Three Steps to a Productive Year
Start on a fresh page and move forward.
Three Steps to a Productive Year
I love the beginning of the New Year as much as I have always loved getting a brand new notebook. It's a fresh start, anything is possible and there is always something new to learn.As I contemplate what I've learned from the prior year, I love searching for resources that enlighten, teach, challenge and inspire me to be a better wife, mother and coach for the coming year. This year the professional topics I'm building my library around include executive presence, confidence and leadership.
The new year is a powerful time to start with a fresh page. You have a right to feel terrified and excited, but don't let either stop you from moving forward.
There is an inexhaustible amount of content available on each of these topics, written by some incredibly smart, experienced and educated people - male and female. But with each book I start reading, I feel compelled to add to these very important conversations: If you lack Focus, are disconnected from your Purpose and have no Perspective on what's most important to you, the application of any technique or trick will eventually fail you.
If you want to end the year in anticipation of the coming New Year:
Get laser-focused about what you (really) want.
Most of us ask ourselves comfortable and convenient questions. We skirt around issues most of the time because we are simply too close to them to recognize what's really getting in our way. We have a lot on our plate and convince ourselves that nothing is optional, when in fact we have more options than we realize.What makes us uncomfortable is one of two things:
Avoiding making someone else uncomfortable with what may have to change, if we change
Avoiding making ourselves uncomfortable with what may have to change if we change
Identify your purpose.
We all have one. I call it getting to know the real you. It's the why of what you do; more specifically it's the why of what you want to do. Statistics abound on the number of people just going through the motions of life, only to realize many years into it that they never wanted to do or be this or that. Identifying your purpose isn't about abandoning practical realities. It has to do with identifying and making space for the things that energize, rejuvenate and invigorate your gifts, talents and abilities. A car functions as one unit but it is still made up of individual parts that each have specific requirements for care and functioning. Neglect a part's needs and it eventually breaks or fails beyond repair. What part of who you are (or who you want to be) - professionally or personally - are you neglecting? At what cost? It doesn't have to be that way. Connecting with your purpose is a lifeline to creating the professional and/or personal life you want.
Discover perspective.
A week ago I met with a client who reaffirmed that the reason she was afraid to move forward was because her mother raised her to be that way. My client is 36. I challenged her to make up a tale of her life if she were actually in control of what her life looked like. At the end of this fairy tale I was so curious and I asked her what was getting in the way of her making the choices she just described in her story, considering her mother was 1000 miles away, she was working and paying her own bills and running a home with children and a husband. It had not occurred to her that she could make different choices. The perspective of her childhood held her captive to a life that not only didn't serve her well, it hurt her. Our work together now is focused on reframing her perspectives - monthly coaching; books and other resources; a new, more positive network of friends and family; setting healthy boundaries and a commitment to healthy outlets (in her case, music and exercise).
The New Year is a powerful time to start with a fresh page. You have a right to feel terrified and excited, but don't let either stop you from moving forward. It's a New Year - anything is possible. Whatever it brings, whether or not it's "happy" is entirely up to you.
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