What are you avoiding?
"In Africa, lions hunt in packs. And when they go out to hunt, they take with them the oldest female of the pride. By this point, she’s old and and toothless, can no longer catch her own prey, a little bit like me. But she has the deepest roar. And what the lionesses do—and it’s the lionesses who do the hunting—the lionesses position this old lion in the middle of a field facing the bush. The bush could be a mile away. And the prey are between the old lion and the bush, and all the lionesses hide in the bush. And when this old lady roars, the prey run away from the roar to their death. And so the concept is “go at the problem.” Go at what you perceive to be the problem. And what you’ll invariably find is that it’s a toothless old lady." Paul Assiante -legendary former squash coach at Trinity College
What are you avoiding? Is there an action that you know you should take but haven't because you fear the 'roar'?
Two things that might help in deciding what you run to and what you patiently wait out.
1. Wisdom
Wisdom combines a gathering of information and a gut instinct. Fact and instincts are both necessary. Add in a sprinkle of outside counsel from wise friends and *second-order thinking and you raise your chances of making a good decision.
2. Wiring
Conflict Avoidant: If you are someone who generally avoids the 'roar', challenge yourself to get to a spot where your fear instincts are not making the decision, but facts and neutral instincts are.
Drama Magnet: On the flip side, if you are someone who generally loves to run to the 'roar', challenge yourself to get to a point where your love of conflict instinct isn't making the decision, but facts and neutral instincts are.
*One mental model that can help you make wise decisions is second-order thinking. This is asking yourself "and then what?" "If I confront this, then what?" And after you answer that, ask yourself again "and then what?" and so on.
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One of my weekly disciplines is scouring the internet for articles/tweets I can learn from and/or use with those I work with. Below are two that I hope help encourage and equip you.
Article 1- How to know who you can trust
Article 2- Techniques that separate good from great speakers
Podcast: Sam Erger. Volleyball Coach- SMU. Great young leader and coach!
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