“Decision is a risk rooted in
the courage of being free.” –
Paul Tillich
My year’s been off and running so far – so much so that I’ve almost felt overwhelmed at times.
Travel and training; new clients and current clients; ongoing projects, new collaborations and potential opportunities; meeting new colleagues and cherishing time with trusted advisors.
It’s all good stuff: good people and meaningful projects. But it can feel like a lot all at once.
When things get busy, we have to make some choices.
If you’re looking for ways to stay on top of what most matters, try this:
1) Check in with yourself. What’s really important? What gives you energy? What drains you? Check in with your values to help you figure out what’s most important to you.
2) What’s truly yours to do? What can only you do? Who else can do it? Learn the critical skill of delegation.
3) Say no. “No” is actually a complete sentence. Practice it frequently.
4) Say yes to what matters, with gusto. What do you really want to say yes to?
5) Ask for help. The most effective leaders don’t do it alone and ask for help frequently. Practice this also.
6) Turn down the volume on your inner critic. Your inner critic is the voice of doubt, worry, or criticism of yourself. Underneath the chatter of the inner critic is usually a core value of yours: practice hearing the 2% truth in the message of the critic instead of the 98% garbage.
In the Comments section below, I’d love to hear from you! Tell me:
– What do you do when you have too much good stuff to do?
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Before specializing as a professional coach in 2004, I spent more than a decade in leadership, management and program development for state and local government and non-profit organizations. Now I get to help leaders and teams have more clarity and ability to stand up for what's important in their work and in their organizations. Working with me, leaders and teams find more meaning and purpose, feel happier and more confident, navigate change and conflict, and work together better.
These are all tips I live by and you’re right when you say that they work. I like how you included a piece about values – that makes time management so much simpler when you have weighed what matters to you.
Thanks, Natasha – from my standpoint, once you are clear about your values you can use them like a compass or GPS to help you navigate anything. For example, being able to ask: “does this decision bring me more in alignment with my values, or further away?” Thanks as always for your additional insight!
Yes, yes, yes to values clarity. One method I use to make choices when I am in high action mode is a “heart check”. First I stop, take few deep breaths,then ask myself “At the end of this day/week/month which action or choice will feel most satisfying?” Then listen. If the answer comes from my head, there is a good chance it is my inner critic. If it feels right, it is reliably my intuition.
Grace, thanks for the comment – and yes, so much wisdom in our heart/intuition for us to access! Thanks for the great practical tip on how to “hear” it.
Here are some earlier posts that might also be of interest in intuition!
http://www.hannacooper.com/making_a_difference/2012/06/warning-you-may-be-too-smart.html
http://www.hannacooper.com/making_a_difference/2012/12/can-your-gut-be-trusted.html
Such a timely post! Thank you so very much for the reminders, especially about a full sentence “no.” I’ll be working to keep these guidelines in mind, especially over the next 6 weeks!
Heidi – great! I’ll look forward to hearing what happens!
Great tips and, really, perfect timing. I agree with Heidi, remembering to say, “no” is such an important thing. Especially this time of year.
Hanna, this is great. I actually have been working on this year… finding the intersection of what I love and what I am good at has been incredibly helpful in making everything work well. Thanks for the advice!