Today I am pondering my thoughts around the power of paradigms, and more so in the context of what being highly effective really means. In my ponder about this, I was drawn back to an old and wise fable, the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg….but I will get to this in a second.
This week I have been feeling quite tired and have had to really push myself each day. Which to be brutally honest is not like me as I am normally full of energy and I look forward to each day. My environment is pretty good, in that business is growing and doing well, I am serving wonderful clients, attracting new clients, I continue to exercise and meditated most days, and well even the weather has been pretty good, which is a big call when you live in Melbourne!
So what’s going on is what I am pondering. Why am I feeling sluggish, yet creative at the same time. Am I feeling burnt out, again not totally convinced I am. Am I in this grey area fight with myself that I know I have all I need inside of me to re-lift and reset versus I just want to resort back to some bad habits and be lazy…I don’t know?
Deep in thought I resorted back to a wonderful book written by Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and in doing so I recalled a principle that he developed called the P/PC Balance, which is a principle I have implemented in my business and seems to be, now that I am pondering about it, the principle that perhaps I have broken of late.
I will go into this theory a bit more in a moment, but quite simply, what I love most about this principle is how Covey developed it from the old fable by Aesop, The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg.
A fable I recall easily from my childhood, it is a story about a farmer who wakes one day to discover a golden egg sitting in the nest of his goose. In his excitement, he takes this egg to the market and soon discovers that this egg is 100% gold, so of course he cashed it in! When he returned home he eagerly waited for the next day for when he would discover yet again, another big fat golden egg. Days and weeks went past where the goose continued to lay the daily golden egg and the farmer got paid for the results – wouldn’t we love results to come this easy!
However as great as this was, the farmer soon got greedy and impatient as he wanted more wealth, faster. In his haste, he killed the goose in hope he could open up the belly and remove lots of golden eggs so he could be richer much quicker. However, in slicing open the belly the farmer found an empty cavity, and with the goose now dead, he also now had empty pockets.
I just want to pause here, because the farmer has just taken my thoughts, and sorry to jump around here, but to how important it is to have a wealth mindset if you want your business to be successful, because a middle class (like the farmer) or a poverty mindset won’t enable you to grow your wealth the right way.
Hmm I think I want to elaborate a bit more about this and then I will come back to the Covey’s P/PC balance and the Goose…
I believe becoming ultimately wealthy starts from the inside, your inner world, not the outside or your external environment. Ultimately, wealth brings together multiple facets about ourselves including leadership, responsibility, accountability, systems and an abundant mindset and the belief we can have financial freedom because we are worth it.
So this is why I believe, wealth comes from the inside, because if you don’t have a strong self- esteem that believes you are worthy, that you are enough or loved, then you will always struggle to be wealthy…just like the farmer did.
However, feeling worthy of having wealth does not come easy to most. In fact, a lot of people I know either have a poverty mindset ie one that says I am poor and can never have that. People with a poverty mindset struggle to hold onto money. When they get a lot of money (as deemed in their eyes), they often get rid of it quickly or give it away. My dear mother-in-law (may she rest in peace) was like this. She never felt worthy of having money and always said that she would never be rich. She loved to play the poker machines as a little hobby and whenever she won money, she would always share it amongst her kids and the grandkids.
The mindset that most of my family and friends have is a middle-class mindset ie one that says I am rich because of all the stuff that I have. When I look around, I do see many people in my circle in bad debt but they have lots of material pocesssions such as nice cars, fancy clothes, gadgets, they take nice holidays and eat out more than they cook.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not judging, it’s pretty much how it is.
There is a phenomonal statistics that says 70% of people who have won the lottery have been bankrupt within 12 months. I mean think about it, makes sense right. Those with a poverty mindset would have blown it by giving it away because it was too much money to handle and those with a middle-class mindset would have blown it on stuff. A person with a “wealth mindset” would have looked at ways to invest their money or certainly have gotten help through good financial advice.
In the context of the lottery, this is a quote by Steve Lewit, CEO of Wealth Financial Group in Chicago.
“People who were little, ordinary people all of a sudden become extraordinary. They’re euphoric. They lose all sense of reality. They think they’re invincible and powerful. They think they’re Superman,” he said.
Which leads me back to the farmer….I guess he thought he was Superman.
Let me come back to the P/PC principle and try and pull all this together.
What I love about Stephen Covey’s thinking and how he has linked the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg fable to his thinking, is the importance of having and finding balance between what can be produced (eg the golden eggs) and the asset that produces the result (eg the goose).
This he refers to as the P/PC Balance, where the P = Productivity, or the results/outcome (again the eggs); and the PC = Productivity Capability, ie the “asset” that produces the outcome (ie the goose).
In my ponder, I had realised that whilst I have been producing some great results of late (ie my Productivity has been great), I have not been taking care of the goose (ie that would be me), and well literally it has left me feeling like the goose right – an empty cavity to produce the eggs!
And with this going on in my inner world, I also believe my motivation to produce results has hit a negative state. I’ve been distracted and I have lost a bit of focus on the value I provide. The thoughts of sales and money has emerged.
With this realisation has come great inspiration as I have stopped focusing on the downer of being tired and just embraced it to create new energy in myself, which in fact has led to me to this ponder today.. And this for me is the power of a paradigm shift.
Yesterday my perspective was all drawn towards how I was feeling, rather than what I value and hence my outcomes have not been very effective. Today my shift back to the meaning of this principle has created a new perspective, and with this, I have new energy aligned with my values, which take on this principle: Productivity value = I am responsible for my growth and how I thrive; and my Productivity Capability = I am accountable for my health and being the best version of myself”.
So, coming back to the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg and the principle of having P/PC Balance, by having these two things working together and in conjunction with each other, I believe by having this you can be highly effective, and it’s this very principle that will contribute to my vision being realised and goals being achieved every day because I am achieving the P/PC balance.
And this my friends, is what you call a paradigm shift.
I would actually love you to ponder about your own P/PC balance – are you taking care of yourself so you can continue to produce the results that you want. Remember you are your asset and time is your net worth. Investing in you means you can produce the right results that will lead you to your vision, which may be to have financial freedom.
And if that’s the case, you may want to ponder what mindset you have – a poverty one, a middle class one or a wealth one.
If you would like to discuss how to have a wealth mindset in more detail and or how to get your P/PC balance, please reach out and book a FREE strategy call. Reaching out to other people for help definitely takes care of your PC – I would love to hear from you.
-Ends-
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