What I learned (& you can too) from the dragons hidden under my butt
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Creativity & innovation
‘Here be dragons’ was a term some say, used by explorers to describe unexplored territory. Unknown, mysterious territory.
Like the territory we all face when we set out to seek, to find the betwixt & between.
Working with 20,000+ participants in 80+ countries to help them laugh, learn & lead has shown me that we all need new ways of seeing, seeking, doing & being.
Sometimes we need to go big n’ bold….
Like when my partner & I packed up our clothes, kids & books & moved to Africa from Canada.
Like being the first (& only) one in my family to get a university degree, let alone a Masters. I’ll never forget the feeling of my knees knocking, my stomach churning as I catapulted into a very strange world known as academia. Talk about ‘here be dragons.’
There be dragons under your butt
Sometimes we need to go small n’ subtle…
Like when I found dragons hidden under my bed.
Let me explain.
One of the castors on my bed recently broke. It was carving deep groves into the wood floor so I knew I had to get it fixed.
This is a bed I’ve had for 6+ years. This a bed that has cradled my weary body at the end of long days, in no less than 3 homes.
Like my toothbrush, my computer, my kiddos & partner- I see this thing every .. single ..day … & … night.
I had noticed the metal things at the end of the bed, truly I had. I assumed they kept the mattress from slipping.
Back to broken bed part.
I got a guy to look at the bed & when I walked in mid repair job my jaw dropped & fell into the deep grooves in my floor.
I didn’t recognize my own bed.
Sandwich dragon bed
It had opened up like a sandwich.
Turns out those metal bits at the bottom of the bed are handles. Turns out my bed is on a huge spring. Turns out my bed has its own hiding place for dragons which I’ve now tamed & explored – the whole darn thing lifts up to reveal a cool, massive storage area.
I talk about finding new perspective, often right under your nose, in this case it was underneath my butt.
Another example of finding a new perspective
I am an avid reader & an important part of that is curating, organizing my learning so I can share it with my clients.
For years that has meant making notes in the back of my books with certain symbols that make it quick for me to review (eg the letter ‘a’ with a circle around it means something to take action on).
And yet while I love the reading, I was never a fan of taking notes. So while I was teaching my recent planning course (think of it like a spa for your mind without all the goopy stuff) (next one is April 19th) I call people’s attention to pesky things that they experience frequently + things that bug them which is an indication that some ease & efficiency is needed.
For me that’s been taking notes from my beloved books.
Voila! I found a much easier way. So simple
I draw quadrants at the back of my book with different topics I’m interested in that the book relates to; then as I’m reading I take uber quick notes
Easy, peasy, efficient.
New perspective. And no pesky dragons.
My advice to you – explore your edges, your dragons & find new ways of seeing, doing & being.
You never know what you’ll find at the tip of your nose or under your butt.
Annnnnnnd take action
- Figure out what’s bugging you that happens repeatedly. Then, like I did with my book note taking, look specifically for a new perspective to gain some ease & efficiency.
- Check out how I found a new perspective for creating some change (fingers crossed- stay tuned) when I witnessed a sexist event.
- Intrigued by my online courses? Email me to get more info: laragan (at) rpsinc.ca I’m giving a course on how tech can bring you ease & efficiency (honestly!) on March 27th & April 19th will be on using my Life Lenses™ tool to create plans & goals that totally fit you.
Tags: change, online course, perspective
Leave a Reply