We all want more certainty. We want to know that we didn’t, somehow, miss the chance to be Oprah, Brad Pitt, Google or Facebook because of some signal missed. Either that, or we want the journey to be easier, more efficient, less tiring, more on top of the eight ball than behind it. We want to enjoy it while we are in it, not when we look back.
Drumroll….what is the answer? One clue is in the response my sister wisely gave to my question. She told me that the choice becomes clear when you decide on a path. Just get going. Don’t let the thinking about it make you stuck. The truth is, we don’t know exactly what the future will bring. What we can do is get in shape, and take good equipment on our journey. Here are some tools I like to use:
- Assessment: What is really going on? Is it really that your boss is a jerk who will never promote you and you are looking at a career shift, or is it that you have resisted calling out your successes because “self-promotion seems icky.” For companies, is it that your employees are unmotivated, or is it that your culture is unwittingly rewarding the wrong behavior?
- Values: Many roads lead to Rome, and many strategies lead to success. Our best chance at success is when we act in accordance with our values; that alignment makes us powerful and confident, and able showcase our strengths. If we spent as much time knowing our values as we do analyzing how Apple or Sheryl got it right, we would be doing ourselves a big favor. Spoiler alert…Apple and Sheryl got it right by honoring their values.
- Experience Over Goals: When I ask clients to create a vision, I ask them to think more about the experience than the result. What is it going to be like, feel like, once you get there? Push that vision out beyond just a title or an award. What will relationships, personal life, culture, fun and recreation, feel like when you reach your goal.
- Purpose: Purpose may be the one thing that can overcome skills, interests and strengths. Think of the parent who works a tough job so that their child can go to college. And, think of the start-up firm that has a really tough work environment, but is absolutely determined to reach its first milestone. Knowing what matters to us, and to our organizations, is a powerful pull.
- Timeline: We can’t know exactly what is going to happen, but we can articulate likely events. Marriage, kids, college, retirement. For companies, hiring, expansion, market changes, evolving operations. While we can’t drive an exact outcome, by anticipating certain events we can prepare, uncover opportunity and reduce risk.
- Short and Medium-Term Plans: If you are like me and love to dream about possibilities, the three and five-year planning can happily clutter your thinking. There is an art to balancing anticipation of the future, and acting in the present. Take time to put the 3- and 5-year plan together, then put them aside. Step two is to decide on a consistent set of actions for the next three months, put your head down, and evaluate once it’s done.
- Appreciative Inquiry: Before, after, and during all the rest, it is absolutely critical to pat yourself on the back on a regular and on-going basis. You are making progress all the time. Be here, celebrate and enjoy the view.
Have a wonderful September. I love the surge of energy I get this time of year and I hope you do too.
Claire