Are you a hoarder?

I was watching a British comedy called, Mr. Bean. If you’ve watched him before, I can see your smile coming through the screen. If you haven’t seen it before and need a good laugh, check it out.

In one episode, Mr. Bean is preparing for a trip and he’s packing a suitcase. He struggles with what to pack. The decision making process is hysterical. His antics of folding, then rolling, then stuffing to overflowing is something we can all relate to. In the end, he solves the problem. He takes his suitcase and puts it into a larger suitcase and uses the excess space in the larger case to put in what he wants. He’s happy, feeling like he accomplished something. He’s just spinning his wheels.

We all know people like this. They can’t decide what to keep and what to throw away, so they keep. Truth be told, most of us have hoarder tendencies within us. Unfortunately they can be crippling in our professional lives. Let me paint a picture for you. You are young, full of energy with high expectations. You’re behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle and off to reach a professional destination in your mind’s eye. It’s just you and your vehicle screaming down highways, accelerating up hills, careening down back streets, hugging corners, nimble and already ahead of schedule; making great time! With your excitement comes an accumulation of thoughts; new ideas bubbling up and the things that come with them. Before you know it your front seat is full. You take on initiatives that you hadn’t thought about when you started. Maybe they came from your boss, or a TED talk, or somebody you met on Match.com. The ideas fill up your mind and create more cargo. You’ve worked and thought hard about all these things! You’re attached to them. It’s not easy to throw them away.

Let’s bring it more to life. Let’s say you’re a guitarist…who later decided it would be a good idea to play the piano, then the sax, then the tuba and the bass viol. Your utility vehicle is packed and slower now. If you take on any more a trailer will have to be attached. But it’s not just the weight of the cargo that’s the problem here. It’s the loss of focus in reaching your desired destination as a world class guitarist.  Now understandably, you are a good musician, but not great at any one instrument. You’re not networking with the greatest guitarists either. Other guitarists are now passing you on the way to guitar nirvana.  As they pass you, you see they are focused, their car is cleaner, not weighed down, and they are not taking detours and breaks. They are taking the most direct route. They have a GPS system that you don’t possess.

Does this sound familiar (minus the musician part)? At NK&A we have clients like this. They are the best of people with the best of intentions, but they lack the focus and planning to get to their desired destination. We help clients develop goals, and understand what success looks like. And most importantly, how to measure it along the way. We also set priorities, for without them the business will sputter.

We love the hoarding Mr. Bean, but we also know that the most successful people in both personal and professional life travel light, throw away what’s not needed and have their minds firmly set on reaching their desired destination.

If you need help reaching your destination give us a call.  We can share stories of how best to pack and unpack our lives. We’ll have a good laugh