Category: Attitude

A Celebration of Generosity

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

The word today in this quote made me pause and think about my efforts in helping others. My business is about helping others, and I also volunteer with several local organizations. Yet it made me reflect on the value I have for generosity.

The first thought that comes to most of our minds is money. But generosity is much more. It is as simple as taking the time to provide a service to another person. Life would be very boring if we were not driven to help others. Helping a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or a neighbor is what can give our life significance on a daily basis.

Most of my service time is spent with groups organized through the church, but I also spend time mentoring others. Many professionals provide  some pro bono work, and I decided i would like to do the same. I have never thought of coaching in terms of a generosity I can provide.  Going forward a portion of my coaching hours each month will be provided on a pro bono basis.

I have provided sample coaching sessions in the past to potential clients, but I am excited that this venture will be different. This will not be an introduction to coaching, but ongoing coaching. I plan to offer selected individuals at a minimum three months of coaching. I would like to use 10% of my monthly work hours in this fashion.

Interested? Stay tuned to this newsletter (or register if you are not already registered) for more information in the next week or two. I am ready to celebrate my ability to help others, what can you do to be more generous on a daily basis?

Don’t Let Perfection Get in the Way

Perfection is defined as reaching the highest attainable standard. In my experience we are sometimes stalled by focusing on perfection. If you have ever delayed taking action because you are afraid that you are not ready or something is not good enough, then you understand how perfection can get in the way of progress. Here are some thoughts on perfection.

1. Don’t confuse perfection and excellence. Excellence requires great results, not perfect results. Release yourself from perfection and create  excellence.

2. Action provides the process to change a vision of perfection into something tangible. Any form of perfection, or even excellence, only resides within our mind until we take action. Ideas need to be turned into results which can only happen with action..

3. Mistakes drive improvement. We improve through practice. We learn from mistakes. We can only get better by making the mistakes that provide insight into advancement.

“Perfection belongs to narrated events, not to those we live.” said Primo Levi. Life is messy. Only in our minds can perfection exist, and I don’t want to let it get in my way.

Choosing to Say No

I say “yes” too often. I enjoy helping other people whenever I can, so that is not what bothers me. However when I say “yes” to myself and I am already stretched for time or resources, I know I am overcommitting. That is frustrating. Do you also find yourself saying “yes”  just because you want to accomplish more?

The ability to say “no” is very powerful. When I say “no”, it is not to limit what I want to accomplish. The result I seek is to give myself the ability to stay focused on more important tasks.

This week, I sat down to review my open projects. I captured what needed to be done for each, and where I lacked the progress that I desired. Juggling all the needed attention, because of time, priorities, or conflicting deadlines (especially self-inflicted deadlines) is difficult.

With the analysis in front of me, it became clear that all my projects suffered a little bit because I was splitting my focus across too many projects. So I decided to remove some from my regular schedule. The result is that my focus is more narrow, and I can accomplish more on the remaining projects. This has had a major impact to my day. It has given me more energy to work on specific tasks.

You may be thinking that this was not a big breakthrough, and we all work too many projects. I would challenge you to take a blank piece of paper and list of all your current projects and activities. Then write things you know you need to be doing, but never seem to have the time, energy or resources. If you are like most people, you will see that most of your projects do not get enough of your time.

So what should change? What project needs more of your focus to accomplish your goal? What project must you eliminate to make this happen? Caution! These changes could result in more being accomplished, reduced stress, and increased happiness.

Is a Balanced Life Impossible?

A work-life balance is something we all wish we had. To me it has always seemed elusive. I can only do one thing at a time, so balance must come from splitting time among activities that I care about. At any one moment, balance is an illusion.

Victor Hugo wrote, “To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better.” Harmony may be a better way to evaluate our efforts, rather than balance.

As a reflection exercise this week, I focused on the word balance. Here are some thoughts I had.

1. Consider both heart and head. The energy to do something comes from the heart. If you listen mostly to your head, you will most likely run out of steam.

2. Keep moving. Life is like riding a bicycle. If I keep moving, then it is easier to keep my balance. If I wait too long to take action, I risk getting stuck.

3. Lean into the future. What is in front of me tends to be more important than what is behind me. I can’t change yesterday’s balance, but I can change tomorrow’s balance.

4. Recognize hopes and needs. I need to know the difference between my hopes and my needs. Hope helps me reach for more. Needs focus my efforts, and demand humility.

For me, balance may always be just out of reach, but maybe that is a good thing. How do you find balance in your life?