Quote of the Month

"To achieve greatness:
start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."

- Arthur Ashe

Preparing For The New Normal	This is Part I of the Podcast Series produced as part of the "Smart Business for Tough Times" Initiative of the
Decide...

Deciding doesn’t mean having all the answers, or signing up for a life-long commitment. Experts do, however, say that we face the changes of today in one of three distinct modes:

1. We can be reactive, waiting to see what life dishes out, and then reacting like a boxer, blocking the shots. The reactive approach is not a good long term solution – grudging compliance, dysfunctional activity and sabotage will not help you in the long term.

2. We can be inactive, burying our heads in the sand, and hoping it will all go away. Again, it is not a long term solution to dealing with these changes that will NOT go away.

3. Or we can be proactive, responding to the emerging reality in a way that taps into our own energy so we can begin to create a future that we prefer. This is the first habit that Stephen Covey lists in his famous “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”  -- Be Proactive.

Deciding is critical to being proactive. And it’s a discipline that we can all adopt to help us thrive in these challenging times.  Take charge of your own life and be proactive. It happens in four steps:

1. Awareness:  What IS the current reality? What is going on? Try to depersonalize it as much as possible, and see the current situation in the larger context of what is going on in the economy as a whole.

2. Acceptance:  What has happened, has happened. There is no point in revisiting other decisions that should have been made or stocks that should have been sold sooner, or other job opportunities that should have been pursued. Accept the current reality as reality… It’s not good or bad, it just IS.

 An especially important part of accepting current reality is dealing with your losses and losses there are to acknowledge!

 

Loss	How this loss might show up
Relationships	“They disbanded our team.”
Identity	“I used to be known for my …”
Structure	“I used to know what was expected of me.”
Future	“I’m not getting that promotion now.”
Meaning	“I can’t understand why …”
Purpose	“What I do no longer has meaning. ”
Influence	“No one ever asks for my thoughts anymore.”
Entitlement	“I used to be able to count on a bonus … or … ”

Sometimes it pays to give yourself a limited time to wallow in self-pity, and then move intentionally to the next phase of being proactive.

3. Assessment: This is a very important part of being proactive and making decisions for your life. Proactive assessment involves taking stock of your resources and paying attention to the things that you want to do (rather than the things that have happened to you!).

4. And finally ACTION. Being pro-active means that you are willing to ACT. Deciding to act is a powerful internal change, that will shape your days moving forward. What decisions can you make today that will make a difference in your ability to be in control of your own life? 

Building a deciding habit...

Every month or so take 30 minutes to reflect on your own attitude and your own communication choices. Are you being reactive, inactive or proactive? What are the important things to keep acting on? What decisions need to be made?

To-Do's for Today 1. Name your losses, and let yourself pout for 10 minutes on each one. Then put them aside for the rest of the day. 2. Figure out what you can do with this time so that you have plenty of capacity to deal with the next changes coming down the road.  Schedule some time to take care of yourself or do preventative maintenance.  3. Make that dentist’s appointment, change the oil in your car, return library books (and take out new ones!), write thank-you notes to people who have been helpful.

Quick Links to the Rest of This Podcast Series Introductions 1. Rodger Price: Decide . . . 2. Chuck Reid: Dream . . . 3. Ann Harten: De-Clutter . . . 4. Kathleen Ponitz: Drill . . . 5. Rebecca Bruns: Do . . .