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"What are you going to do with all your free time now that you’ve finished writing FLIP?” my sister asked me the other day. FLIP, as you may know, is a book I’ve been writing for the past year. No writing has brought me more joy, but it has also eaten up a good deal of time; hence my sister’s question. “It’s always and only Now,” I answered, not to be cute and philosophical, but I’m finding the way I think about time is entirely flipped around from who and how I used to be. Truly, I’ve been a list-maker’s list-maker, and a time manager from way back. Between planning and worrying, my relationship to time was how much could I cram into it? I knew the importance of “nowness” from my Zen training, and even physics taught me that time doesn’t flow. But still, I was planning and cramming. Until Now. What has flipped for me in the past year is seeing that I am Now. And so are you. How can we all be Now? The proof is so obvious we miss it: we’re all here, co-existing (or rather, co-changing) right Now. Like an inexhaustible flame, Now ignites each of us. It is like an infinite Internet that we all do our searches in, and can feel like we’re at the center of. We normally regard our self as a semi-fixed object moving through time. But flip that around and a deeper truth opens up: we are constantly changing Now, and all that's possible unfolds through us.  Even if this seems like wordplay, if you play with it as a thought experiment, you’ll notice it flips things around. Like New Year’s resolutions, for example. “I’m going to do xyz,” we might normally say on January 1, and by the end of January, odds are, we’re not doing xyz. But if we make a “Now resolution” to simply be xyz right Now, we keep manifesting xyz or changing until xyz manifests through us. And if we’re not being xyz, we quit kidding ourselves. Whether we’re making a resolution, or simply looking at our day, the question we can ask is: what is ready to happen through me right Now? In that spirit, wishing you a most happy Now Year: cut from the past, creating the future of what wants to happen through you! -GW  Out of Comfort into Understanding  John Fuller had never worked in a restaurant before becoming the President and CEO of Johnny Rockets, one of America’s largest retro-themed restaurant chains. Who knew what would happen if he suddenly put on an apron and hit the kitchen? But this is exactly what he did on CBS’s show, Undercover Boss, where CEOs surreptitiously experience what it’s like to be an employee in their own companies. John was quickly told to wash his hands, put on a black bowtie, white apron, and start cooking and serving. He was nervous, a bad cook, a bit awkward, a stereotypically-stiff Organizer trying to get things right - in other words, thoroughly likeable and human. “The part I’m dreading the most is the dancing,” John said going into the experience, knowing that’s part of the Johnny Rockets show. And sure enough, John had to stand up with his fellow servers and awkwardly stumble through a corny dance. As someone who also has two left feet, I was pleased to see I’m not alone. Thanks, John! But I don’t bring this up for the bad dancing. What I love about this show is how powerful an experience it is for these CEOs to get out from behind their desks and hear, see, and feel what it’s like to be on the front line of their company. Stephen Covey's habits of effectiveness remind us to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” If, as leaders, we haven’t taken the time to gain this authentic understanding, how can we possibly have confidence in our directives, or ask people to follow us? John Fuller was able to gain some of this understanding as an undercover boss, stepping out of his comfort zone, embracing his inner Collaborator, connecting with people, and experiencing their reality. It became a turning point in how he leads his company. Now every executive, during their first week at Johnny Rockets, is required to spend time as a cook and server, bowtie and all. Maybe some dance lessons wouldn’t hurt either. -AA Connect with us...
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