Packing Things Up

For the last few weeks, I have been living in a sea of boxes. My lovely bride and I have been taking steps each day to pack our house as we embark on a new adventure and because we have done the moving thing a few times, we have found that if we make an attempt to pack a couple of boxes each day, things won't get so hectic towards the time when we actually move. Of course, there is a science to the packing process and it involves carefully determining what you will actually need before you leave. After all, there is nothing worse than packing something up only to find out that you actually have a use for it before the move takes place. As we were packing up our house this past weekend, we engaged in our regular husband/wife banter that has allowed us to not get bored with one another for the past twenty years. Keeping this in mind, there were also quite a few disagreements about what needs to be packed up and what doesn't. To be fair, I am pretty utilitarian and don't have a lot of sentimentality towards things like my bride does and this sometimes creates a little controversy when we are packing things up. I'll admit, I usually don't fare very well in these conversations, but that is a different story for a different time.


I am a terrible packer when it comes to putting my suitcase together for a trip, let alone a move from a home. I always seem to bring with me stuff that I will never use on a trip, but I pack it anyway because I never know when I am going to need something. This often leads to me bringing a huge suitcase for an overnight trip and paying extra fees at the airport because my baggage is over the acceptable weight. What is ridiculous, however, is that when I arrive at my destination, I always seem to be missing something. (But I do have those workout clothes that I packed because I am sure that I will go to the hotel gym and run on the treadmill even though I won’t do it at home on my own treadmill.)


Let’s face it, we all have baggage and it’s not the suitcases we bring with us on trips. Our baggage are those issues in our lives that we seem to carry around with us at all times because it is part of who we are and it has shaped us into the person that we see in the mirror. Unfortunately, we seem to take this baggage along for the ride on every trip/move we make even though we know that we don’t need it. We continue to pack it even though it weighs us down and makes us feel bad about ourselves. When you #OwnYourEpic, you become adept at checking your baggage and only bringing what you need for the journey ahead. You can and should leave some of the baggage at home. You will never get rid of it, but you certainly don’t need to take it with you everywhere.


As leaders, we are often expected to drop our baggage at the door and be there for the people we lead. The problem this creates can be an intense feeling of loneliness and isolation that takes a toll on our own mental and physical health. Instead, we pack up our personal issues and tend to leave them untouched because we feel our focus should be on the people we lead instead of reflecting and resolving some of our own personal issues. We make a conscious and intentional decision to check our baggage so it is out of sight and out of mind, even though it is having an impact on us. This is a dangerous precedent to set because at some point, the people you lead are going to see the negative impacts of your failure to practice self-care.


Leadership courses teach us that we should fill the buckets of others through praise, acknowledgement, and support. What they fail to teach us is that if we don’t do the same thing for ourselves on a regular basis, we won’t be able to serve those we are supposed to lead. As leaders, if we are continually packing away our personal issues into baggage that we are going to carry around with us everywhere we go, we won’t be able to lead others because we will ultimately succumb to the weight we are carrying. Now is your opportunity to audit your baggage and determine what stays at home and what is going to travel with you as you begin to #OwnYourEpic. It’s a long road ahead, so you have to be mindful of what is important to take along and what is better left in the drawers at home or on the curb with the trash. It’s your choice, but you need to choose wisely because you really can’t move forward until you look back and find what is weighing you down and keeping you from seeing the light ahead.

#OwnYourEpic #Connect