Continue to Measure Anew

Thanks to Kevin Eikenberry for sharing these valuable insights!

Today, a metaphorical quotation packing a powerful punch.

“The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measure anew each time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect them to fit me.”

– George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, Nobel laureate

Questions to Ponder

• What old beliefs about yourself are you holding onto?
• What old beliefs about others are you holding onto?
• How could you take a fresh perspective, or measure anew, today?

Action Steps

1. Look at the people with whom you interact today with fresh eyes.
2. Look beyond your past interactions, and create a new first impression.
3. Then, compare the old measurement with the new one, and see what you learn.

My Thoughts

I don’t know about you, but clothes that once fit me well, don’t anymore. If I bought new ones based on my old size, it wouldn’t be a pretty picture. I’d like to think that I have grown in ways other than pounds though . . . that I am a different person with different experiences, perspectives, knowledge, and wisdom than I once was. Given that, I’d prefer people look at me for who I am today, not simply who I once was. . .

Wouldn’t you want the same?

So why don’t we give others that same chance?

Read Shaw’s words again, and think about the situations and people who you have measured and since thrown away the ruler.

Maybe it is time to get a fresh perspective. Measure where people are today, and where that measurement can take them, rather than relying on past memories, or worse, other people’s measurements of people you adopted as your own.

Measure carefully.

Measure today.