In a children’s book, Dr. Doolittle had a fictitious animal called the pushmi-pullyu which was a llama with a head at the front and back. Some days we may feel like this fictitious animal because we are being pushed and pulled in so many directions.
There is so much information pouring in on us that we can feel swamped like a dinghy in a hurricane: read this email, do that task, watch this video, read that book, check out this blog, review that article. What’s pushed on us screams for our attention. We can quell the voices and tame our pushmi-pullyu by being more deliberate about what we take in. Seek out and pull in those things that serve you and your goals. Focus on the pulling end of the pushmi-pullyu and the pushmi end will follow. Even better, let fewer things get pushed at you. Warren Buffet said, “Really successful people say no to almost everything.”