Imagine that you are standing on a beach. You have 100 pounds of seaweed in your right hand. It is wet, heavy, messy, smelly, tangled, and has bugs crawling in it. It is generally unpleasant in virtually every way. It is heavy enough that you are straining just to keep from dropping it. And you don’t want to drop it because you perceive that mixed in with the unpleasant seaweed are many important things you would not want to drop. So, you hang on.

In your left hand you have one tiny, shiny grain of sand. Though it is small it is very pleasant to look at as it catches the sunlight. Have you ever noticed how a beach sparkles in the sunlight? If you were to look at this shiny grain of sand under a magnifying glass you would see that it looks almost like a jewel or gem because it has been polished by the pounding waves for thousands of years.

What weighs more, the seaweed or the grain of sand? Of course the seaweed far outweighs the grain of sand. But what does each represent?

The seaweed represents all the problems, trials, challenges, annoyances, frustrations, overwhelm, inundation and stress that often accompanies some of the weighty, urgent, important things in our lives.

The tiny, shiny grain of sand represents the little things in life that we feel good about. It could be any little thing, even as small as cleaning your sock drawer and feeling good about it, or doing a good deed for someone, or getting a hug from a child, or appreciating the beauty of a rare double rainbow. The point is that these are the small things in life that we feel good about. As nice as these little things are, and as good as they make us feel, the seaweed still far outweighs the individual grains of sand. However, where did I say you were standing? That’s right, on a beach. And what weighs more, the hundred pounds of seaweed or the entire beach? Of course, it is not even close. The beach may weigh millions of tons. The seaweed pales in comparison. There is an old saying, “I can’t see the forrest for the trees.” Well, sometimes we cannot see the beach for the seaweed. We need to count the tiny, shiny grains of sand in our lives so that they can accumulate in our hearts and minds, thus forming a beach of happiness, peace, and success.

Oh, the seaweed will still be there, but I can promise you it will pale in comparison to the beach full of wonderful things in your life.

I will leave you with a little poem I wrote to remind you of this principle of the Sand and the Seaweed:

The Shining Sand
by Kip Kint

The other night I had a dream
I was standing on a beach
Heavy seaweed filled my arms
Relief could not be reached

I wondered why this burden was mine
Such heavy weight to bear
This seaweed filled with sorrow
Requiring all my care

Then in my dream I understood
The meaning of it all
The seaweed was all my trials
And bearing them was my call

Then in the midst of my labor
I saw the sand sparkling bright
At once it came to me with clarity
The shortness of my sight

Each grain of sand had been polished
Over thousands of years of time
By the pounding waves of the ocean
Into priceless jewels sublime

These little gems, though lighter
Than the seaweed in my hold
Represent the small but priceless things
With worth much greater than gold

And though the weight of the seaweed was great
And weighed upon my mind
The weight of the entire beach was greater
With those grains of sand combined

When you can’t see the forest for the trees
Because the weight of challenges demand
You may be focused on seaweed so much
That you cannot see the sand

That precious sand, those little things
They have so much to teach
But only if we count them up
Will they ever make a beach

A beach of blessings, a beach of joy
A beach where one can stand
And know that life’s heavy seaweed is light
When compared to its shining sand

To Your Success!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition, Inc.

Okay, so last time I wrote about the 4 Levels of Competence. Here is a quick reminder:

1. Unconscious Incompetence (You stink and don’t know it)
2. Conscious Incompetence (You stink and you know you stink)
3. Conscious Competence (You are pretty good, but you have to think about it)
4. Unconscious Competence (You are really good, and it is automatic - a habit)

So, this week I want to talk about how to progress through these levels in order to maximize your effectiveness.

I want you to imagine that you are driving down the road in a high-powered Ferrari Testarosa. You are traveling 100 mph on a 6-lane Superhighway. It is long and straight; really built for speed. As you look far off into the distance you come to the sudden realization that you are not headed where you want to go. In fact, you realize that you are not driving at all. You look over to see who is in the driver’s seat only to discover that your “brain” is at the wheel. You have just moved from Unconscious Incompetence to Conscious Incompetence.

When I say your “brain” I mean that part of your brain that is responsible for processing your reactions to external stimuli. You ”your higher self, your values, mission, and vision for what matters most to you” that’s the part of you that is in the passenger’s seat. You see, your brain is primarily concerned with how quickly it can process the particular stimulus it is presented with. To do that it uses something called Neural Pathways. These pathways in the brain are created by repetitive use. The more use they receive, the more of a Neural Superhighway they become, meaning stimuli can be processed and action (or rather reaction) can happen almost instantaneously. The only problem is that the pathway your brain uses may not lead to the response that your higher self might prefer and the ultimate outcome you desire.

For example, I have an uncle who every time someone comes even remotely close to cutting him of on the road he automatically responds by letting the other driver know how passionately he feels about it, generally using colorful sign language punctuated with the generous use of his horn. Surely it is not the most effective response, but it is the response his brain is conditioned to give because of the frequent use of that particular Neural Pathway, or in this particular case, Neural Superhighway.

So, what to do about it. Once again, imagine you are in the Ferrari. For now, the brain is still driving. You look out to the right side of the highway and see a beautiful place far off in the distance that you would like to get to. Then you notice that in between the highway and the place where you want to be there is a field of incredibly tall grass with no road or pathway of any kind through it. Yet, you know you want to get there. So, you decide to propose a change of course to your brain. Of course, your brain immediately fixates on the fact that there is no pathway at all, let alone a marvelous Superhighway like the one you are currently on, and says to you, “This is exactly why I am driving and you are not. Can’t you see how fast we are going. So what if it is not where you want to go. That is a minor detail compared to how fast we can travel on this Superhighway.”

It is difficult to argue this logic with your deeply scripted brain, primarily because your brain does not make these decisions based on logic. As we said before, to the brain, speed of response is all that matters. For you there is only one thing left to do. You must grab your brain by its metaphorical collar and yank it out of the driver’s seat. You must assume control, pull the Ferrari over, drag your brain out of the car and arduously press forward through the field of tall grass, forcing your way through, dragging your brain kicking and screaming behind you until you reach your desired destination. You will be happy you did. This is Conscious Competence, getting to where you want to go even though it is not easy, nor automatic. Your brain, though it will know it is a good place you have arrived at, will focus on the difficulty of the journey. If you don’t travel that same course again soon the grass that was briefly bent as you made your way through will show no trace of your journey shortly after.

You must travel your new course again, and again, and by so doing the grass becomes matted down, then slightly worn away into a small path, then a byway, then a highway, and before you know it you will have a new Neural Superhighway leading you to a more effective response and course of action. In fact, you could even put your brain back in the driver’s seat and it will prefer that new Superhighway you have created since the old one has now fallen into disrepair from lack of attention and use. This is the highest level of competence where you become Unconsciously Competent.

So, get in the driver’s seat and forge a new Superhighway… a Superhighway to Effectiveness!

To your Success!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition, Inc.