 Our RFS Brigade was called out to a grass fire earlier this week. While on route to the fire, a call came over the radio from base saying the fire was currently at 20m x 20m, but with a strong gusty wind it can quickly go pear-shaped. Somebody in the back of the truck said "ahh it's only 20 x 20." Only the week prior we had been working on the Hill End fire at Alpha Road which, before it was contained had grown to 18,000 ha. That fire started as 20m x 20m. In fact, it started as a lightning strike, probably 1m². It's funny how hearing the 20 x 20 comment and working on a 18,000 ha fire, it made me think of our goals, and how quite often we only focus on the big end result and fail to focus on the process... ember by ember. What starts as a small ember grows into a little flame which grows into a fire, then into a bushfire, and before you know it, it's a blazing, running, wildfire emergency. We know it, but most don't do it. We fail to find the spark, the tiny ember in every project and to fan that small spark to create a flame. Iris Gardner a guest on The Mojo Sessions EP 109 said, "Keep an ember to blow into a bonfire, that can become a wildfire." What can happen when we focus on the process? Well look at the photo here on our first night at the Hill End fire when that 20m x 20m had grown to 1200ha in half a day, and that was just the start of a week long battle.
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 How many brainstorms, creative sessions, or meetings will you sit through that involve coming up with ideas? Say you participate in two of those meetings a week times 40 weeks a year. That means you will be in 80 of those meetings this year alone. Let's say you've been in business 20 years -- so that is 1,600 brainstorms. If two ideas come out of each session, that means you have seen or heard well over 3,000 ideas. Where are they today? Logged into your memory? No - we can't even remember what's in our calendar for tomorrow, let alone an idea heard in a meeting four years ago. Day after day, I see leaders attend meetings, creative sessions, and brainstorms with nothing to write on. They let thousands of ideas go in one ear and out the other. Imagine if you were the diligent, disciplined, and proactive leader who took note of the ponderings today that could be tomorrow's thought-starter. Imagine the repository you would have in your journals, that you could revisit to harvest ideas when doing a killer presentation or finding an idea for a client brief. We often sit in meetings and don't write anything down, and the biggest fallacy is that we will remember the ideas being shared. The vast majority of outstanding leaders I interview on the Mojo Radio Show Podcast, keep notes and journal. Navy SEALS, entrepreneurs, scientists, wellness thought leaders, productivity leaders, mental strength coaches, you name it -- a journal is their repository of learnings and great ideas. It's the reason I created the Mojo Thought-Provoking Journal. Check it out here and start to capture your next killer ideas: https://www.garybertwistle.com
 "For me this year, it's about considered action." This statement came from a young, smart leader I worked with this week. His standard protocol was busy and reactionary. This year his own personal mission was to take considered action. Detach, think, ponder, consider, breathe, before racing into the next shiny object to be considered at that moment or point of decision. This is something you rarely see in leaders in the corporate world. True intention, a plan, working to an actual published strategy, and most importantly, consistent, considered ongoing action to bring that strategy to life. It's such a great phrase...considered action. (That'll be on a t-shirt by Friday).
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