“Three tomatoes are walking down the street — a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and squishes him…and says, ‘Catch up.'”

Not about to turn this into a Roger Ebert review, so stay with me.

In life, it is healthy to fall behind every now and again. The opportunity to embrace this natural humility might present itself when taking on more than feasible at work. Neglecting periodic assessment eventually creates drag on productivity and morale, sometimes leading to a downward spiral. Regularly scheduled reflection and strategic realignment serves to reverse the trend of underperformance. They key is to install mechanisms to help identify the period of lagging, and recover more quickly.

This ebb and flow is omnipresent – in our work, at home, in society and throughout our journey in life. Back in my days in financial media, fellow commentators would present a list of index laggards and leaders. The bottomline for laggards was they represented discount buying opportunities provided they were able to exit whatever rough stretch they were on (ie: re-org, bad press, industry rotation, falling out of favor on Reddit). These “baby tomatoes” would either stand by their leadership and business model, recalibrate, or be escorted out by the capital market reaper. Draw your own comparisons to spousal commitments, parenthood, friendships and even attaining that long list of goals you have set. 

We all find ourselves at times lagging behind expectations – those of others and ourselves. Champions exhibit intestinal fortitude and remain upright. Upon assessing the situation, they reposition swiftly and open the throttle.

This is not to say being a leader, and staying there, is any easier. For many high performers the quest for top billing is exhaustive. Professionally there is burnout. Resentment might rear its head in the home. Overextension socially might cause financial hemorrhaging. Fixation on life goals and accumulation might numb or negate the experience along the way. Some research was performed by people smarter than me, and they found a significant percentage of human ailments and conflicts would be resolved if every person was properly hydrated and well rested. Draw out that conclusion as you will.

Il Punto: Refill your cup and spend a few minutes each week contemplating: With whom are the relationships you are currently leading? Lagging? Why? What shifts might help you own your rebound? Which professional ambitions have you been riding high on? Where are you falling behind? How might you not end up as ketchup?