Going From Good To Great

Know the truth

Photo Credit: Elena Kipriotis at Evolve 2022, Corfu, Greece.

To go where you want to go to you need to know where you are starting from.

Jim Collins in his book from Good To Great identifies that one of the traits of companies that make the leap from good to great is the ability to name the 'brutal facts of reality.'

Putting aside the criticisms of Collin's book and what it might mean to be a 'great' company in a post pandemic world the ability to honestly and clearly see current reality is a priceless skill for ANYONE who wants to fulfil their creative potential.

This is a skill that demands honesty, vulnerability, consciousness, awareness and gets better and exponentially more powerful with practise.

Knowing my current reality is the key to getting me pointed in the right direction and invariably reveals exactly what I need to do next. 

Here are the top 6 tips I have used to accelerate my practise:

1. Know my end result

Without an end result in mind my current reality is either some place I want to get away from or a place to loiter and wallow in. There is no creative power in knowing where I am without knowing where I am going. 

2. Where I am relative to my end result doesn't mean anything about me

I am not good, bad, right, wrong, a success or a failure, I am just where I am. Inherent in the art of creating is discrepancy - to create something there has to be a difference between where I am and where I want to go. 

When there is a gap it means I am 'in the process' of creating. When there is no gap then I have created what I set out to create hurrah! Now to get down to the next thing on my list. 

3. Know my objective facts - this calls for real honesty

If my end result is the life of a digital nomad working on the beach but I am in a cubicle on the nth floor in the City of London then my current reality is just that. No excuses, no rationalising. 

When I have taken steps towards that dream e.g. booked a sabbatical or applied to be a caretaker on a desert island then hurray I can applaud myself for moving towards my dream.

4. Know my subjective facts - this calls for objective observation

The subjective facts are my inside story, I think of these as beliefs - ideas, notions, definitions or assumptions that fix my view of myself, others or the world e.g. I am a failure, I am not getting what I want because my boss doesn't like me, I am not qualified, I am too old, I am too young, it is not the right time. 

5. Subjective reality feels real

Subjective reality will have a feeling quality e.g. despair, despondency, fear, anger, disappointment, overwhelm etc. This adds to my experience, I FEELS it a visceral level. Like a good drama it has me hooked. 

6. Subjective reality is not a true reflection of what is going in the present moment

The trick to understanding subjective reality is knowing that the experience draws on layers of evidence from the past and that evidence, amplifies and distorts what is happening in the present. 

#experience #mindset #creativemindset #whatisyourwhy