How did you respond to challenges as they arose in 2022?
In Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, there is a principle that encourages us to look after our greatest asset, you. I forgot totally about principle 6 and instead depleted my energy through unchallenged determination, leading to moments of force, which, at times, left me in a depleted energetic state, requiring more force to keep moving, which I recognise got me through the end of the year, just! What about you, sound familiar?
The Habit of Self-Renewal
Covey’s principle is a preservation strategy if you like, so you can continue to be effective, it reminds me of a McKinsey interview with a submarine commander who teaches their leaders to preserve 20% of their energy, for when challenge and crisis hits. That 20% enables them to take control effectively when faced with adversity.
In contrast, rooted in me my parent’s belief in “hard work solves everything”, and being conditioned for 16 years in the fast-paced and always-on cultures, I strove to achieve, accomplish and repeat throughout 2022. But this doesn’t leave enough time for renewal, leaving me depleted, especially when things were not on track.
I left behind self-compassion. I forgot about being in flow (that state where you naturally progress). Renewal was not part of the agenda. They were overridden by determination, driven by an inner voice telling me to be more, and to do more. In forgetting, or not noticing, how I was operating I now recognise there was a misalignment, that has helped me to reach my one-word goal for 2023: ‘effortlessly’.
One Word Goal; Effortlessly
‘Effortlessly’ in 2023 means responding to what arises daily without having to resort to struggle and force. To be present enough in these moments to recognise when drive and effort are pushing me, eating into that vital 20%. I recognise this calls for a paradigm shift, I am a doer;
From a focus on productivity to a focus on making an impact
From mindless doing, to consciously preserving my greatest asset - me
From pushing hard to finding the flow
From a belief, I am the only one that can make this happen, to trusting what I have done is enough and will bring me results
From managing, controlling and doing, to being, letting go and accepting the now
It’s early days, and without being too pushy I have focused and backed myself and things are moving for me, here’s a simple example of a client testimonial (not coerced but volunteered) leading to a conversation with a local TV editor for a potential piece in February.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu
So I am stepping back from expending energy on the unnecessary, preserving myself for the particularly important stuff in the process and trusting more in me; now that’s a big growth step for 2023.
