Those who know me well, know where to find me at dawn on New Year’s
Day … must have sand between my toes, feet in the waves, wind in hair, facing
the sunrise and saluting the day … after the mandatory wake-up coffee, of
course. Bliss! Also my favourite spot
for creative thinking and productive writing, I will have more exciting news about
that in my next blog.
So it begins - the
dawning of a New Year in remote Far North Queensland … and with it – a heightened sense of
excitement, anticipation, motivation, and determination. Well … that covers the first day or maybe even
the first week; then by end of January, many of us get sucked back into the
same old routines, roles and restrictions to please others or to fit in with the
expectations of the ordinary & comfortable crowd.
Yep, there always seems to be those who feel the need to slow
you down to their comfort zone pace; like somehow, there’s a risk that ‘you might just get a little too far ahead of
yourself, and fail’ [NO! – not failure! – we can’t have that!]; or, perhaps
their fear is more about you getting ahead of them? Whatever the reason; it
belongs to them.
Their journey is
their choice … their fears, they own.
So, back to those New Year’s
resolutions … While I don’t believe in making new goals and plans only once a
year [quarterly is a far better approach], I have to admit; the Xmas to New Year break is an ideal time for quiet personal
reflection. When you live busy lives focused on helping other people’s
development, organisational development, community development … it’s important
to stop and reflect on your own personal development plan:
1. What worked well?
Action: Do more of that stuff!
2. What didn’t work well?
Action: Try another way or focus on something else
instead.
3. What did you learn?
Action: Use these learnings to self-improve and to
assist others.
4. What was a significant
waste of time, effort or money?
Action:
STOP THAT! Time is better spent
on developing Actions 1, 2 & 3.
Now, to share some of my
personal learnings and 2017 action goals:
My #ONE 2016 learning … [more of a reminder STOP
THAT! slap], is: I can’t change others thinking; that’s up to them … and they
won’t make changes, if they don’t see a problem with it. There will always be the comfortable crowd
who, by our very presence - [visualise: a pair of proactive, solution-focused game
changers, hell-bent on making a positive difference for this community], makes
them feel uncomfortable. Letting them go …
My #TWO taking from collective 2016 experiences … Reality is: it’s actually
NOT a crowd of naysayers; it’s just a handful of people who are stuck in the belief of their own shitty
fear stories. The truth is: there IS an
overwhelming local community desire for positive change; especially from the
biggest demographic age / life stage group … who potentially are the future community
leaders. That’s exciting opportunity …
My #THREE 2016 learning … [shows up every time I do personal reflection]: MUST trust my gut feel! My intuition is almost always ‘spot on’ … especially when my inner alarm bells go off, when things don't add up. Accepting unethical behaviour is not OK for
me. One thing I will never stop is: asking ‘why
is it so?’ questions with curiosity – from a genuine need to understand, so
that I can choose the right response … that way, never compromising on my own
values. Intuition
rocks … Integrity is a 'must have' ...
Of course there were
lots of wonderful 2016 achievements to celebrate; like the awesome
feedback I received from our Workforce Vitality clients, many valued new connections
with like-minded colleagues, and the positive growth 11 women from our local
Cooktown ElevateHER - LEAN IN to LEADERSHIP Circle have experienced … all of
these things feeding into some pretty exciting goals and plans for 2017.
Here’s just a hint of what’s planned for 2017:
- Book writing – [YES! – finally ready and committed – Authors Academy Retreat - Jan-Feb 2017]
- Write more blogs and articles [Can’t believe I only posted 3 blogs in 2016, blogposts scheduled for fortnightly action this year]
- New offer - quick access mentoring for our Workforce Vitality clients [individual leadership development focus]
- New support - regular online interaction with our coaching clients [to support their leadership journey]
- Community Development programs [for local business managers and future community leaders]
- 2017 ElevateHER – LEAN IN Circle - #2 for Cooktown [15 local ladies have already expressed interest – kick off mid-Jan 2017 … exploring #3 circle option]
- ME time [the obligatory healthy eating and exercise plan, and daily scheduled personal development research and reading time].
With an on overall, purposeful and passionate focus on encouraging, enabling and
empowering game changing leaders, it’s little wonder we’ve named this year:
2017 - The year of
revolutionary change.
Join the movement ... be a gamechanger.