It’s Autumn and the days are getting shorter. It won’t be long and we’ll be looking to snuggle up under the doona on a cold winter’s night.
But that’s not what I’m talking about when I say “Get Out of Bed”.
I’m referring to what we know as “Living Above and Below the Line”.
Imagine a line drawn on a page.
Above the line are written three words; one on top of the other (vertically):
Ownership
Responsibility
Accountability
Below the line are another three words, the first initials of which spell BED:
Blame
Excuses
Denial
If you live above the line, you take ownership for what happens in your life. You take responsibility for cleaning up your mess and you hold yourself and others accountable for their commitments.
If you live below the line, you get into BED with blame, excuses and denial. You justify your lack of results and generally make up a big fat story as to why you are not achieving what you want.
Recently I was coaching with one of my legends and had to remind her of this concept. What was really interesting was that she had been sick recently and had been forced to stay in bed until she recovered.
As we chatted, she looked at me and shared her insight, “Get Out of Bed! OMG. I’ve been living below the line. It’s time for me to get out of bed, literally and figuratively.”
Watching her come to her own conclusion and her own Aha moment was the moment of transformation. As David Bayer says, “The moment you see your unintelligent thinking as unintelligent, is the moment of transformation.”
From this point on, she will never be the same. She realised she had been giving excuses and not taking responsibility.
And happy to report, that things are quite different now. She has gotten into action. She has stepped up. She has taken responsibility and I’m so excited to report that she is achieving what she wants.
And as always, how about you? Are you living above or below the line?
Do YOU need to Get Out of BED?
Regards Shirley
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