What Blows Your Hair Back?

I was part of a panel discussion about leadership and one of the other panelists said that if you can do your job in your sleep, it is probably time to move on.  That you need to stay excited and challenged and just a little stressed to be effective.  I am not sure how I feel about this statement.  I think there are lots of things that we can do with our eyes closed, that is so much in our wheelhouse, that we have done a thousand times.  Does it mean that we are no longer effective?  I think I know what this other leader was saying that there is a thin wedge about stress and that too little is also a detriment, that we need to be motivated and interested and excited to make innovative things happen.  I guess what I am not sure about is whether we need to move on.  I think that if we start to feel like we are in auto pilot mode, there is always something to do to stretch our muscles and gray cells.  A new project, a great idea, something creative, a new skill to learn.  I think that while she indicated that we would need to move on, what I can get behind is the idea that this is up to each of us.  Bored, uninterested, feeling uninspired, we need to call it out for ourselves, name it and devise a plan to move past it and seek the challenge that we need.  The trick here is to know that adding something new, a new challenge will require the stopping of something else as our time and attention resources are not endless.  We may need to move on from some part of our routine or tasks to make room for the new.   I went to a session a few weeks ago that said “ What blows your hair back?” a great phrase for defining what excites you and fills your tank.  Keep a close eye on your feelings about what you are doing, adjust your attention and activities accordingly and find the sweet spot of just enough challenge to blow your hair back so that you can keep on filling your tank with great adventures.