In the 'Upside Down'
Tales from Downward Dog
Today was a good day. We are in lockdown, but are allowed to do pilates on the beach in groups of 9. Did I say on the beach? I am loving this, and enjoying moving again after too many weeks of sitting. Life is good.
After a lovely warmup gazing into the deep blue eyes of the ocean, the lovely and very inspiring Kerry from Pilates & Wellbeing says those words I loathe...
"OK Ladies... downward dog!"
It hurts. A lot. But I do it anyway as I know it's 'good for me'. It feels like I have glass in my wrists and my hamstrings are trying to climb out of my ass. I'm sure when they handed out hamstrings, they gave me a size too small. Anyhow, once I get in position and get through the first pain wave, something magical happens...
It's like someone turned up the volume. The sound of the waves crashing and a dog barking in the distance seem twice as loud, and it is clear and beautiful.
I look around and everything looks the same but different. It is like looking at everything through new eyes, and I see the grains of sand, shells and sea wood up close, the shape the branches of the pohutukawa tree growing out of the cliff face makes against the blue sky. There is a small waterfall coming down the cliff, and it looks like the water goes upwards - how cool?? It is beautiful and it nearly takes my breath away.
And right next to me - is it a sea sponge or a dog poo... hard to say....
So this is the bit where I have a little moment and think - how important is it to look at things from another angle? You see so much beauty that you just gloss over in your normal 'filter'. But equally, the problems also become glaringly obvious - is that a sea sponge or a poo? It's a very important question!
And this ties in with something I read recently about Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is nothing to do with IQ or what we used to think intelligence is, but more of an emotional IQ thing. It is the ability to look at the facts as they are right at that moment, and remove any emotional attachment of what the outcome was with yesterdays data, or how the data might present - and look with new eyes. So putting down any preconceived notions of 'right' and 'wrong', and looking at it UPSIDE DOWN. It's like reading numbers backwards, it makes you look and evaluate each thing on it's own merit and with fresh eyes.
So if you think that your business is doing fine, but your balance sheet tells you something different - look at it upside down. Where is the money coming in? what are you best selling products and services? What are your biggest outgoings? Are those outgoings delivering ROI (return on investment)?
Look at your balance sheet UPSIDE DOWN.
Forget about how much your love one of your products, if it isn't selling, maybe it needs to be cut loose. Or you need to spend more to promote it. But you can't just leave it sitting on the shelf because you love it.
Look at your products UPSIDE DOWN.
You might be super attached and passionate about one of your services, maybe something that got your business off the ground, but times are always changing and it is important to review when any new data appears. If it costs more to deliver than you charge, you either need to up your charges, cut your costs, or change your service.
Look at your services UPSIDE DOWN.
Asking the right questions is key to figuring out the real problem. Don't be afraid if the answers don't throw up what you want to see, that means you are about to learn something. So don't turn away.
It is super important to see if that lumpy stuff next to your elbow is sea sponge... or not!
More musings...
