Boss of Busy, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 5Reconnect with what matters

When projects stretch out longer than anyone had ever anticipated, when the hurdles you face turn into six-foot-high double-glazed impenetrable windows — this is when our resolve is truly tested. The promises you'd made to yourself that you'd eat better, exercise more and look after yourself better get washed away in an instant by a bottle of red wine and an almond Magnum ice-cream. These are the types of moments when cynicism clouds our usually optimistic approach.

Nope. I won't let that one slide, actually. Let's get real. Cynicism doesn't just cloud; it takes over like an infectious disease. Nothing is immune when cynicism turns up. Even Great-Grandma's heirloom vase that has held a sacred place in your family for years is seen as a ‘dust-gathering, useless waste of crappy-glass' if you've got a cynical view happening.

I call this the ‘c-world'. And trust me, this c-world is far more destructive than the other c-word. Cynicism is ruthless and nothing is off limits when it shows up. It feeds on itself quicker than a tropical tornado at sea.

All of us dabble in cynicism, but a few of us are experts, wallowing in it up to our eyeballs. The more disconnected we feel from our purpose, and the more that we feel like nothing we do is making progress, the more likely it is that cynicism will be what shoots out when we open our mouths or type an email. ‘What's the point …', ‘it'll never work …', ‘tried it before …', ‘why even bother …', ‘Marjorie ...