Imagined Threats

Monday, September 11

My youngest son had a flag football game on Friday. At one point he was the quarterback and had a play where he threw it to a receiver over the middle. As he threw it, he leaned back as if trying to get away from someone, and threw it off his back foot. We were talking about the play in the car on the way home and he said, “The defense was about to get me so I had to jump back.”

I had recorded the play on my phone so we looked at it and, funny enough, the defense was nowhere near him. The closest defender was probably 10 feet away and wasn’t even running toward him. When I showed him, he couldn’t believe it (he’s also 7, so let’s keep that in perspective in all of this - it’s a learning moment but not as if we expect him to operate as if he’s a seasoned veteran).

In his mind, he was about to get sacked. In reality, there was no threat. But the fear caused him to take an action that was unnecessary. He could’ve stood tall and thrown it correctly.

For him, it was an imaginary defender. For us, it’s imagining that our job is suddenly at risk, that our boss doesn’t like us, that a colleague is sabotaging us, that the industry is conspiring against us, etc. We imagine these threats, these enemies are just looming out there. We blame our lack of success or influence or opportunity on them. We use them as excuses to do things we wouldn’t normally do, to operate in ways we wouldn’t normally operate. They drive our insecurity and self-preservation. They are exhausting.

Except they aren’t there. They aren’t real. The threat is only in our mind.

Nothing, imagined or otherwise, is stopping you from bringing your best today. Nobody is stopping you from making an impact. You control the way you show up. Show up with freedom, show up with confidence, show up with purpose.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin

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