I’m sitting outside on my deck on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, writing this post to you. I can hear birds chirping and an airplane in the distant sky. All around me I see nature – grass, trees, and the occasional cat strolling across the yard. 🙂
Life is pretty good!
It makes me wonder: how often are we so busy striving to reach our goals that we don’t realize we’ve already achieved them?
Or, do we get most of the way there and become sidetracked when we see something better…or different?
How stressed are we in our lives that we can’t even notice the beauty around us right now?
Today, instead of taking this post from Life to Project Leadership, I’d like to switch it around and ask you to think about applying your Leadership skills to Life.
As Project Managers, we’re used to mapping out the steps to a goal. And freezing requirements. And bringing the team back on track when they go down a rabbit hole during a meeting.
We keep an eye on the future, but don’t let anyone get caught up in the vision. We keep everyone focused on completing “one thing at a time.”
We make sure to tell our people how much they’ve done, how far they’ve come, and how much we appreciate them. We celebrate each milestone before moving onto the next.
It’s hard to go home and take a good look in the mirror.
I know I’m guilty of driving too hard, adding goals, and putting even more pressure on myself to achieve everything in the same timeframe. I don’t stop, pick up my head, and take a good look around. I don’t exhale and relax.
I would never do that to my team – why do I do it to myself?
As I sit here enjoying the fresh air and writing on my laptop, I am intentionally taking a moment to reflect on the milestones I’ve achieved over the years. Big and small. And soaking in the “here and now”.
Our kids are hitting big milestones these next few weeks: our eldest daughter graduates college. Our youngest turns 18 and graduates high school. I am truly grateful for the time I spent with them over the years – they’ve turned into wonderful young adults.
My goals back when they were young were different than today. But I achieved them.
I’ve also realized the goal of running my own business and working out of my house rather than an office, which supports another goal of mine: writing Leadership Notes each week!
And what’s next? Reaching 10,000 people with my posts and spending the winters somewhere WARM. 🙂
So now that you know my goals, past and present, what are yours? Can you look around and say, “wow, I’m actually doing what I want” or “I already have my dream job”? What are your current goals – have you written them down, at least?
I will offer this to you: if you want someone to help you clarify or align your goals, book some time on my calendar and I’ll be happy to ask all those PM questions it’s so tough to ask ourselves. To make it easy, here’s a link to my calendar: 45 Minute Goal Clarity
Stay Safe and Lead On, everyone!
PS – Maybe you don’t have a place to rent for the winter, but I’d really appreciate if you can share this Leadership Notes blog with all your friends! Here’s the link for them to sign up: Leadership Notes – Subscribe