Today let's explore sheep roaming in a flock.

All a bit tongue in cheek but so popular. Hey let's hold a breath. One cheek in the left field of vision. Another in the right. Grazing by the noseful. Trimmed it may yet chances are we’ll be alright when the wolves come. Catching a glimpse of hills reverberates of hungry eyes nipping in the pink. So we shuffle into flock beholding two cheeks in a wink.

For the script let's dub these Two Bum please.

With plenty of company.

But all flocks have echelons. Someone has to walk the edges. A brave lot itching to outwool all the others. Always volunteering for study appraised by the front.

Let's brand them Brave Sheep for company.

As we fade into action.

Shepherd: Good morning Brave Sheep. So how come they haven't nibbled at you yet?

Brave Sheep: Chew... chew... I focus on a trimmed line balancing work for home.

Shepherd: Apologies for being so direct. I agree work/life balance is a nippy topic on its own.

Brave Sheep: Meh... all good. I specialise at showing my hours. Faultless to company narrative. Trotting my wool on a mission. Hey I walk the line finer than any competing wool. Ruffling my diary of meetings. Licking up Ivy League case studies in between greetings. My desk is sheared before any Two Bum shows for morning pitchings.

Shepherd: Tight wool Brave Sheep.

Brave Sheep: Meh... there's one more thing. I earn my brand one bum in fresh air. The other tight on seat nudging strays into formation.

My tool of chase the emotional flashback a Two Bum least expects. Motivation of which few appear to be conscious. Too numbed to act on. Or... more often... a home situation reinforces my tactics by a coldhearted rap on the wool. It's an introject from a shame-based childhood. Really a poverty mindset linking bums on seat (i.e. attention) to lovability. You know it's the shame of feeling baaad. If not attending the boss quite as long as the other laaad.

Until sometimes I authorize an unplanned holiday. For ears ringing like a tin caaanned.

Shepherd: Hmmm. Seriously! The stuff they teach you at commerce school.

Brave Sheep: Actually I learnt it from a Machiavellian type on my MBA programme.

Shepherd: Kudos for company ethos.

I imagine Leader Sheep assured in your henchmanship.

Leader Sheep: Nice to rub wool Shepherd. You're in luck. Five minutes. How can I assist?

Shepherd: Would you mind sharing a secret for outmanoeuvring the nip?

Leader Sheep: That's a no brainer. I align my wool to a powerful why. Onward. Upward. A reason I cherish the love in my life for appreciating to a cry. Maybe a shrink. While I fragrance my wool to company mission. So that Brave Sheep and Two Bum dig up gratitude even if shy in their vision.

Shepherd: Pheeew! Seriously?

Leader Sheep: Yup. Division in earnings can hardly remunerate the scope of a hawk. No less resolute I walk my big stick talk. Speeding up. Slowing down. All moves line-of-sight to Mastermind and Board.

Shepherd: Okaaay... I get it... a wolfpack knows better.

Leader Sheep: Hey sometimes the howlers think up ways to catch me off trott.

But I get analytical ecstasy in shuffling the data of pawns. Perfecting all preparations. The diary operates like a military campaign. While the assistant communicates my alter ego on the brain.

Feeding plenty of cognitive dissonance to Brave Sheep and Two Bum on sight. Rarely for divide and conquer. Because my instrument of choice is the wand of promotion.

See I strut efficiency by hope. Exchange for blind devotion.

Safety as grazing.

Free of emotion.

Shepherd: Thank you Leader Sheep. Little wander for Two Bum. Let alone viewing the hills.

Leader Sheep: Don't mention it! Credit for three minutes forty two seconds.

Shepherd: Apologies to rock a moment. Just wondering if you'd share a bleet on holding the wolves away.

Two Bum: Oh meh! You startled me. My focus is so tight... hardly a thought to look beyond.

Shepherd: Your dedication is awesome.

Two Bum: It keeps me going.

Shepherd: Imagine I'm your alter ego. Tell us more.

Two Bum: That helps, thanks. My flock of birth conditioned us. Money hardly grows on a bush. Grass. Certainly not on trees.

