DRAFTING & CUTTING

Picture this: You are the head coach. A component of your objective, as next season quickly approaches, might be to evaluate your players. What were their strengths / what were their weaknesses? Who showed up with the right attitude, on time, and ready to work? You’ll be assessing individual stats, sportsmanship, eligibility, fundamentals, etc.

Through your evaluations and considerations, you are qualifying the most talented, deserving players to make next season’s roster. What does that mean? Maybe the whole team returns, maybe only some return and others are cut, and maybe you draft some new picks for rebuilding.

The point is — you want to design the strongest possible team to increase your odds of winning.

Now, let’s reassign the above for relevance & accessibility:

HEAD COACH: (still) YOU

TEAM: Your friends, your family, your acquaintances, your colleagues, etc.

WINNING: Your BEST life

I’ve used the above analogy, many times, for evaluating the company I keep. And, frankly, my team is pretty strong! BUT, in all honestly, there are (currently) a few weak players…

YET, with sentimentality, it’s not as simple as cutting players (at least not completely).

In giving people (and myself) the benefit of the doubt, it’s fair to acknowledge the peaks and valleys of personal growth (& stagnancy. & deterioration). Yet, to what extent do we lovingly endure those depleting relationships?

For another layer of clarity, I want to note that my frustration with “weak players” lays with the uninspired, negative, and idle — for extended, unchanging durations.

Now, I’m not fully ready to part (and give up) on those players…but it brought me to an interesting question.

What’s the percentage of people that are simply people you endure vs. people you would seek out (if they weren’t already a part of your life)?

For example:

30% of people in my life are inherited by family relationships, outdated friendships, and annoying colleagues (ENDURED)

70% of people in my life are people I’ve actively pursued and specifically selected to enhance my life, and cultivate my growth and inspiration (SEEK OUT)

NOTE: The above is JUST an example — AND family relationships, friendships, and colleagues can definitely fall under the “Seek Out” category too (the descriptions are just to illustrate).

Perhaps, in addition to drafting and cutting, some middle ground is required: SUSPENSION.

LOL — yes, it’s slightly laughable and I’m right there with you! ;)

The idea, however, is to gain a sense of WHO are the people in your life? These people (a.k.a. your TEAM) are your GREATEST INFLUENCERS! And, influence has the capacity for two directions: Good & Bad. Therefore, it certainly deserves your attention and recurring mindfulness — for the sake of your own personal evolution.

Lastly, I’d like to add that it goes both ways… For YOUR team, you’re the head coach, BUT on someone else’s team, you are simply another player. Consequently, you should be vigilant in maintaining your active status on someone else’s team. Are you contributing? Are you showing up? Are you showcasing your strengths?

As a collaborative, communal goal we should ALL be striving to draft the BEST team (while performing at the highest level for the other teams we’re on, as well).

ACTION ITEMS / FOOD FOR MORE THOUGHT:

• What do your percentages look like: people you endure vs. people you’d seek out (if they weren’t already part of your life)
• Have you ever consciously drafted someone to your team? / Have you ever consciously cut someone from your team? — What resulted from those choices?