Jumping Off A Cliff?

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine. All Rights Reserved 2008

Jumping Off A Cliff?

Read this first!


Now that might sound like a strange goal to the average person, but not when you’re an adventure freak. People who find a thrill in planning for extreme quests aren’t that different from the laid back couch potatoes who shift from one day to the next. What do they have in common?

Let me explain. As a Coach, I’ve been exposed to the ups and downs of lifestyles that range from

• daredevil to


• hibernating cranks.

Regardless of the choices made, there are times when goal setting – and following through – become essential. Usually, a crisis, either self-imposed or circumstantial, pushes people to understand their patterns from a new perspective. Their reactions can create a flurry or a frenzy of renewed thinking, or a denial and procrastination at the other extreme.

Don't wait for the inevitable crisis. Life's way too short.

I suggest the following and it’s not new thinking. In fact, this plan was inspired by the campaign to always check your smoke alarm batteries when the seasons change at the equinox or the solstice. Maybe we could call this, testing our own alarm systems.

Do this before your life falls apart and when jumping off a cliff might look like the best of the best option.

How to Check Your Own Systems

A. Look Back at the last quarter:

On the first day of autumn, winter, spring and summer, review what has happened in your life. What’s been positive? What hasn’t worked out well? What was unexpected and how did you react? What have you been promising yourself but haven’t fit in to your lifestyle? What are the leftovers for the coming quarter?

B. Look Ahead to the next quarter:

What do you want your life to be like in the next quarter? What needs to change? Who do you need to spend time with? How will you start tomorrow?

Writing notes or blogging help to frame your thinking. What gets written, gets measured – at the start of each new season. If you’re going to jump off that cliff before December 20th, do it with a purpose, and ask a friend to take your photo mid-air. Make a plan.

My grandmother always said, “You can’t have a good life without a lot of good days!”. Good days happen every season, especially if you look back, and look ahead. She was right, don’t you think?

Now? Near? Far?

Strategy?

Think NOW,

NEAR,

FAR


View Points
If you want to build a ship, then don't drum up men to gather wood, give orders, and divide the work. Rather, teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Your point of view determines how you will move toward your plan of action. Easy, you say?

When I’m in the role of “traffic cop” during intense and sometimes heated discussions in a strategy session, I hear comments such as, “you just don’t understand what it’s like to be on the front lines”. Leaders become frustrated when the staff does not understand the balancing act of bigger picture decisions, such as the financial implications of expansion. The disconnect, if it stays “off the table”, can create long term problems in relationships. And relationships, as we all know, are the center of any organization.

One way to address the varying points of view in the situation, is to think about the outcomes from a time continuum.

“NOW” is the present and a few weeks ahead. What needs to happen? What should we watch out for?

“NEAR” is a few months into the future. What are the questions that will bring us from right now to the next quarter? Notice, I didn’t ask for answers! Start with the questions – all of the ones that are important from all aspects – and then move to the “right answers”.

“FAR” is the timing for long term strategy. A year or two down the line.

When you think about time as a continuum, the “far” always moves to “near”, and “near” to “now”. What do you see on the horizon?

Work backwards, again with questions. What do you have to start “now” to make sure that “far” is the desired outcome?

My one word of caution?

Simplify! From complexity, comes simplicity. Strategic plans often sit on shelves and collect dust and guilt. The best of strategy comes alive when it’s meaningful to the people who must carry it out today. The timing of “far” will arrive when “now” is a priority. Chunk down the plan. Live it.

NB: When you are stuck, you might need an unbiased facilitator to take you through the beginning of the process.

And remember: this Coach is on call...no strings attached. All you have to do is "ask"!

- Maggie
1 800 587 1767
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