The substitute. The understudy. The pinch hitter. The bench warmer. We have all been there, whether on a sports team or at our work. Everyone wants to be in the “room where it happens,” but the problem is that we cannot be in that room, all of the time. Being in the game and in the show is where we ultimately want to be. It is the place where we train to be, aspire to be. Whether you are a stage actor, a salesperson, a sports player, etc; we all want to be on the field, doing the job. Sometimes we have to sit out and stay on the bench for a time. We can choose to be disappointed about this, or we can take the opportunity to turn riding the bench into something positive. The choice is entirely up to us. What are some of the things that we can do when we are on the bench? Rest. Recover. Reflect. Contemplate. Be bored. Just to name a few. All of these attributes can stimulate our creativity and recharge our minds and bodies. When we are on the bench, we can evaluate better what is important to us and focus our efforts into what exactly it is that we want to accomplish, once we get back into the game. Perhaps being on the bench helps us to see more clearly that we need to shift into another game? We see that happen, from time to time. Writing down some thoughts, while you are on the bench, will help you clarify what you want to do and how you can do it. There are many writing exercises that we can accomplish, such as personal After Action Reviews, Reaffirming our Personal Creeds, or designing and reapplying our Wheels of Life or Personal SWOT analyses. All these exercises are very difficult to do when you are in the game. Take the opportunity to do these when you are on the bench and enjoy the journey. Sometimes the best things happen to us happen when we are benched. Some of the greatest companies of our time have happened because their founders were “benched” and decided to come back and achieve the impossible. When you take the opportunity to improve yourself, being on the bench does not sound that bad after all. What are the things that you will do, the next time that you are benched?
Dr. N