Sometimes you need to walk away from your problems. I’m the one who always says run toward the problem, so why would I be saying you have to walk away from your problems? Because there are times when you’re wrestling with a problem, and you need to walk away from it to get clarity.
Recently, we had to walk away from one of our executive meetings. We were wrestling with a challenge and having a great discussion. It was very productive; everyone was involved, sharing opinions and looking at the problem from all angles. Then we started getting ourselves twisted around, and the answer wasn’t clear or obvious at the time. We were running out of time, and I said we needed to table the conversation for a bit. We’d talked through it enough and needed to escape it for a moment.
Later, I was sitting next to one of the executives on my way to an event, and you could tell we were both thinking about the issue and conversation. We looked at each other and started laughing. He said the best thing we did was stop talking about it and get away. We needed to walk away and come back later to look at it again with clarity.
That happens! Sometimes you get yourself wrapped up in an argument, talking in circles, and the best thing you can do is stop. Get a good night of sleep and a good workout; that’s a great tonic for anything you’re working with. Give it some time, then come back together and see if you have better clarity.
This is hard to do. It’s hard for me too! I want to keep driving until we find the solution, but I’ve found that some of the best solutions are to walk away and come back with a clear head. Suddenly, the answer will become evident. Don’t always run to the problems; sometimes, you need to walk away from them!
