Art Of Pause

Imagine shuffling a deck of cards. Feel the cards rapidly descend off of your fingertips as they quickly cover one another in your hands — until the final one drops. Then, you push the pile together into a neat stack.

Who shuffles a deck of once, right? Shuffle the cards again.

Over time, you get better at shuffling the cards — faster speed and crisper technique. The cards feel smooth as they rhythmically sift through your thumbs.

So you continue to improve at shuffling the cards. Perhaps, even your community begins to recognize you as a great card shuffler.

Now, let’s shuffle the deck once more, but this time imagine that each card represents a different positive action you wish to do in your life more consistently. Greet people kindly. One less handful of gummy bears. Stop biting your nails. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. You get the idea.

Perhaps on this shuffle, you think more about the cards in the deck than the shuffling itself. You know from memory what the various cards are — these key actions you want to take — but you can’t slow your acquired shuffle skills enough to actually identify a single card in the deck.

A little tired and run down from all of your shuffling, you think to yourself, “I just need to get better at ‘seeing’ the cards as they fly by.”

“I just need to get better at seeing what positive actions are needed in my life as it flies by.”

This is the moment that something IN YOU needs to change…

The Pause

Stop shuffling.
Lay your life cards on the table.
Let them sit.
Look at each of them.
What do they look like?
Acknowledge them.

Even as the world continues its own shuffling onward, simply take a moment to pause and become more aware.

Pause to reflect.
Pause to ask why?
Pause to identify positive actions for your life.
Pause to pick only those cards to hold in your deck.

Pause to practice the art of the pause.

With gratitude,

Joe

Hi, I’m Joe, the owner of 5 With Joe Performance Coaching. My clients are leaders, organizations, and teams who utilize my Olympic Gold Medal performance strategies and 40 years of navigating whitewater river rapids to streamline decision making and actions when engaged in complicated river currents of business and life.

The best way to interact with me is though Sunday Morning Joe, my weekly newsletter that explores the art of improving performance, overcoming challenge, and aligning with purpose for Sunday readers in search of more depth and motivation. Subscribe HERE for free.