When you notice something in your life or organization starting to slip and slide, address it immediately. The sooner you confront it, the less inertia you’ll have to deal with in order to regulate and reposition.
If one of your team members shows up late to a meeting for an invalid reason, address it the first time it happens. Stop the slide before the other people in your meeting start to follow suit, and you have a full-blown epidemic on your hands.
If the friction in your marriage is starting to mount, stop the slide. Get away for a weekend and talk things over…make an appointment with a counselor…the sooner you act, the less dramatic action will be required.
If you find yourself flirting with moral compromises and becoming numb to conviction, stop the slide before everything slips away from you. Confessing before you get caught will greatly enhance the support and understanding you’ll receive from the people you’ve offended.
I know this is simple, conventional wisdom.
But practically speaking, don’t we all have an area of our life that’s slipping?
And wouldn’t it be wise to stop it soon?