The burning platform metaphor comes from the Piper Alpha Disaster of 1988 where workers lost their life because the oil rig exploded. Those who did survive had the choice of staying on the burning rig or jumping 150ft into the sea with burning debris. So, the choice was between certain or possible death. It was a terrible tragedy and those that did survive were the ones who jumped.
Since ‘The Burning Platform’ has been translated into organisational speak for big and generally urgent situations that will have massive impacts on how we work or live our lives.
We all recently faced the burning platform of the pandemic COVID-19 and the lockdown completely changing the way we live and work. Because of this a lot of people would have moved from a living mindset to a survival mindset.
A living mindset means you are acting on autopilot most of the time because you have programmed or conditioned yourself to act without thinking or expending too much energy. You can do what you would be doing most days with a limited amount of thinking because you have done it before.
A survival mindset is different because you think, worry, and think about what you are doing. Because of this you become tired and can become stressed because of the need to think more. The brain actually expends more energy and hence why so many people have experienced fatigue in the recent years.
The question is have you moved back to a living mindset or is your mindset in some state of hybridisation between survival and living?
Over recent years new technology has made us think differently about the way we live and with advances like the Metaverse our thinking will be challenged again with new advances in AI and robotics our world promises to look so different in the future.
The burning platform we all face right now is not just the exponential change we are all experiencing but that what brought us success in the past will not be guaranteed in the future.
So, when we are faced with change now and in the future, the one thing that we can stay in control of is our mindset.
You can in fact choose to be who you want to be when you want to be at any given time.
And you can set your mind and your mindset.
This is why it is so important to focus on your mental health as well as your physical health.
So here are three simple steps to start.
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When you wake up in the morning what version of yourself do you want to be?
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Once you agree to be the best version of yourself what do you do every day?
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When the best version of you is faced with a challenge in the day how do they respond?
When you start to control your mind, you can then control your responses, and then you can control your life.
“If you can build a muscle, you can build a mindset.” – Jay Shetty
What burning platform are you faced with right now and how can reframing your mindset help?
Paul Corke
Executive Coach
www.paulcorkeinternational.comBook in with Paul here for a free 30 mins chat about your leadership or coaching needs:
https://calendly.com/paul-corke/30min
