Bye to Winter. Hello Spring! Now What?
2020 came and gone. Some of us thrived. Some of us suffered greatly. Some of us limped along in numbness. It’s fair to say almost all of us couldn’t wait to kiss 2020 good-bye and open our arms wide for a new year --- a new dawn of hope and inspiration where limitless possibilities are so vividly available for us.
We blink our eyes. Once. Twice. BAM! Spring is knocking down our doors. The fresh excitement of the new dawn melted faster than the ice and snow in Houston.
You may find yourself trekking along with your yearly plan. You set out your sales target for the year and you are on track to achieve your quarterly milestone. If this is you, wonderful! Remember to celebrate and keep up the momentum by taking the actions that make a difference for you!
You may find yourself failing and falling way short of your expectations of where you need to be with your goals. You promise yourself that you will cut out sugar intake until you lose 20 pounds gained from last year. That promise lasted for one week and instead of losing 20 pounds, you gained another pound. You are resigned and ready to pick up the fork and bury yourself in that hot gooey chocolate Lava cake. If you find yourself here, not to despair. You are not alone.
You may find yourself simply going along with life. Goals and plans are a thing of the past for you. You are mostly operating in an auto-pilot mode, being a busy bee, trying to make lemonade, lemon tarts, lemon pies and lemon martini from all the lemons life throws at you, semi-conscious, and feeling numb and blind to the joy and beauty of life. If this is you, you are in good company too.
Most of us can find ourselves in one of those scenarios from time to time, from project to project, and from one area of our lives to another.
Given we are all human and it is a human phenomenon that we succeed at times and fail at others, the question is --- In what way could we be masterful when we find ourselves in the land of undesirables?
“Open your heart. Be still and listen.”
I remembered in my first semester year as an international student in the Graduate School of Human Development & Leadership at the University of Texas – Austin. Life was foreign; study was heavy, and my broken English certainly did not help. I was really frustrated and contemplating on the thoughts of quitting and going home. When I came to seek advice from my teacher, Dr. Oscar Mink, he said to me, “May, knowledge is great and powerful. However, to truly learn and be a student of life, open your heart. Be still and listen.” What he said has a profound impact on me and how I view life.
When I find myself in an uncomfortable place in life, like losing my job, losing a loved one, falling short of my sales target, or disappointing myself or others, instead of trying to fix myself, others or the situation, like a knee-jerk reaction, I pause my mind and reconnect with my heart, my passion, my purpose.
Sometimes I go for a walk, or do deep breath work to help emptying my mind. When I am in a state of mindful stillness, I inquire --- “Given the calling of my life is to leave the world a bit better, what does this situation communicate to me?” Then I listen. Life has a way to let us know what we need to hear.
“Re-ignite the purpose of my life --- something that is much bigger than my concern for myself --- and the privilege of being alive”
The 2 passages from George Bernard Shaw sums up this idea:
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
It's essential for us to reconnect to our purpose and passion in life. Have that be our True North in guiding our goals, achievements and daily actions. When I find myself lost in the busyness of life, a helpful tool I use is to restate and represence my personal Bold Statement or my company’s Charter.
“Reset goals aligned with your purpose. Create visual display to track your progress”
Reset our goals is a powerful tool to give ourselves the opportunity to start newly. We don’t have to wait until a new year to do so. When our purpose or priority change, it is only natural that our goals change too. Therefore, resetting our goals is not a sign of failure. It is actually an indicator of courage, the courage to say no to what is not aligned with our priority; the courage to stand for what we are committed to.
As many of us know, the goals need to be specific, measurable, actionable, risky and time bound.
Examples of not effective goals: Eating healthy, or have work/life balance; or have better relationships, or saving more money. They are not specific and cannot be measured objectively.
Examples of effective goals: Drink 64 oz of water daily from 2/15/2021 through 6/15/2021; Have dinners with family 4 times a week in 2021; Have lunch once a month with a friend; Put 15% of each paycheck into savings account.
When we language our goals into specific and measurable statements, it calls for action on our part. It also helps us to track our progress, therefore, we can hold ourselves accountable.
You can have the tracking display on a white board at the office, or an excel sheet, or any goal-tracking app. It does not matter what you use, the point is to have a display so we can reference our progress in existence, not something merely lives in our memory.
“Time Block”
“The best way to predict the future is to create it,” said, Abraham Lincoln.
What does it look like to create our future? That’s where the idea of time block comes in.
For anything we are committed to do, want to do, something we are accountable to do, put those items on your calendar and safe guard those times. If we do not practice time blocking to take actions on our goals, we will end up allowing others and life to take control of our time and what we do. We will find ourselves busying answering emails, putting out fires and at the end of the day, not moving forward any of our goals.
I have found time blocking one of the powerful tools in increasing productivity and effectiveness at work and in life. It takes some getting used to, and it’s a worthwhile practice to take on.
“Take care of the Top Performer of your life --- you”
Self-care is no longer a new idea. We all know to have some “me time” to recharge. However, for many of us, self-care remains a good idea, something we know to do and have no time and energy for.
In the world of high performance, self-care is not a simple good idea. It is an essential part of creating a foundation for victory. An Olympic athletic takes great of their diet, gets sufficient rest, conditions their mental strengths and emotional wellness. They believe in themselves before they win the metal, not afterwards.
The same principles apply to all of us in our life. We are the star Olympic athletic of our life. We have the opportunity to learn about ourselves in various seasons of our lives. To know our boundaries and set them. To create ways to nurture our mind, body and spirit! Most importantly, believe in ourselves.
“If not now, when? If not you, who?” ― Hillel the Elder
As we continue on our journey to create our best year ever, whether it be magical, miraculous, prosperous, healthy, peaceful and exciting, I hope you find support in one of the passages and it speaks to you in some way.
I have had the privilege working with executives, business owners and managers in redesigning their lives and work to accomplish their highest objectives. I am also deeply committed to everyone in the Chamber’s success. If you would like to speak with me and explore how my service could benefit you and your business, please reach out. Together, we are stronger!
May Wang
Mark Kamin and Associates
Chief Operating Officer, High-Performance Leadership Coach, Mission Control Program Leader
Unleash Performance Through Creating Cultures of Integrity, Communication & Accountability | Email: m.wang@mka-world.com | Cell: 713-478-8489 | http://mka-world.com/may-wang/ | Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/may-wang-6b49b97/
