Shift Happens

Is your ship on course or drifting out to sea? What do you need to shift?

Yesterday, my husband and I headed to a nearby lake to do some canoeing. They didn’t have any canoes left, so we had to take a boat with an electric motor. Ok, this should be easy, we thought.

We pushed the boat into the water and hopped in. There was only one problem. The boat wouldn’t move. The motor was on but we weren’t going anywhere. Ever feel that way in your business, career, or life?

Want to know what the problem was? The diagram on the motor was backwards. Reverse was really forward and forward was reverse. Once my husband shifted the handle in the opposite direction, we took off! One simple tweak made all the difference.

Getting unstuck

Once we got going, we looked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather and all the nature around us. We were surrounded by wildlife, including ducks and turtles, hawks, and blue herons. We successfully navigated around obstacles in the lake. And then we got stuck.

Apparently, some parts of the lake were lower than others. No problem if you have a canoe or a kayak but not good if your boat has a motor. Fortunately, we weren’t stuck for long, as all that was needed was to lift the motor out of the water, coast for a bit, and then try again. That’s good advice for anyone, actually.

Here are some more tips:

1. Know your boat! Know what you have and what it can do. Your boat may be different than others, so you need to steer it differently.
2. Watch out for obstacles! You can’t always see what’s coming but pay attention!
3. Shift when needed! Do you need to speed up or just coast for awhile?
4. Who’s steering the ship? Are you trying to force things on your own?
5. Enjoy the journey! Take time to appreciate the journey and what’s around you.

Mindset reset

Before you shift gears, you may need to shift your mindset. Here is a quick video that uses a drumming illustration to show how to pivot quickly and switch things up. It’s all about learning how to improvise:

Don’t give up, my friend! One thing I do know is this: There is always hope. If I can bounce back, so can you! If you’d like to chat about how you can shift, let’s schedule your complimentary 30-min. call and let’s chat!

Dori Staehle, MBA is from the Raleigh, NC area and is a certified drum therapist, percussionist, mentor, ADHD specialist, Toca percussion artist, inspirational speaker and author, and owner of Next Stage Drumming. Dori’s mission is to help people get unstuck and break free from what’s holding them back. She bounced back after an accident in 2011 and again during the pandemic. Her unique blend of mentoring, motivation, and music has helped clients all over the world move forward – fast!