FEBRUARY 12 • TRUE LEADERSHIP
Eliminate Accidents
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Proverbs 4:25
Spilled drinks. Tripping/falling. Car crash. Doesn’t matter what it is, if you caused it (your error) — you can avoid 98% of those things. About 10 years ago, I did a personal study why these accidents happened to me. Why did I knock that over… why did that fall on the floor… As a result, I starting asking questions to others when something happened to see if it was the reason. After applying a simple system, I have eliminated all mistakes/accidents in my life. It’s so logical. The key is developing and adhering to the system.
Flashback 30 years… My cousin Larry, a baseball player, was visiting me. He spent time with my kids teaching them to throw, hit, and field. He said the same thing over and over that we also learned — keep your eye on the ball. Therein lies the key to eliminating accidents and errors in general.
Some of us love to multi-task. Actually, multitasking is a misnomer (misnamed) — all tasks are done in serial, not parallel (one at a time, not simultaneously). We may switch back and forth between tasks really, really quickly, but in general, we do one thing at a time. Some of us are just too hasty. Some aren’t careful. Some lazy. Here’s what happens. Say we are carrying a glass of water (or anything) and stop to put something in the microwave. While opening the microwave door we turn to put our glass down on the counter behind us and once our eyes see the counter, our gaze shifts back to the microwave… while still putting our glass on the counter. Sometimes we come up short and we set the glass on the edge and let go. Boom.
Simple solution — finish each task before switching keeping your attention fully on the task. See yourself put the glass on the counter before turning your gaze away. It’s scary that we don’t do this. Even while driving when we change the radio, pick something up off the seat, or, heaven forbid, texting. So many accidents happen as a result of shifting your gaze. Finish the task! Or at least the portion of the task you switched to. In your car? Set everything before you drive away. I eliminated 100% of problems I caused when I follow this procedure… and I still can err when I don’t follow! Keep your eye on the task until safe to proceed switching. Test it. You’ll be amazed.
Pray: Lord, keep my eyes fixed on my task until I am done.
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