Trust Your Inner Signals (A Tortoise Reminder)

Our family tortoise, Rocco, came out of hibernation today.

Every year, he takes himself off and buries himself deep in the garden.  Every year - so far - he has re-emerged.  We are always full of wonder and excitement at his return.

So around six months underground. And then he emerges when the conditions are right.

How does know?

Warmer air. Longer light. Internal signals to hibernate or to emerge?

What strikes me is that tortoises just know when the time is right.  He doesn’t override the signals.

And it struck me how often we do.  If I’m honest, I know signals are there to dial it back at bit, down tools a bit more but most often I find a reason to override those signals.  

We override tiredness because the meeting matters.
We override intuition because the opportunity looks good on paper.
We override misalignment because we don’t want to rock the boat.

And then we wonder why we feel flat. Or resentful. Or quietly off track.

I think high performers are especially good at overriding themselves.

We call it resilience.
We call it ambition.
We call it being professional.

Maybe it’s because as humans just don’t hibernate.  It’s not in our nature.  

But I do think there’s something deeply powerful about knowing your own operating system.

Not everyone is built for constant output.
Not every ask needs a ‘yes’.
Not every opportunity deserves your energy.

Success isn’t constant acceleration.

It’s built on listening to your own signals and acting on them.

So here’s the question I’m posing myself and you today:

Where are you overriding your own signals right now?

And what would change if you stopped?

Take Care

Tracy