You Can't Read the Label Inside the Bottle Inbox
We often need others to reveal what we can't see ourselves.
I remember this time a while back when I was stuck with a business decision. I spent days on it, building spreadsheets, analyzing different angles, playing through scenarios in my head. I was frustrated.
My wife, after seeing me for a while, finally shared a simple observation. “You are avoiding something.”
That's her. Direct. And she was right, of course.
In an instant, it was obvious to me. I had not been able to see it. I was able to make the hard call the same day.
The experience reminded me of a wonderfully wise saying I once heard: "You can't read the label of the bottle that you sit in." In my case, that label was probably 'avoidance'.
It's a powerful metaphor for a trap we all fall into. When we're inside the metaphorical 'bottle', we're swimming in the details of our own situation, the history, the emotions, the assumptions, the data. We're so close to it all that it's impossible to step back and read the 'label' on the outside, the simple, objective truth of what's going on. We lose perspective. We think the problem is incredibly complicated, but from the outside, the solution is often surprisingly simple.
That's why it is often so easy for us to give advice to others on what they see as very complicated situations. From the outside, with fresh and simple perspective, we see things that they can't with all the detail.
My wife wasn't the expert on my situation, but she didn't need to be.
This was a huge lightbulb moment for me.
And it became even clearer that this is one of the main value drivers of being a coach to someone. We don't lead with expertise about a problem; we can trigger a perspective shift, simply by being outside the bottle!
What 'bottle' might you be sitting in right now?:)
Have a great week ahead!