After a big day at work, I decided to jump into the spa pool at home to relax. (That’s a ‘hot tub’ or ‘jacuzzi’ for readers outside Australia or New Zealand). As I removed the lid, I found the pool infested with leaves and other natural detritus. I suspect my teenage son had left the lid off overnight the last time he partied with his mates 🙂.

I knew trying to use my hands to remove stuff would be fruitless and frustrating. Instead, I grabbed the sieve I keep on hand for such occasions. After 15 minutes, I’d made some progress, but it was slow going. And it wasn’t relaxing. I wasn’t getting what I came for - to chill out!

Then I thought: what if I turned on the bubbles and held the sieve in place to catch the detritus as it bobbled past?

That worked a trick. Within five minutes, and with me simply holding the sieve in one place, I’d cleared most of the stuff out. And all the while I just sat there looking out at the view. Relaxing.

Leverage is when you find and use the thing that makes everything easier.

Leverage is “be the flower, not the bee”.

Leverage could come from using a new tool. 

Or using an existing tool better.

Or perhaps leverage could come from asking a different question…and then experimenting with the ideas that emerge.

Plenty of us default to a ‘just get it done’ mentality. Some of us pride ourselves on it. We champion ‘hard work’ as if it’s the point.

Yet we often don’t think about the smartest way to ‘get it done’. And as a result, we tend to get plenty of wasted effort for an often mediocre outcome, including burnout.

Slow down. Think. Where’s the opportunity to create leverage in your world today?

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