First tend to your own garden

When I awoke yesterday, I didn’t know exactly what was in store for the day. I knew there were a few things to get done related to my business, need to get in a good practice session on the horn, and beyond that I wasn’t 100% sure.

My wife Sana has her days off on Mondays, and my son Gabriel had the day off from school, so things figured to be exciting regardless of what happens.

Now you have to understand Sana is meticulously clean, above and beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before meeting her. When we lived together in Vietnam, she would get my attention and direct me to a piece of lint on the floor and ask me to pick it up and toss it. She had a Filipino gal who cleaned our apartment to her standards; and we couldn’t find anyone quite like her after she returned to the Philippines.

Well, after arriving in the United States, the cleanliness standards have admittedly dipped a bit. Although our home is always fairly tidy, it’s amazing how easy it is for dust to accumulate. And it’s amazing how that dust makes the place feel dirty, even though on the surface it’s fairly clean.

So we ended up spending most of the day doing a deep clean of our entire apartment. Moving all the furniture, dusting all the blinds, the trim, sweeping every inch of the floor, mopping, etc.

I was able to get my media stuff done I wanted to, but it took a back seat to cleaning. ‘Cuz if momma aint happy, aint no one happy. When Momma says clean the house, you’d best clean the house.

It was hard work, but when we were finished, it was very satisfying. The place “feels clean”. The air inside feels fresher when breathed in. And Momma’s happy, which is the most important thing 😉

And when that is taken care of, everything else is easier. Everyone is in a happier mood, which makes everything better.

We like the result, but we had to take the action to get the broom out of the closet, get the mop wet, put the soap in it – and then just get down on our hands and knees and do the work.

I personally have been guilty of expecting the good results without actually doing the work. More times than I’d care to admit. And while I was happy to do the work cleaning the house yesterday, it would not have happened without Sana first announcing “this is what we’re doing today” and then barking out orders at a couple of sloppy American boys on how to do it the right way.

This is the approach I take with my coaching clients. I point out where folks need to direct their attention; clean out this corner; pay attention to that, etc. While the client ultimately does the work and is responsible for the results, good or bad, that second set of eyes from someone who has “been there, done that” is invaluable.

If you’d like to chat about the possibility of working together in a coaching/client relationship, I’m opening up my calendar for such things. Here’s the link if you want to take the first step toward working together: https://jamesdnewcomb.com/coaching/