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About three weeks ago I shared my decision with readers to write a blog post when the spirit moved me, rather than posting six days a week like I had grown so accustomed to.
Three weeks. That's how long it takes to acquire a new habit.
Three weeks, it turns out, is also how long it takes to lose a habit.
I used to notice incidents of Shine everywhere - standing in line at Target, walking through a park, sitting in traffic, on a bus, or on an airplane. Shine showed up in trees, blue skies, and long and winding roads. Shine was a thoughtful act, a favorite ritual, or a holiday surprise. People radiated Shine too. Teachers, mail carriers, babysitters, babysitters, and baristas. Shine was everywhere I looked.
Three weeks ago my Shine radar was strong, but after three weeks of redirecting my attention toward other goals, I've noticed that my Shine muscle is beginning to atrophy. It is a living example of "Use it or lose it."
Depressing?
No, not a bit. My weakened Shine muscle is proof that when you focus on something you will get better at it. Period.
I wasn't born to spot Shine and I wasn't born to write about it either. I simply got good at it because I did it every day for almost four years.
The same is true of you.
You become a better cook when you cook... a lot.
The more a triathlete bikes, swims, and runs the better she gets at it.
The more you practice math, the easier the problems become. The more you immerse yourself in another language, the faster you learn it. The more you clip coupons, the more intuitive the process becomes.
But, remember the reverse is true of you too.
When you stop doing what you're doing, the muscles atrophy and cooking becomes more cumbersome, training more tiresome and French might as well be Greek. You, like I, start to lose you Shine.
Today feels good. My Shine muscle just got a much-needed workout.
Shining off until...
I am teaching a leadership course for mid-managers who work for a large retail company - the name of which most of you would recognize.
Last week students in the course were challenged to get feedback from their employees about their leadership styles. One of the students used our assignment as an opportunity to share a framework that he, along with other regional managers, use when evaluating store merchandise and store practices.
I thought I would share it with you:
Stop
Improve
Continue
Create
That's it. Regional managers from around the country gather in one location quarterly to evaluate their practices. And they do it asking these four questions:
What should we STOP doing because it is not working?
What must we IMPROVE because, while the company has seen some success, our practice is not perfect?
What should we CONTINUE, because "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? and finally...
What must we CREATE? What ideas/practices are we not currently doing, but that we want to advance?
I happen to think this framework shines and that it can be used in all sorts of settings.
Supervisors could use it to evaluate staff. What should John Doe stop doing, improve upon, continue doing, and create in order to be better at his job?
Parents could use it to have an earnest conversations about how well they are doing? What things should we stop doing with our children? What could we improve upon? What must we can continue doing? And, are there a new practices we could create?
How about feedback from you about the House of Shine. What should we stop, improve, continue, and create?
Or even as Richard and I look ahead to summer 2012. What is it about this summer that we should we stop and never do again, improve and try again, continue because it was perfect, and create for family fun next summer?
How about you? Visit us in the Comment Section and tell us how you would use it. Better yet, take an extra minute or two and actually do it. Tell us what you are planning to Stop, Improve, Continue, and Create.
Shining off until...
Happy Friday, House of Shine! Cheryl here! I hope this post finds everyone doing well and settling in with our changes around the House of Shine.
I drew this in my journal on July 4, 2011:
And then just this week I received an email from Arielle Ford, author of The Soulmate Secret that helped me embrace love in my life, introducing her new book called Wabi Sabi Love. Her book is about how married couples can embrace their differences to create a strong and happy marriage. And while that is wonderful, that is not what I want to talk about to today.
I am intrigued by the idea of Wabi Sabi in general.
What is Wabi Sabi?
It is a Japanese view of life that if we break it down to it's simplest form means to find beauty in imperfection. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered and it appreciates authenticity above all. It embraces the cracks and marks that happen over time.
Dare I say wrinkles here? They're called laugh lines and you have to earn them!
It is seeing beauty in the imperfect, impermanent and incomplete and it is the acceptance of change.
Wabi Sabi. It's kind of fun to say.
I encourage you to find the beauty in imperfection today and join us in the comment section to tell us what makes that imperfection beautiful to you. I think when we are able to practice wabi sabi we will REALIZE THE IMPACT OF LITTLE THINGS.
And that Shines!
Shining off until...