When was the last time you fired yourself?
Whether you’re working in a large corporation or as an independent, whether it was a nanny or a colleague, you most likely had to fire someone at one point or another. Even if it was only one of your blog’s subscribers commenting (read harassing) too much.
You sat with them in a conference room and sang Frozen together:
“Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door”
Shedding a tear or two, the both of you left the room. You went back to your desk, and they went their way, hopefully learning a lesson, waiting for the new day to show them a new path.
What about yourself? You fucked up some stuff as well, didn’t you? Who among us could say that they never deserved to be fired?
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” — Matthew 7:3
Firing oneself from its own brain sounds strange? Think Steve Jobs being fired from Apple in 1985, the very company he had co-founded less than ten years before. For Apple, firing one of its founders should have felt a bit like firing itself, don’t you think? It did some real good to both of them, however. And, in the end, it did extreme good to Apple when it comes to its market cap (maybe not the best way to measure success in our lives, but let us keep that thought for another time).
So, coming back to you! Don’t we all have these aspects of ourselves we would like to get rid of? Aren’t we sometimes a tad too egoistic? Don’t we have impulses that would be better kept at bay? I for sure do; and I think it’s high time to bring myself in for a serious discussion! Targets haven’t been delivered to the expectations, have they?
Granted, running in the rain isn’t the best feeling ever. It’s easier to be a lazy pancake and stay on the couch. True, Grandma lives far away, is almost always complaining, and the wifi is really crap there. Let us binge-watch series all weekend instead of visiting her. Admittedly, no charity is one hundred percent efficient, and anyway, isn’t it their fault if they need help? Shall we buy another pair of sneakers instead of giving something?
But, blaming others and external factors, as easy and pleasant as it is (and even sometimes true), isn’t going to move anything forward. Time to take responsibility and fire yourself! That means firing one of the directors from the board that sits in your head! No worries, there are plenty of these selves inside your head. You won’t find it empty like the shelves of a supermarket at the beginning of lockdown. But it will teach them all a lesson. Your other selves will understand that if they fuck things up too much, they can get their ass kicked. Even if they’re, literally, sleeping with the Boss.
