Have you ever had a moment where you wanted to do the right thing but ended up coming up short? Me too!
That’s why I think you’ll relate to today’s post. It’s about another Inner Game Hero of mine: “The Guy in the Orange Hat.”
Enjoy!
SUMMARY
A great story of a classic “Inner Game Moment.”
How “Inner Gravity” keeps you from being your best self.
One thing you definitely don’t want to do.
Why you need to “Own Your Impact.”
Watch/listen to get the full message.
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[ transcript ]
Hey it’s David Levin. Author of Raise Your Inner Game. Co-author of QBQ The Question Behind the Question. Founder of Raise Your Inner Game Academy.
I want to tell you about another Inner Game hero today. Last time we talked about Diane, the artist. This time, I don’t know his name. I think of him as The Guy in the Orange Hat.
He is someone I see when I go for a run. I’ve been running in the morning lately, pretty much the same time every day, 7-ish in the morning. And almost every time I go out, I will see him out there walking.
To give you a visual, he looks sort of like an old-school lumberjack but retired and in miniature. He is an older guy, on the short side. I’d guess 5-6, 5-7. Grey hair and beard. Looks like he’s in good shape for his age. Trim. Obviously walks regularly, and at a good pace. Tends to wear a plaid shirt tucked in to docker-looking pants. Solid looking walking shoes. So the general impression you get is of muted colors. The one exception being his bright orange hat. He wears this neon orange hunting hat with Elmer Fudd ear flaps. Sort of stands out, which I guess is the point. Don’t want to get shot. But the road we’re on is on the edge of town, so I’m not sure how much danger there is of that. But you know, what do I know.
Anyway, this hat, because it’s so out of place makes me wonder about the guy a little bit. You know? Everything okay there? Wonder what’s going on?
So, one morning, I’m running along. Off in the distance I see Orange Hat Guy. Couple blocks ahead. Same basic look. Muted colors. Neon hat. But today, in his hand he’s got what looks like a blue-white box, about the size of a six-pack of beer. So now I have this funny image in my mind of him, taking a healthy morning stroll carrying a 6-pack in his hand. I don’t really think that’s what’s going on, but it looks like it. So I’m chuckling to myself about that.
But when I get close enough to see what’s really going on I realize that he’s not carrying beer, it’s a piece of trash he’s picked up from the side of the road and he’s taking home to throw it out. That’s cool. And quite different from what I imagined. Gives you some insight into my petty little brain.
Anyway, I run on past, I get to my turn-around point, I turn back, head home, as I catch up and get ready to pass by him again I notice that he now has two pieces of trash in his hand. So he’s cleaning up the road as he goes.
As I run past I say “Hey, thanks for cleaning up” and he says, “Yep, out here every day.”
I love it. What a great illustration of the Inner Game and these moments where we face Gravity and hopefully overcome it and operate from Level 4. (If you haven’t read Raise Your Inner Game, Level 4 refers to us when we’re at our best.)