Shepherd: Ha ha! I've chewed bits of that too. Keeps us striving in empty fields.

Two Bum: Work is alright. Bills rise on raises. Holidays carry me. But oi if anyone cared how I numb anxiety. Compulsions I’m hardly proud of. Some obvious. Appeasing jokers in the pub. The most shame-inducing at home. All on my own.

Fantasy dowsing a yearning for freedom. Outdoors. New sport. Dedication to a hobby.

Growing my headspace for abundance. Less chatter in the lobby.

Shepherd: Compulsion is just energy. A relief valve by Nature. Making up for so-so lines of work. Romance unfulfilled. Venting the divine stuff known as energy into perpetual cycles of recovery from living a bit unnatural. Nonetheless proving you've got a heartbeat of mission that is calling.

Two Bum: Meh! That's promising. Caring how I feel stuck. Instead of telling me to man up. Now I sense Inner Maverick rising in me.

Shepherd: Glad my words land a feeling. You deserve to give yourself a pat.

Whatever beliefs we hold. Science enlightens we're made of trillions of cells. A divine battery of energy combined into a symbiotic unit we know as a body. Captained by a mind yearning for a sense of flow.

Aligning to a mission. Focus on skills until your talents glow.

A feat so tricky in a corporate setting. Full of meetings. Errands. Reprimands. Energy therefore must flow somewhere. Short of a deep love. Romance. Passion in career to capture a sheep's inspiration.

The frustration we feel is the subconscious urging.

Wake up!

Inner Maverick: I am stunned to a bleat.

Shepherd: Be kind to yourself.

But I think you’ve discovered why Brave Sheep and Leader Sheep climb as they do.

They find a purpose in utilizing a flock. With a sheepshear's focus on efficiency of operation.

Which too many in Two Bum revere. Even fear. Without a knowledge of purpose. Love of serving a tribe we choose. So many of us having a heartbeat of sensitivity to our environment would find a deep satisfaction in creating. Serving flock members in society with ideas transformed into services. Then products if we have the energy. Giving us belonging. Warmhearted feedback on our efforts. Like in a smile from a customer.

Simultaneously anointing the money we earn with deservedness. Releasing our willingness to invest that money in ideas for more freedom.

Inner Maverick: Well... I get it now! Control finds solace in flock patrol. Sensitivity with a growing imagination, rather than over-functioning by tippy-toeing to hierarchies, finds a welcome home in creativity.

Shepherd: Hey I sense your Inner Maverick is having a peek!

So one more topic for today.

The wolf.

Inner Maverick: Uh oh! I sense you're about to ruffle my wool.

Shepherd: Maybe so. This one traps many a hopeful sheep a short leap from the corral.

The moment we begin to do something fresh for ourselves. Pushing the infinite scroll aside to explore. Learning about the fifteen thousand+ careers. In this amazing era of machines who chat. Start with a book like What Color Is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles. Learning all about matching career to who you are. Getting into Myers Briggs analysis. Holland Code. Big Five. Enneagram. There's so much wonderful science to help a maverick.

Find the path of your talents.

Striving to be happy in your week. So you'll attract someone joyful one fine weekend.

But beware!

You're peeping sideways. Enjoying a glimpse of the hills.

Two Bum: Meeeh… can't be true... I couldn't be thaaat… it’s beyond me… so many steps to trot... maybe even years... hey I'm hardly miserable in my cubicle… who needs a soul date anyway.

Shepherd: Hey where did Inner Maverick disappear to?

See now you know enough to tackle the wolf.

The silent one.

Fear of seeing our talents as muscle. Waiting to grow into bulging giants.

Lest the wolf should make a claim. Especially if we soften the flanks yet deeper by shame. Hey! Dismantle the predator by compassion for yourselves. Even as we continue to visit the cubicle for support. Vital in a time of change. Beginning on tiny actions in a brave new direction. A purpose to enrich the day. Onward rising in joy.

Whether it's becoming a Brave Sheep. Upward to a Leader Sheep.

Or building your freedom as a Maverick.

Fade out.

Whispering yes I can as you unfold your own brand of validation.

Every day distancing the wolf.