After a particularly growly day where I spent a lot of time judging the people around me, I knew I needed to slam the brakes on that b.s.

Judge much, Carolyn?

So when I woke up the next morning, I decided to observe my judgements all day — good, bad or otherwise. 

It was easier than I thought, but hard to accept how fast and fickle judgements pop into my brain.

Here’s a rundown (ahem… scorecard?) of the highlights… 

9am The crepe store we planned to have breakfast was closed even though the sign said they open at 8am. Thanks, Easter.

9:05am The next place was setting up a breakfast buffet and wasn’t open yet. But who wants to eat breakfast at an Italian joint, anyway?

It took 4 more attempts to find a place that was serving breakfast on Easter Sunday. Six total. What’s up with this town (population 25,000)? I suppose living in the city that never sleeps has spoiled me.

10:00am We were so excited when we finally found a diner that was open. The parking lot was packed and I saw a car pull into the lot after us. I actually turned on my “pizza day at school” walking speed in order to beat them into the restaurant. I was NOT going to give up a table and risk having to wait an extra 3 minutes to get my food. Very “un-Christlike” behavior — especially on Easter morning.

10:01am We were greeted by a very friendly and sizable man — who cordially seated us. Our waitress, nice gal, reminded me of the actress from a movie (or was it a TV show?) I have a terrible memory.

10:50am Breakfast was good. Time to hit the road to the trailhead near Woodstock. 

11:20am The parking lot at the trailhead is very small. There was a group of hikers who just finished the trail and were taking their time getting into the 3 cars they arrived in. We waited for a good 10 minutes for them to… ummmm… start their cars. How hard can it be?!

Yoga face on the outside. Daggers on the inside…

11:24am While we waited, another car pulled up and positioned themselves for one of the spots. “Don’t you dare try to dart in front of us. We were here first.”

12:00pm On the trail, I saw a woman ahead of us who looked like she was wearing clothes a nun might wear. Interesting that a nun would be out hiking by herself on Easter. (Turns out she wasn’t either.)

12:10pm I had to pee. I spotted a huge rock about 15 yards into the woods. There are no leaves on the trees, will anyone see me? That would be awkward.

12:20pm I saw a family with 4 kids under 7 years old. Who has four kids anymore? The dad was pushing a stroller which must’ve been hard since it was 2.5 miles uphill. The kid in the stroller was a ham.

12:45pm At the top, we were greeted by an amazing (but foggy) view of the Hudson Valley. It was breathtaking. I could spot a lake too. The couple near us corrected us, nicely, and told us it’s a reservoir, not a lake. We had a nice conversation with them about why so many city people buy property so far out of the city. 

12:50pm We posed for our customary selfie. Upon review of our first attempt, I started laughing hysterically at the cheap, broken sunglasses he had propped on his head. They looked ridiculous. He loses sunglasses all of the time, but the ones he doesn’t lose are the ugliest of the bunch.

2:15pm After our hike, I searched Yelp for a place to eat in Woodstock. I searched by highest ratings (as I always do) and ruled out the vegetarian place. Show me the beef! When we went into the burger place, it wasn’t very busy. They must not be very good. Should we leave?

3:30pm We stopped for gas on our way out of town at a really busy station. I noticed a guy pull up to one of the pumps. He left the car running, music blaring and came into the station. He spent the entire time (10+ minutes) talking about his late night, but did not buy gas. Why would you block a pump if you’re not buying gas? Ruuuuude!

4:00pm On the freeway back to the city, we were passed by a van labeled Church Bus driving like a bat out of hell. Now that’s funny!

You get the idea. 

There’s a fine line between observing my judgements — and making them.

It’s so automatic and happens so fast that I could barely stop myself. But the awareness is eye opening.

And I noticed that I judged myself for being so judge-y.

How often do we judge ourselves every single day? With every launch? Before, during and/or after a sales conversation? Comparing ourselves to others on social? And countless other “moments” during the course of business.

Good? Bad? Human?

Go ahead. You be the judge. Or not.

(How many judgements do you count in this story? I haven’t counted, but would love to know!)

 

#SundayCEO
#judgemuch