This Fall? Is This When You Change Yourself?
Well, we’re back. Summer’s over, the kids are off to school and we’re trying to get back in gear for the beginning of the year.
This one’s more real than January 1. By that time, we’re already involved with what we’ve chosen to tie ourselves into. Whether that’s joining new associations, stepping into volunteer roles, signing up for courses – those we tend to do now, in the fall.
What we commit to now will determine the shape of our year and the path of our growth over the next “real” year – from now until, say, June of 2013.
So there are some important questions to be asked. What do you want to be able to do by next summer that you can’t do now? Do you have experiences and capabilities that you would like to have on board by next July? If so, the time to strategize is now.
It’s also time to off load or disengage [by failing to restart] commitments or involvements that are no longer serving you. Maybe your interests have moved on. Those season tickets. Are they what you want to go to this year? Maybe you no longer feel affinity for a group that you’ve continued to this point. Maybe wine drinking is losing its appeal [ just kidding!] So it’s time to take inventory of involvements. And time to take on those that will propel you where you want to be.
Want to conquer your aversion to public speaking? Time to sign up for Toastmasters or Dale Carnegie. Want to learn to play the piano? Time to research teachers and make contact. Learn chess? Become a better swimmer? Get strong? Find a trainer.
Become a more effective President? Get yourself into TEC.
Add to your capability as an executive? Get a great coach. Sign up for a course.
Those who’ve heard my talk on A Richer Life will know this one: You go where your structures take you. If you have an improvement intention, very few make significant headway relying on themselves. Most of us weaker sorts need discipline. So we rely on getting into a relationship with an expert leader who has charge of the program and a similarly motivated group of peers to go through it with. As Rumi said, “Stay with the caravan. You’ll never cross the desert alone.”
This approach is far more potent than the present version of self help served up by the internet. You may start out watching the You Tube video on yoga but I would give you a couple of weeks max before you lapse. It’s another thing when you’ve signed up [and paid] for a season at a studio. It’s on your calendar and someone else cares about whether you show up. That’s a commitment that will stick.
So what do you want to add to your life before next spring? And what are the structures you can ally yourself with that will take you there? Get on it now. Include it in your gearing up agenda for the fall. It’s the only way you will be different from the way you are today – if that means something to you. Otherwise, you’ll be reviewing next spring, thinking “I wish I’d…..”
Here’s to a new and improved you!
Sincerely,
Doug Bouey
Catalyst Strategic Consultants Ltd.
