person each winner hugged was his or her coach. These are the athletes who had a vision, knew they couldn’t do it alone, and had an experienced coach help them make corrections and changes so that they could claim victory. It was the coach who kept them from doing the same things over and over again expecting different results.
We may not be competing for a spot on the Olympic team but we can create our own vision and live that vision.
You nailed it! My habitual ruts seem to get deeper and deeper unless I change the route. You motivate me to change routes and get going in new directions. Lately, I’m involved with education, of all kinds and working with new people, many with entirely different outlooks than my own.
It’s good for me to expand!!
Anne
This particular definition of insanity has been attributed to none other than Albert Einstein. You are right–that
definition has been repeated often lately and with good
reason! We all tend to get into a comfortable rut, and
you chose the perfect image of the gerbil on the wheel.
Thanks for continuing to motivate us to create our own
vision and explore new directions.
As a fellow life coach I like that you pointed out the necessity and team work of a coach and an Olympic Athlete. Many people do not see or understand the value of having a life coach… but really we are all running our own personal Olympics… our goal to outdo our personal best. The value of coaching is that you increase the chances of achieving your goals or achieve them a whole lot faster.