Norman Rockwell, You Got Nothing On Me!

Norman Rockwell, You Got Nothing On Me!
- The perfect afternoon -

Norman Rockwell, the famous artist who depicted American life, once said: “I draw life not as it is, but how it should be.” He is an icon in American history and American art. Norman Rockwell saw the world similar to Walt Disney. The innocence of youth, the idealism of economy, and the celebration of the nuclear family have all been depicted in some fashion or another.

This past Sunday, after all the yard work was complete, my family decided to walk down to the park, about six blocks away, and enjoy the day. It was a breezy day and I immediately thought of a kite I found a couple of days back while cleaning out my shed. My kids never experienced kite flying before.

Shortly before leaving, my 12-year old son received a call from some buddies asking if he wanted to play football down at this same park. We departed the house with our four children ages 1, 3, 5 and 12 and arrived at the park with five additional children we picked up along the way.

The wind was perfect: not too strong, not too weak. The boys engaged in their football game. The girls and I flew the kite while Mom and the one year-old sat peacefully on the hillside taking it all in. Every child was happy, not a single tantrum or negative emotion was expressed. And for two short hours that Sunday afternoon the world was perfect… life was perfect.

Don’t you wish every day could be that way? What if I told you I could help you get closer to perfect every day? I learned a trick that I’m still practicing, but I feel the positive effects already. Here it is: Don’t get (negatively) emotional over events!

What do you mean, Joe?! I used to find myself getting emotional over events that happened at work or at home that didn’t go my way. If my son didn’t take out the garbage, I would get mad. “I told you how many times!” Situations at work would upset me. I realized that EVENTS HAVE NO MEANING, only the meaning I give them.

I know this because since I’ve taken emotions out of my reaction to situations (as best I can, I’m still working on it), I’ve eliminated the stress that negative emotions have on me. What does this have to do with business? I see so many managers and business owners stressed out (like I was)! They wish things could be different. They lament over things they can’t control.

Negative emotion leads to poorly thought-out decisions. More mistakes are made because of emotion getting in the way. As leaders, we must stay level-headed. I heard something the other day that made a real impact on me: The trait of a good leader is that during good times and bad, their reaction is the same. What can we learn by this? How can we get better? So, I ask you, is it worth getting emotional over this?

- Joe Kiedinger -

ACTION PLAN: When you feel negative emotions coming on, stop yourself, take a big breath and train yourself to calmly say, “Let me think about this.”