A tall building’s shadow moves all day without the building moving an inch. Your influence travels while you stay put.
CREATIVITY
WHAT THIS MEANS
What you do reaches further than you do. A word said in passing can turn up in somebody’s head a week later, in a room you have never been in, and you will probably never find out. Effect is not limited by how much you move around or how important your position is.
Since it travels whether or not you mean it to, aim it once this week. Say the encouraging thing to the younger kid on the team. Be the person who is decent to the new hire on their first shift. You will not see where it lands, and it lands anyway.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where has your influence reached without you going there?
MORE IN PARADOX, METAPHOR & FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- Every stopwatch starts at zero, even for world champions. Nobody begins with time already on the board.
- An echo only gives back what you shouted. Check what you’re putting out before you complain about what comes back.
- Old clocks had to be wound by hand. Peace is like that. It runs down if nobody tends it.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.