Last week I wrote about time management training and the topic kept rolling around in my head, what is time for me and how it could be of benefit/benefit in management.
Time is a concept that exists only in humans. But in making the attempt, we can see how futile it is to over-emphasise time. Imagine this morning when you woke up, that moment of waking up and getting up or picking up the phone. Now imagine your plans for next weekend.
I’m more than sure you’ve had some kind of image, feeling or perception of the morning or weekend. It shows that we can change time with very little effort. Move into the future and move into the past. Maybe move out of the present.
But life is only in the present. Everyone interprets the past differently. And no matter how much you’ve thought about the future in the past, it’s always different from what you imagined. Perhaps we can’t influence the past and the future in any other way than by thinking about it, but in reality, the situation will be different when next weekend arrives.
Through such precise planning for the future, we create disappointments or surprises for ourselves. Time is a kind of escape from reality. But things happen and life only happens now. There is never a future. Because if there is a future, there is already a present. If there is a past, then the present is thinking about the past.
There is only ever the present moment, and acknowledging and embracing it is the hardest task of all, because we are taught from a young age to walk away from the present.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set ourselves targets. But it’s important not to get caught up in these future goals in a way where you’re in the future all the time in your mind, but your body is in the present. If the mind (the leader) is not present, or our mind is elsewhere, then inevitably the body (the team) will start to break down. There is no need for him. Physical disintegration means illness, injury (conflict), etc. The body is no longer able to protect this spirit because it is no longer present.
When we plant a seed, we know we want it to grow, but we don’t dig it up every day to make sure it has roots. If we do, we will simply kill it off with our over-indulgence and clinging to the end fuse.
The role of the leader is to create a psychological safe space in the present day and by constantly working with the future in mind, the ‘body’ or team can start to break down. There is no need for it if the driver is constantly in the future, avoiding the mistakes and dangers of the past and living under the delusion that life can be controlled.
