The Real Meaning of Setting Your PACE...

He makes work...look like "child's play."

He makes "child's-play" look like work...

As I reflect on what makes him different from most other people is that his personality is light...but it is also serious...

In reality, he is the most serious performer that you'll probably ever meet...yet if you just take him superficially...you'd never know it...most think he is a clown...a REALLY smart clown...

Everything is a challenge and a game to him...he never let's you see that he is worried...when he is worried...

...he never let's you know that the challenge is a "piece of cake..."

...or that a seemingly simple task is impossible...

My advice is never play poker with him...I did once...and will not again...

When he takes action...it always looks easy...and it goes exactly as he had planned...

Try to "out-work" him and you'll find yourself at the losing end of that challenge...

When I think about him...I have to say that he found his "work-life balance..."

That elusive creature (or organizational policy) in which companies demand that employees seek but they secretly hope that all are insubordinate of...

I loved his stance on that policy...

"The only time that I have witnessed a company terminate someone for an improper work-life balance was when it was skewed toward "life"," he would snicker...(that comment came up whenever we got a Work-life balance brochure or walked by a "FIND YOUR BALANCE" poster)...

"This is a policy that should be challenged in courts...if you tip your work-life towards the work side of the balance...you are lauded...take a little extra time off and you are on "final" notice...

...they (HR) use the word "balance"...and they have no idea what "balance" really means...Either most HR people have no idea what "a policy" is really about...

...or they are really smart and are using the "balance policy" as an HR morphine...something used to deaden the reality of what they truly want out of a person for work and protect them in a court...

...they should hold true to the word "balance"... That is the operative word...If they say it...they need to enforce both sides of the equation...their finance counter-parts do that with the books...if you cannot get the income you need...then cut the expense side...have you ever wondered why it is called a "balance sheet"

...and if they are not willing to stick to the other extreme...don't treat us like fools...

...If I had time...I would set them up...just to watch them squirm!"

I never found out why that policy set him off...it really didn't matter...He never formally challenged it or set them up...it was not in his nature...but he sure did bring up the stupidity of that policy at every chance...and because of his persistence...the company dropped promoting the "hypocritical" "balance" policy...

Enough of that...but it helps paint this picture...

The truth of the matter was that he was multi-faceted...

From one perspective...his life looked like all work...

From another perspective his work looked like all life (fun)...

It wasn't like some people claim...that when they are working...they work and when they are away from work they play...his position was that work and life are never fully detached from eachother...

When he was at work he played and when he was at play he worked...

AND that was not always the case either...

I could not say that it was a "zen" balance either...

It was simply an enigma...

Enough of that...I do not dwell on puzzles that have no solution...

The reason that I was pondering this characteristic of his...was that "my stars" had aligned and everything was in motion...I had absolutely nothing to do for the upcoming 2 weeks...my intervention in any of the paths...would have slowed them...so it was time for me to sit back and emphasize "life!"

I was proud of myself...I scheduled time off...I created a plan...went to bed early...and totally ignored any thoughts about what was going on at work...I was out...and was going to focus on "life..."

I found my balance...or so I thought...

I rose early...with a relaxed energy...

Ate and just as I finished cleaning up after myself...

He and his smile were at my door!

In his right hand was a stack of paper...

After his usual greeting he announced, "We've got work to do my friend..."

"But..." I knew that arguing with him was useless...so I stopped in mid-sentence...

The ink on my mental "to-do" list was "rained on" by his enthusiasm...and was no longer mentally legible.

"What do you have in mind?" I asked

"What were you going to do?" He responded

"I took a couple of days off to catch up on the things around here...and just enjoy life..."

"I heard that you were taking a week...so I did too...so I could work on the stuff I love working on," he replied...

You are always doing the things you love doing...so what's the difference?

"Between me and you...or what I do and what you do?" he snickered...

He saw that I was not amused by his humor...and quickly change gears!

"...I want you to learn a cool thing...PACE..."

"Like pacing yourself?" I asked...

"Kind of..." he smiled...and then without asking...he entered the house...sat at the kitchen table and took the "mentoring position..."

I knew that I was "in trouble."  This was the kind of trouble that was fun though...and a diversion from the things I thought I should be doing...

"PACE..." he contemplated...

"...Practice..."
"...And..."
"...Concentrated..."
"...Effort..."

"That's the kind of "PACE" I am referring to..."

