Keep Two Chevrons Apart (in life as well as on the motorway)

So, do you have a favourite road sign? I realise this may be considered a strange question. My favourite road sign is the one that says “Keep Two Chevrons Apart”.

Why I love it is that it’s visually interesting - you’ve got the car, the road, the two chevrons, the 3D perspective.

I love the word ‘chevron’ - you don’t really get to see it very often. And I love that the instructions are a bit of a challenge. “Keep Apart Two Chevrons”. I immediately focus on counting the chevrons between me and the car in front and seeing if we are indeed keeping two chevrons apart. It takes concentration to maintain that pace. And being mindful.

It’s clearly good advice - stay a safe distance away from the car to avoid a collision, AND it makes you aware of your speed.

So how is this relevant to coaching?

Well, I think in our own lives it’s a good principle in terms of the space we are creating in our own lives and the pace we are travelling at.

How many of us pack the diary (or have it packed for us) with back-to-back meetings, calls, emails? How many of us have a never-ending to-do list that multiplies beyond the time available to do it?

If we were on the road, no chevrons would be visible because we’d be tail-gating the car in front with one behind us doing the same thing. And in terms of pace, we’d probably be going that little bit too fast to be safe. One slip up and we’d be in danger of having an accident.

So when it comes to you, how are you doing in keeping two chevrons apart?

If terribly or not so well - like most of the people I work with then what’s the cost of that?

What would keeping two chevrons apart look like for you? In terms of headspace, space for you and going at a more reasonable pace?

I know all too well what it’s like saying YES to everything and ending up on an ever-spinning hamster wheel. It gets exhausting, and eventually you run out of steam. Or running on empty.

So create space - block out headspace time in the diary, and if those are the things that get overridden first then put a meeting in called Strategy X Preparation or Development or whatever you need to to take it seriously and protect the time.

And pace yourself - think about what is sustainable - how many meetings of a particular sort can you do in a day, for example? If it’s 3 then make sure no more than 3 go in.​

You may well be thinking, ‘well I can’t do that because of X and Y’ and you may have a job/life where it’s difficult so do what you can. Ask yourself, ‘what does it cost me if I don’t create space and watch my pace?’

Create space.

Watch your pace.

And look after yourselves.