Which Fires Are You Putting Out And Which Are You Keeping Going Or: The Real Job You Need To Undertake To Be Successful

Austin Neill

Everyone has their own shit going on.  At home, at work, in their own minds.  It is worth remembering this throughout the day. As you also have your own shit going on too.

Before you launch into a tirade, before you react to someone else, you always have the option.  The option of adding fuel to the fire to the option of extinguishing it.  It depends what the fire is for.

If the fire is anger, conflict, hurt, then adding fuel to this is not going to be very constructive.  Do you think that when two people are feeling this way that they are going to be in the right mind-set to resolve anything?  Are they likely to feel better during or even afterwards?  Probably not.

What if the fire is a fire of change, of possibility, of creativity?  Then better to be the person adding to this fire, to make it burn as intensely, brightly and as long as it can before it goes out.  Ideally, this type of fire should never go out - and you should take responsibility for being the fire watcher.

Anyone can be a leader.  It does not matter what your role on an arbitrary hierarchy is.  The only decision you have to make is which type of fires are you going to keep going and which ones are you going to help extinguish?  There is not much more to be done.

When people are busy, they liken this to going around putting out fires.  Small blazes set alight by others who are seeking to harm you in some way.  If left unattended, their fires may grow larger, they may join together in a massive blaze of negativity.  On the other hand, they may just go out themselves.  Others might not keep them going and they run out of fuel.

But if you go around putting out other people's negative fires, you are unlikely to have the time to start, tend to and grow your own fires into a massive blaze of creativity and positivity.

Which is easier?  Which will be more successful?

No one will care if there are a few small pockets of negativity against a blaze of positivity.  All your job boils down to is to manage the relative difference in size between the two.

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