Have you accomplished your New Years’ Resolutions yet? We are almost done with half of 2019 and I bet there are many that have been thrown by the wayside. Like many of us do, we dream of big goals. Hairy goals. Audacious goals – you know the BHAGs. We get all gung-ho to start changing the world, or at least our bodies – and sooner rather than later, our habits step in and start to sabotage our efforts.
For leaders, this is doubly detrimental as it can affect your team as much as yourself.
Say for instance, one of your goals is to be a better listener as a boss. Yet, you keep finding yourself multi-tasking all of the time. You just can’t help it, you think. You have 50 million things to do and that is not an exaggeration! Soon you are asking your staff to repeat the question you just asked because you weren’t listening to the answer, your mind had already moved on.
Now before you start to beat yourself up over your failed attempts to change (I can literally feel your anxiety as I type this) read the rest of this post for a true fix to this dilemma.
The thing is, you obviously aren’t alone. Many of us have truly noble intentions, yet get busy and forget that how we are acting is not in alignment with what we are trying to accomplish
This is why you must incorporate whitespace into your day. In this video I explain why it is so important. You need this time to recharge, reset and reboot your intention. There are several things you can do in this time, as it isn’t a passive, spoil yourself, for-the-sake-of-indulgence type of activity. It is a true way to be more productive.
Here are some of the things that have helped many of my clients and me:
- journaling
- meditation
- walking
- praying
- reading something inspirational.
The best practices combine more than one. I like to read a bit then meditate and on the way to work think of things I can be grateful for. This helps center me and prepare me for the day.
Once you start to practice your routine, notice how aligned you are becoming and how much time you save yourself on the never-ending drama that being in reactionary mode can cause.
This is the fourth in a five-part series about leading your life, and your team, with intention. To check out more like this, get my new book Conquering Busyness that contains a link to a FREE workbook about learning how to be an effective leader.