License Plates

I’m not a car person, so my knowledge in this area is slim.  Yet somehow I landed myself in a strange new curiosity surrounding license plates.  My coworker recently purchased a car and decided to get the new “vanity” plates available in Iowa.  Considering there are 25 types of license plates you could find in Iowa, it is pretty amazing that one particular license plate has risen to the standard of “vanity.”  But these plates are cool.  They are all black with stark white lettering. 

These license plates are so sweet that my son and I created a new game about them.  We call it, “Is your car cool enough?”  Here’s the premise: If we see a car donning these all-black plates, we ask ourselves if the car merits such a swanky license plate.  On a scale of 0 – 10 we rate the driver’s decision to purchase a vanity plate given the car they drive.  The game is a lot of fun when you have endless miles of roads in front of you.

During the time when we created this game, my son was struggling with something in his life, and I was trying to get him to focus on areas other than this challenge.  He stated that it was all he could see around him.  I empathized with his discouragement and offered this analogy: Previously when we drove down the road, we paid no attention to the license plates on cars.  Now, we can barely pass a vehicle without trying to note what type of license plate it carries.  Did anything change about the cars from then until now?  No.  Our perspective and focus changed, however.  When we decided to shift our eyes to something specific, we created newfound energy.  The world around us felt different even though the environment hadn’t changed because our lens towards it had.  How we drive down the road of life is our choice to make.  When there appears to be traffic jams, road construction, or unaware drivers, consider if the journey might be more enjoyable if you pay attention to the black license plates around you.

Changepoints:

Next time you are in a vehicle traveling down the road, see if you can notice things you weren’t aware of before:

·        How does it change your experience being in a car when you decide to have a new focus?

·        What are the benefits of recognizing the power of perspective during times when we can’t control our environment?

·        Once you decide to shift your focus, does it feel almost automatic to do so again in the future?

·        Who are the people in your life who can readily identify the metaphoric “attractive all-black license plates” on the road of life? 

o   What traits do they model that you could embrace?

o   How are their lives benefited from a positive mental mindset?

The world is full of cool license plates if we choose to look for them.  And the ride can be more enjoyable when we allow their presence to enter the road of life.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.