When my son was born, someone gave us this handcrafted, giraffe measuring thingy. I thought it was so clever because I couldn’t imagine that we would be in the same house all these years later. I was thrilled that it would let us carry memories wherever we might end up instead of leaving the tick marks on the pantry door jamb.
But when the giraffe came out this January, I was bummed. It was clearly too short for our growing son.
Happily, my husband had imagination – and some scrap wood and a hammer. He added an extension.
The real fun of the giraffe isn’t the annual measuring; it’s the annual remembering. And the noticing of leaps. We laugh and celebrate what was going on at each tick mark. Growth isn’t just the inches; it’s the milestones of getting potty trained, attending kindergarten, starting Little League and the first summer of going to sleep-away camp.
What if we had dropped this tradition because the giraffe was outgrown – for lack of imagination? Frankly, the giraffe probably wouldn’t have come out again for who knows how long. I might not have thought about the measuring stick but deep inside I would have missed the ritual of noticing and remembering.
In my business I measure all kinds of things: revenue, expenses, subscribers, client hours, products created, development hours, enrollment in programs, number of blog posts, and more. It’s easy to get discouraged in a solo business by what is lacking because, believe me, something is always lacking. Got enough time? Got enough help? Got a fresh printer cartridge just when you need it?
Happily, I have a broad range of measures to help me notice where positive shifts are occurring.
If I am committed to bringing imagination to my business, then just like the board hammered onto the giraffe, there will always be a conscious place for noticing leaps that can encourage me: a new friend on Twitter, an email inquiry for services, my weekly progress on this blog. Little by little, those tick marks do appear.
Do you have a “giraffe” to help you record and celebrate important parts of your life? Have you committed your imagination to where you want to grow? What leaps are you noticing?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Laurie,
We have our “giraffe” for measuring all three of our kids – it’s a small wall – that is filled with tick marks, names, and dates. And everyone loves getting “measured” – and to see how they’ve grown since the last measurement.
And such is life. Seeing our progress, seeing where we’ve come from (and where we might be headed) is good. It’s good, even when we slip back a bit – to know that there’s still room on the “giraffe” to keep moving onward. And that if we reach the end of the “giraffe”, there’s still room to use our imagination and see beyond the “giraffe”. Laurie, as I’m typing this, I am completely loving the thoughts it’s giving me, about really seeing beyond the top of the “giraffes” in my life…and to what might be! Thank you so much for that!
Lance´s last blog ..Powered By Laughter
@Lance – Sounds like you’re ready to hammer an extension!
Laurie Foley´s last blog ..B.Y.O.G. (Bring Your Own Giraffe)