Pick to the Stick

This week on my group coaching call I told a story about how NOT to get overwhelmed when you have too much on your plate. One of my coaching clients, Lynn Butterfield from Arkansas, turned it into a story for his local newspaper. It was so well written I wanted to share it with you. Here it goes…

“Focus on what you can change, and you’ll be able to survive anything!”  Chris said with enthusiasm and encouragement in his voice, right before he sprang into his strawberry fields story.

My friend, Chris Leader was twelve-years-old when he got a job picking strawberries at Foster’s Farm, near his home in Barrie, Ontario.  He started this tale by saying, “Berry picking is an incredibly difficult job for anyone, especially for someone of that age.”

“There were a whole bunch of us.”  Chris explained. “We were all between twelve and thirteen years of age.  Except for our crew chief, who was fifteen.”

In preparation for the day’s work, “Old-Man-Foster” called all of the kids over and said, “You’re going to pick this whole field today.”

That’s when Chris looked out over the vast field and scoffed inside of himself, “There is no way we can do all of this today!”  He was immediately overwhelming!

Other than, possibly, the lyrics “strawberry fields forever!” from the Beetles song, “Strawberry Fields.”  I don’t know what else was in Chris’ mind at that moment.  But you and I can understand his feelings, because we’ve all been in a similar position, at one time or another, in totally-overwhelmed-mode.  You know what I mean; that feeling of a giant vice squeezing your entire chest cavity, into hollowness.

My friend Jamie Johnson described the horrible sensation that can accompany such a mental state.  “I thought I was having a literal heart attack and went to see my doctor immediately!”  She recounted about one time when she was feeling overwhelmed.  “Luckily he was kind and took the time to explain that it was a panic attack.  Then, he taught me how to make some small changes so I could feel better; more in control again.”

Chris also received astonishing help at the very moment he needed it, right after Mr. Foster sauntered away. His young wise-beyond-his-years crew chief unveiled a plan!

“He gathered us all up and said, ‘Forget about what old man Foster said!’  Here’s what we’re going to do.  We’re going to pick to the stick.”  He announced after calling all of the teenaged field hands over, so they would gather around him.

“Pick to the Stick? What’s that?” Chris asked.

While still in coaching mode, the field chief picked up a stick and then he arranged all the kids in a line saying, “I’m going to throw this stick and all we’re going to do is get to the stick.  Once we get there, we’re going to reassess it.”

Next, he threw the stick out into the field.

“Then we picked to the stick over the next 30-40 minutes.”  Chris explained, “And, when we got to the stick, he picked up the stick and said, ‘ok everybody, heads up’ and he threw the stick back out into the field again while saying, all we’re going to do for the next little while is pick to the stick, pick to the stick, pick to the stick. This went on all day.”

At this point of the story, Chris had a knowing grin on his face and said, “And by the time we were finished, at about 5:00 p.m., which was a long day, we looked back and we had picked the entire field!”

Then Chris stopped speaking for just a beat, or two, before saying. “The point I’m trying to make is this.  Don’t be overwhelmed by what you have got to get done.  Be that wise-beyond-his-years, fifteen-year-old.  Be your own crew chief!  Make a step-by-step plan.  Then, line up your actionable items in logical sequence, one step at a time.  That’s how we do this! One step at a time, one step at a time!”

At this point of the story, I was continually hearing the Beatles in my head, “strawberry fields forever,” while still paying close attention to Chris.

“So,” Chris was moving toward a crescendo, “Remember what it means to ‘pick to the stick.’  What does that mean?  You’ve got your actionable items you’ve got to do.  All you’re going to do is, don’t worry about tomorrow or the weekend.  All you’ve got to do today is what you promised yourself.  Then, we hit the reset button and do it again.  And then what do we do?  We do it again tomorrow, and then again and again.  And then, by the end of the week you will have done so much more than what you did last week.  At the end of the month you’ll have gotten so much done.  And the end of the quarter and so on until the end of the year!”

Conclusively, in climax, Chris sang out, “So how do we do this?  We pick to the stick!  I hope that sticks to you guys!”

Focus on what you can change and you’ll be able to survive anything!

A great big thank you to Lynn Butterfield for capturing my story so beautifully.

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training