🏋🏾Demand to Supply
Early in our careers we measure success by how much people want from us.
A full calendar feels like a trophy.
We think: “If we are busy, we are winning.”
But being in demand is a trap.
It is an external metric that turns us into a reactive resource for everyone else.
The real shift happens when we move our basis for action from Demand to Supply.
The Drill: Audit Our Availability
We need to stop asking:
“Where am I in demand?”
We must start asking:
“Where do I actually want to supply myself and be truly available?”
Here is how we can assess our current opportunities:
The Ego Check: Are we on that board or committee because it is impactful or because it makes us feel important? If it is for the status we are being drained.
The Calendar Vacuum: What does a typical Tuesday look like? If it is wall to wall with lots of low value meetings, we aren’t leading. We are performing. High level supply requires white space for deep thinking.
Selective Ambition: We do not have to do less. We just have to stop doing things that require us to audition for a life we have already built.
The Goal:
Move from a life that looks successful to others (external) to a life that feels autonomous to us (internal)
The Question:
If we had nothing left to prove to anyone what would we delete from our calendars?
No need for more ambition. Just less noise and more space to focus on what actually matters
We all have meetings we attend to be seen attending. Delete those first.
Our calendars will look more alive :) maybe less impressive to the world .. but alive in the real sense