"The old saying..."In order to truly enjoy your life...you must learn to pace yourself..." is really true but the meaning of "pace" has to be understood in its true sense..." 

"Many people believe that "pacing yourself" means slowing down so that you last...or conserving enegry...rationing whatever you are doing...but that is a bad strategy if you intend not only to win the race...and when you are out to set a record that can not be beat..."

"True pacing means setting a rate that allows you to achieve your goals..."

"There is a huge difference between..."

"...Running a marathon..."
"...Finishing a marathon..."
"...Winning a marathon..."
"...and..."
"...Setting a new record book time in the marathon..." 

"Did you notice that as we progressed through each of those situations...they included the previous ones...for example...you can not "Win a marathon" if you do not "Finish a marathon" and you can not do that if you do not begin "running a marathon..."

"If a marathon is really worth running...then it is worth finishing...and if that...then it is worth winning...and if it is worth winning...then setting a new record is the goal to be strived for..."

"...Work is like that..."
"...Life is like that..."
"...Play is like that..."

"There are two important aspects of everything that we do..."

"1 - What we want to do...and..."

"2 - What the goal of what we want to do is..."

"Choose what you want to do...then set your goals and Practice and Concentrated Effort needs to kick in..."

"This allows you to wring every drop of enjoyment from every activity..."

"But what a talented person must realize is that there is no such thing as an ultimate goal..."

"Every goal is interim..."

"The achievement of each goal is simply a stepping stone to the next level..."

"I want to run in a marathon...done..."

"I want to finish the marathon...done..."

"I want to win a marathon...done..."

"I want to set a new marathon record...done..."

"...and so on..."

"A person may say...I am not a marathon runner...then my advice is...don't run marathons!"

"Find what you can do well and do more of it...That is what finding and connecting with your passion is all about...someday people will be out selling this "magic formula!"  Passion will become the buzz-word...mark my words...

I did mark his words...and as predicted...he was right!

"...Doing something that you really can not do...or do not want to do...or that your have no passion to do...will only lead to sub-standard performance and broken dreams..."

"...Achieve your dreams...one step at a time..."

"...Patience and pace..."

"...That is the secret of work-life balance..."

"...So let's see that list of yours..."

"...It was simply a mental list," I explained...

"...Then the first thing that you need to do is make it substantial..."

"...If you are not singly directed...then you need to write your goals out..."

"...Mental lists...no matter how short...can be "washed out" by the simpliest and most menial things..."

"Like a knock on the door and a smile?" I asked

"What?" he responded...

"Never mind," I replied with a smirk, "It's and inside joke with only me..."

"Not to shift the subject...But...What's on the paper?" I asked...

"Nothing...it's all blank...when I got into the car this morning...it was sitting on my passenger seat...and I thought maybe you knew why I had it!" he answered...

So you are taking your stack of blank papers on a walk?  You have not let go of them since you got here...

"You taught me an important lesson that I made part of my being...that if I pick up a piece of paper...I do not let go of it until it is decisioned..."  Even though these are blank...I can not think of why I would have them and I will not let go of them until I figure out why...and make a decision..."

That is quite a compliment coming from you...but haven't you taken that to an extreme?

"Not at all...if something is worth adding to your being...it should be done fully...this is one of those things..."

"You have many good things to share with others...beyond what I have taught you!  I want you to see that I listen to you also!"

"That is quite a compliment coming from you!  But let's drop the paper LITERALLY and talk a bit more about "balance" before I get back to what I originally set out to do..."

"I do not think that we have to talk any further about "balance."  You just showed me that you fully understand the meaning of it..."

For a moment...I was puzzled...then I realized that my stopping what I had planned...in order to talk with him...was one of the key characteristics...a balance on life-side of the equation...proof that I saw that it was  dynamic...and not scheduled...it is focused and not focused at the same time!  It is all about adjusting to the ever changing demands of work and life and never flinching...it is about focusing on the needs at hand...finishing what is at task...enjoying that moment and moving to the next...

All that said...by saying nothing!

Then he broke into my thoughts...

"Would you mind if I just set the papers here on the table?  I can not think of why I would have put 321 pieces of blank paper in my car...I must be getting senile..."

"I do not mind at all...as long as you remember to take them with you when you leave...you'll remember sometime...and you do not want to be without them when that happens..."

"Let's use a piece to make my list of things that I am going to do...if someting more important does not come up...I do not think 1 piece will matter..."
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I put them there...to see what would happen!