Press Return

I must have sat there for five minutes or more looking over the contract, checking every entry over and over again making sure the information was entered correctly.  I was confirming reservations for a beach house for a first time ever retreat event.  It had been in the works for many months and was finally becoming a reality. I had rechecked all of the costs,  planned the daily events and meals, toured the beach house, checked the view and the rooms - all set for perfection.  There were even several people already interested in the event so it was sure to be sold out with a waiting list for the next one.  But still, I hesitated.  Finally, I pressed return and it was final.  Then the excitement began with the telling and the sharing of this unique event unfolding. 

What was stopping me from pressing the return? That there was no return?  That once I pressed the return key I was committed and the event had to move forward?  Was it simply me getting in the way of me?

Our ideas flow but the pen does not make it to the paper.  The right words come to mind but they never exit our mouth for the other person to hear.  The doors close on one more opportunity as we stand at the threshold of our dreams and yet we pause.  What prevents us from taking the risk?

Sometimes it is just that we need to do a little more research to assure ourselves all is in order or check out some of the worst case scenarios.  But usually it is just a little fear that needs to get pushed off to the side. We need to get out of our own way - press return - and stop worrying. 

Boundaries

We are often advised to set and keep boundaries.  I teach a class for new supervisors and managers and one of the key strategies is to consider how boundaries change as you move up the ladder.  Some people were your buddies and now they work for you.  Activities you might have participated in with them before or information that you were allowed to share with them has changed.  You might want to consider what is ok and what is not ok regarding performance.  If an employee is five minutes late, is that ok?  What is not acceptable in terms of attendance?  There are many considerations. 

It is also very helpful to look at boundaries from a personal perspective, considering what is acceptable and not acceptable and what you will do if someone tries to step over your boundaries.  It is easier to think and plan beforehand than to be faced with the situation and try to decide right then.

As helpful as it is to set and respect boundaries, our boundaries sometimes hold us back from progressing toward our desired goals.  Are you keeping yourself from succeeding by forming boundaries or obstacles that you think are in your way but when you really come up against them - they melt away or never show up as expected?  Or worst case, you never find them because you never took the first step to move toward them out of fear.  You want to write a book but think no one will be interested in it so you put off writing the first pages.  You dream of owning your own business but never take the time to write a business plan and take the first steps to making your dream come true.  You imagine that you aren't smart enough or rich enough or fast enough or a number of other fallacies. 

Don't let imaginary boundaries stifle your creativity and risk taking.

Stand Out - Be Different

We escaped to the beach in Florida to avoid the cold weather and celebrate the New Year.  To some, fifty degrees does not seem like weather you need to escape from but to Texans, fifty degrees is cold.  

I love to walk the beach in the morning before the crowds start their journey up and down the water's edge.  The beach is full of shells that crunch beneath your step.  As I walk a colorful or unusually shaped specimen will catch my eye.  I pause to bend down to pick it up, delighting in the uniqueness of my find.  I carefully add it to the growing collection in my hand. 

There are millions of shells on the beach, but it is the one that stands out from the crowd that catches our attention and interest. 

What are you doing to stand out from the crowd?  What risks have you taken or are you taking to express your uniqueness?

Toss It

Every time I moved into a new group at work or earned a promotion, my office location would change.  I always liked the move. It gave me a chance to clean out my files, reorganize and start fresh.  But there was always a bit of hesitation working through the file folders as I tried to decide whether to throw something out or store it in the cabinet for possible future use.  What if I threw this information away and needed it in a few months? What would I do?  So many times I ended up keeping the file instead of trashing it.  I think it might have been because one time I threw something away and ended up needing it a few months later. One time!  I was saving all of this extra information because of one time.  Hmm.  We need to adjust that one.

I was going through the bags of stuff my husband and son had removed from a home office purging frenzy. I wanted to check to make sure there weren't some items that could be recycled or given away instead of trashed.  My son helped my husband work through the clutter.  It really helped to have someone that was not emotionally attached to the stuff to assist him in the somewhat painful process.  The other person can help us see how silly some of our reasons for keeping things can be.

Take a risk - and let things go that need to leave. 

There But For I - Go Me

There was a beautiful blonde woman in great shape in the front row of my cycling class this morning.  She worked hard the whole class, a very serious rider, but seemed to enjoy the class too. At the end of our workout she came up to me and thanked me for a great class. She let me know she was visiting from Arlington, Tx (near Dallas/Fort Worth) and mentioned a few things about instructors there. Her words were a compliment to me.  She wistfully mentioned she would love to be an instructor but thought they wouldn't consider her because of her age.  Thinking she couldn't possibly be any older than me, I mentioned that there were several instructors our age and some even a little older and she shouldn't let that stop her at all. Then she told me how old she was. Inside I am sure my jaw was dropping because she looked much younger.  Without skipping a beat, I told her I could tell she would be good, her form was great, her physique would be motivating and her love of the sport would shine through.  She said, "Maybe I will look into that".  I hope she does.  I wish that I had thought to get her contact information to check in with her. 

When I was in my mid forties I was finally able to do the splits for the first time (see profile picture).  I joked to my yoga class that I should try out for cheerleading now because I couldn't when I was little. Not being able to do the splits prevented me.  I tried out for the Houston Texans cheerleader squad with a 20 year old girlfriend.  I made it through to the second round. My friend had to quit after the first round because her back and neck hurt so much from all the bending, fllipping and hair whipping.

Don't let your age hold you back from taking a risk. 

"There but for I - go me!

What If?

What If?  A simple question - with endless possibilities for answers.  The use of this question can open up so many opportunities for you and your organization. 

In a training class on Creativity the instructor posted several flipchart pages on the walls with one question at the top of each chart.  The one that intrigued me the most was "What if there were 48 hours in a day?  Wow - what a cool thought.  What if there were?  I would certainly spend about ten of them sleeping without any guilty feelings.  There would be time for everything including time to just sit there and do nothing more than enjoy the beauty of the world around me.  To have twice as much time as we have now.  Hmm.  "Oh the Places You'll Go" - as Dr Seuss says. 

Then we were instructed to write our own "What If?".  I wrote "What If I Went to Bed Early?". You can tell from the time of this posting that isn't happening tonight, but what would happen if I did?  I started with the negatives. I would miss my favorite late night show - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. But the list quickly turned to positives.  Books would be written and lack of sleep wrinkles would disappear.  A smile crossed my face as I thought about the changes that would occur with a simple alteration of my sleep schedule.

What will you do with this question?  Use it for your own self discovery?  Share it with friends? What "What If" would you post in the lunchroom or on the agenda for your next meeting? What do you think would happen at work if you opened up the thinking process of your coworkers with that simple question? 

Try it and tell me what happens.

Clutter Cramps Creativity

How can you think when stuff is falling down around you?  When your office or your home is full of things that you don't really need; that fall on your head when you open up closets; that make it difficult to close drawers - it is time for an overhaul.  The simple act of throwing something away can lift your spirits and clear you head for creative ideas to flow.  Many people don't ever start on it because it seems like an overwhelming task to declutter.  They think that it will take hours or days to make an impact and that they don't have the time to do it right now.  So they keep waiting for the day when they will have that precious break in their hectic schedule.  It never comes. 

Starting small and just starting are the ways to make it happen.  Dump a drawer upside down on the floor or counter, pull all of your clothes off a closet rod, or open up that file cabinet and just start sifting.  Commit to fifteen minutes a day and delight in the difference a little bit at a time can make.  May your creative ideas start flowing the minute the "stuff" starts flowing out the door.