The words of an old song have been in my head recently
“Inch worm, inch worm, measuring the marigolds
Why don’t you ever stop to see
How beautiful they are?”
What made me think of the song was some things a client said when I was coaching her recently.
While we were talking she mentioned several occasions when she had been comparing her efficiency at work with other people’s and worrying that she was not doing as well as them.
As we talked it became obvious that she was performing very well in a demanding, highly responsible position in her company. The problem was not that she was failing in managing her team but that she was just not noticing all the measures she had put in place to make sure that everything ran smoothly even in the highly pressurised time leading up to Christmas. She was so busy measuring herself against other people that she couldn’t see how well she was performing.
This kind of negative measuring affected another client’s social life. She had good friends and fun things to do but often got herself into a state about whether other people were having an even better time.
Marigolds- the old fashioned ones- are one of my favourite flowers- such vibrant yellows and oranges –and the snails don’t eat them! So I feel sorry for the poor old inch worm who didn’t stop to enjoy them. Thankfully my clients did open their eyes to how well they were doing!
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