Do You Feel Like You Are Firefighting All The Time? Learn From Firefighters.

Have you ever seen children share passionately their dreams of becoming firefighters? This is a profession that is, highly regarded within our communities. Firefighters around the globe risk their lives every day to save other people’s lives. Their dedication and discipline on the fireground is at the heart of their success. However, what most people don’t appreciate, is the amount of time firefighters spend at the firehouse and how precious this time is for the remarkable job that they do on the fireground.

At the firehouse, Firefighters spend their time inspecting their equipment to ensure that they are always in good condition; they run practice sessions to learn new technics and they spend lot of time on group bonding exercises to ensure that they operate as one team on the fireground. By the time they are on the fireground, firefighters know precisely what is expected of them and operate with great discipline. They have great clarity about their mission.

In our busy lives, most of us feel like firefighters trying to put out fires that break from every corner of our existence. So here is my question to you: If you really feel like constantly firefighting, how much time do you spend at the firehouse? Are you clear about which fire to put out first? Which equipment do you need?

You are the firefighter; the fireground is your workplace, your household, your community, etc..; the fires are the multiple demands that you juggle with such as an urgent project that you are working on, or a broken relationship that you try to repair with your children or your spouse; the firehouse is the space where you come to meet with yourself and prepare for the fireground.

During your firehouse time, ask yourself questions to gain more clarity: Who am I? If my life ended today, how will I be remembered? What should I focus on now? Set priorities that are aligned with your purpose and develop action plan to execute them. Time at the firehouse helps you gain more clarity, make better decisions and be more effective on the Fireground.

Here are three best practices for creating more firehouse time:

1. Have a good morning routine. Set aside the first hour of every morning to meet with yourself before going through your busy schedule. Offer this time as a gift to yourself and go through a routine made of meditation, prayer, reading, journaling, exercise, etc..

2. Block time in your diary when you have no meetings, no commitments and use the time to think. As Bill Gates says: “It is not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule.”

3. Go to a personal retreat at least once a year. This could be religious, spiritual, or other meditation retreats. It is time spent away from your day to day activities for reflection, prayer, and/or meditation. It is a moment to review your beliefs, your values and assess how aligned your life is with them.

Every day takes you to the fireground; Make sure that you are well prepared for it by spending more time at the firehouse! This is valid for individuals and for teams.