WHAT’S NEXT? – PART TWO
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Work and life are, for me, not about balance. They are entwined, like wires in heat-tracer cables – they won’t work if separated.
They are interdependent – impossible to reduce to math or portions, overlap 24/7, go on vacation together, working and playing in harmony.
As it is for me each year, the holiday season and slow-pace December time were supposed to be dedicated to getting year-end things cleaned up and getting ready to roll in January – the plan was made, activities scheduled, and a lot of it didn’t get done. Not for lack of trying, not for lack of working on it all. Pressing on with it isn’t optional, and I know I’ll get through, so for those who understand and clients who cut me some slack, thank you.
But there seems to be another element – an important one. I’ve got myself back in the groove. I’m enjoying it far more than I recall before.
Routine.
Not habit alone, but a deliberate routine gets me back on track for the day every day, gets me exercising more and consistently, and moves ideas into actions, actions into follow-ups and the momentum of that rolling train returns.
But routine/habit and effective planning don’t spark action alone on their own, do they? It’s a nice story, explanation and rationalization when everything hums along without a speedbump or ‘bridge out’ sign on our road. Interruptions, making some play time, pausing to observe ourselves and others because we took the time.
Being focused without being rigid, sticking to proven routines/practices and daily habits and chipping away at the backlog is essential – cannot be ignored or delayed – but what good is all that discipline if we can’t/don’t take time to laugh, to be silly, to take a goofy diversion into exploring new territory, new people, and new ideas.
Hush your worries; this is good, it truly is.
– to get back into a routine. Not so much about doing everything rigidly, but flexibility can’t detract from the need for a consistent rhythm. Last year I began my return to the office-office nearly every day, in sharp contrast to most days at my home office during the pandemic shutdown period.
As January unfolds, I’m doing the opposite for a while because I’m dug in on some projects that need time and daily attention with the fewest possible interruptions. At the same, several new-launch initiatives with lots to get out to clients and prospective ones.
But the shift is remarkable.
It’s like changing routes to work and home – reversing, driving familiar paths but from the other direction at a different time of day. Fresh perspective doesn’t require long-distance travel because it is close to home.
While many of us have been in gear for 2023 for a week already, a large portion of the workforce has been enjoying an extended R&R period – their re-set to work mode overtakes their playtime this weekend, and their disruptions start on Monday. Those of us who have one week’s experience with 2023 can tell you, in the words of Martin Sheen’s Josiah Barlett:
“Break’s over; what’s next?”
To which fans, like me, of Tom Peters, would reply, “Ready, fire, aim!”
Knowing what comes next, which part of our efforts will prove successful, which seeds planted will take root, and which initiative will gain momentum as it rolls down the track is difficult to determine in every business, in every life. We talk a good story and carefully chart our course, but too many variables might change our direction, producing results much different than our forecast.
Focus on what we do well, what we enjoy doing most, and where we think we should be going is a strategy I advocate.
There is a quote often attributed to Wayne Gretzky of hockey fame on a poster I keep in my office; it shows a darkened gymnasium, the hoop and net are in the shot, and the caption reads, “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
The secret is not to take only perfect shots but to take many good-effort shots and follow through better than your competitors. For now, that’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
I wish you a prosperous and satisfying new year for 2023.
p.s. when this year is over, it might be interesting research to find out what successes are made of new products, and technologies that haven’t been launched or invented yet, or for ChatGPT, which scarcely out of the starting gate
Reader feedback:
Touching, Mark…the word ‘picture’ you painted, I could see, SF, Lethbridge, AB
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