I know, I know. We have heard this time and time again. And, one thing that I know to be true- is that knowing makes no difference. So let me clear, I am not telling you this thinking that you have never heard it before. I am telling you this because I want to remind you of it and then have you play with it in your life.
This very moment, this one right here, is the only one that we know that we have for sure. It reminds me of the Crystal Pepsi commercial from 1993. You know, the one that Van Halen ( circa Sammy) did for them. "Right now, there's no tomorrow. Right now, it means everything...". The video is at the bottom of this post and is pretty cool to watch to actually. But I digress...
We don’t know what will happen later this year, or hell, later this evening in some
cases. Why would we not choose to be content with, or even go for broke and be blissed out with, whatever we are doing at this moment? I mean, we do get
to choose after all.
You have right now to make an impression on someone. You have right now to make a difference in someone’s life. The great thing is you get to be in control, for the most part, as to what difference that you get to make.
For you overachievers out there- if you want to go beyond just this, this
is a great question to take on for your life work. You are natural leaders and leaders are those who create opportunities for others. What opportunity do you want to create for others in the world? Hmmm…perhaps a career change may spark out of
this!
But it's when you are pissed off and feeling like crap about something that you are least to remember that right? Well, grab a notecard and write on it whatever it is that you are committed to and put it in your pocket. Break it out and take a look at it from time to time throughout the day- then choose your actions that are in alignment with that. THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN YOU DON’T DO THIS- don’t beat yourself up over it. I know that you want something different, or more of something in your life or business. Creating it is creating a habit. Take a look at this...habits are hard to break. We know this. If you have been sitting on your ass about an idea, the habit of sitting on your ass exists and it is going to be a bitch to break it.
*Note- To make it last, you have to get some consistent time in the saddle.
Nevertheless…Breathe…Let go…Now remind yourself that this very moment is the only one that you know you have for sure. Go be your best! Like, NOW!
e·piph·a·ny [ih-pif-uh-nee]
–noun,plural-nies.
1. (initial capital letter) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2. an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.
3. sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.
Well here it is Epiphany- the 12th Day of Christmas- January 6th. We have likely packed away the decorations, are well into the New Year, and have now had our own epiphany that our Resolutions were a bit lofty no matter how great they sounded a week ago.
Only one thing though: you still want those resolutions to actualize- But how?
Note: This article is written from a business perspective but look to see where it fits all other areas of your life.
First- go get that list of all the stuff that you wanted to do this year--->
Now let’s look to balance some of this out. While you are pretty darn effective at time management, you still only have the same 24 hours in a day that the rest of us have. So here is my epiphany this morning.
First thing first: Learn to say NO. We want to be a Yes to things in life. Yes to expansion, yes to increasing our bottom line, yes to making every client feel important, yes to empowering our employees, and yes to actually liking- no, adoring- our business. But we need to say no to a few things to be able to be a yes. Seriously- say it a few times out loud right now. No. Nooo. NO. Kinda feels good, huh?
No to constant social media outlets. These are probably the biggest time vampires of them all. You click on Twitter or Facebook and next thing you know all of your vital time has been sucked dry. Email can be just as deadly. Since I know that, I need to be smart about this as I am committed to a bigger game. Instead of checking in on the vamps all day here is how to have them work for you. Sure go ahead and start your day off light and check your social media accounts. I have learned that my love/hate relationship with Twitter can be more harmonious if I only check my Mentions, Retweets, and Messages. It gives me a bit of insight as how I land in my community. A very quick glance at what folks are talking about and then I am outta there. Creating lists of people help also. That way if I only want to see posts from interactive users, or inspirational tweeters, I can see them with one click and not get stuck down the rabbit hole two hours later. After that, CLOSE THE BROWSER TAB. If you need to go back to post a link to your new blog post, then open a new one but do not leave that tab open all day. Pretty much the same for Facebook- hop on hop off and close the tab. PERIOD.
No to having immediate response to every email in your Inbox. Check your email in the morning and use it to see which fires are burning the hottest. Sure you may wake up to an insane amount of emails but not all of them illicit an immediate response. Tend to what needs tending to right now and then break from it for the rest of the morning to work on that new initiative. Repeat after lunch.
No to those really cool and shiny things that always distracts us. Get clear as to what you are committed to this year and stay focused. That’s it for this one- nothing else to distract you from this point. Eye on the prize.
No to eating lunch by yourself more times than not during the week. Believe it or not you are likely to be more productive after meeting someone for lunch outside of your normal work place. This could look like meeting a colleague, a friend, or even your mom. Just make sure that it is another human being that you can have a conversation with. Even if the conversation has nothing to do with your business, it can open up a new perspective to an issue that you face.
No to every meeting request that comes across your Inbox. As in, you do not have to be a Yes to every single request. They requested and you have choice. If you know that it is for a project that you are not committed to, just say no. While we are talking about meetings, this is a good time to take a look at your current meeting schedule and check in to see if they are actually supporting what you are up to or hindering you by taking up that precious resource of time.
No to being the one to do everything. A great way to grow is to hire someone. If finances are tight, be creative and open to hiring options. Perhaps it is an intern, perhaps someone not looking for a ‘job’ but some way to contribute to their community, or perhaps as part of a mentoring program. Bringing someone on grows your business by having someone else in your business to discuss it with you. It allows for more things to get checked off of that goal sheet with more velocity (and velocity rocks just in case you didn’t know). It also grows our community by you training and developing someone if taking in an entry level or intern. Of course, hiring someone helps to grow our economy. And the best part is that it frees us up to do other things. *Being a leader means creating opportunities for others.
No to giving up on what you and your business yearn for. This is different from those things that would be nice. You know which ones that I am talking about. When you get stopped in getting what you really want, look for another way. If you can’t see any possible way to get it and yet you still yearn for it, call someone and start a conversation. After all, anything is possible!
Funny how there are a few C words out there. Each one of them has the potential to illicit a physical draw back. But the one that impacts us as business owners- as well as in life- is Commitment.
I was having a conversation about being committed to an idea and was asked if I was committed or attached to it. Attached being defined as when the result or answer is not what we want then there is an upset or frustration. It typically ends up making one of, or all of, the parties feel like crap. If you were committed, then when you didn't get the desired answer or result, you would simply look for another way- no upset, no tantrums.
Ok- so far I'm right there- completely following it. Then there it was...WE are the ones who get to say what we are committed to. And if we say that we are committed to something being realized, then when we don't immediately get what we want what there is to do is remind ourselves that it is a commitment- always needing to be created in language/conversations and backed up by actions.
So what is it that gets us so damn worked up about that C word anyhow? Well, if we are actually committed to something, we are only because we say that we are. We are responsible then for it. It sort of takes our reason to complain to anyone who will listen away. It also means that if we share with folks about that which we are committed to, then we are expected to be in action around that. Hrrmmm...now responsible is in the mix.
Check it out...
My business is committed to having a thriving local community. First thing to get is that I am the one that identified what my business is committed to. In other words, I say what is important to me. Second, I don't get to throw a tantrum or be upset when things aren't coming up roses. That is counter productive- wastes time and makes people look at you funny. Trust me on this one. Just take a breathe- and look around for another approach. And third, I get to be in action in anything that supports a thriving business community!
When you are present that you really are committed to something- and not using it as a strategy, you also tend to get stopped less. Stopped less=more results, faster. And that whole responsible part- sure you are then cause when there are failures but you are the cause for then things are really rockin' too!
What are you committed to?
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