Human beings need to know where we’re going, we like a clear direction and a sense of certainty that we’re going to get somewhere – eventually. We’re mostly content when we feel we have some control over our present and our future and are heading in the right direction – towards wherever it is we want to go, or whoever it is we want to be.
Now for quite a while I’ve had a pretty good sense of my life’s direction, and who I want to be. My most joyful work is nurturing the spark of magnificence in people and giving them the confidence to find a dream and go after it. I love this work and I love running my own business (OK three businesses). Most days I’m clear, I’m on track, I’m motivated and ploughing through the work right on plan (I’m a coach and a project manager, I love a plan).
But, despite knowing and feeling that I’m on the right track and that everything is going according to plan, I still find myself getting stuck from time to time. I still find myself churning slowly or even at a standstill, just sitting there with precious moments slipping through my fingers like sand.
So, what’s happening? For me the answer is summed up beautifully by Will Rogers…
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Human beings also need uncertainty and spontaneity and we need to grow and learn and know we’re making a difference. And I need all of these things in bucket loads.
I need a little fun back in my life.
Some of the best ways I’ve found to get out of the slow lane and back on track, or to give the track a bit of a new look and feel, are to:
- be creative and learn something new (writing on online coaching program and learning to use Facebook)
- be daring and do something I’ve never done before (hiking 70 km of wilderness track and joining a business networking group – can you guess which one required the most courage)
- be caring and volunteer my time to something or someone purely for the joy of giving.
These are just to get you started. If you think for a while you’ll come up with some great ideas to be creative, daring or caring yourself.
So don’t just sit there, do something, anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be new – or you just need to look at it or do it in a new way.
Go ahead, make a list of possibilities, pick one at random and do it.
What’s on your creative, daring, caring, fun list?
Thanks for reading
Veronica