The words "final boarding call" strike fear in my heart.
And for good reason.

A while ago, Richard and I had just settled into our airplane seats. Bags stowed. Seatbelts buckled. Ready for takeoff.

Then I suddenly realized... I didn't have my phone.

Instant panic. 

I searched frantically. Convinced I’d left it at the spot where we had breakfast, I did what any reasonable person would do: I ran off the plane! 

Raced through the airport. 

Back to the restaurant. 

Searching. No phone. No time. I sprinted back to the gate, out of breath, and made it back on board literally just before they closed the door. 

Back in my seat. Still no phone.

Then we had an idea.
We used Richard’s phone to call mine.

It rang... from his pants pocket.

Yep. The phone never left the plane. 🤣🤣 

(Richard had mindlessly grabbed it at some point when we were pulling together all of our stuff.)

Now here's the interesting part:
I bet some of you reading this figured it out.
You thought, "Why didn’t they just call the phone?"

(Believe me, I was asking the same thing once my heart rate dropped.) 

Because we can't always see the answers. 

And under stress, even the obvious solution eludes us. 
That’s why coaching is so helpful. That's why challenges work. 

They...

• Give you solutions and ideas you might overlook.
• Make the invisible opportunities a little more visible.
• Help you slow down to ensure that you are on the right track. 

Not because you couldn’t do it alone. But because sometimes we all need that nudge, that pause, that perspective.

Moral of the story? 

When in doubt: slow down, give yourself a moment to breathe, think things through… and yes, maybe check your pockets. Sometimes the answers really are that close.