As we start into the last month of the calendar year, we often are looking both forward and backward: towards the end of the year, the possibilities in a new year, and what’s to come, while at the same time glancing back at what’s been done, accomplished, or left on the side of the road.
It’s a common theme at this time of the year, but what’s really been striking me lately is how we get to choose our focus. Do you love this time of year, or hate it? Look forward to closure of a year, anxiously awaiting the new page on your calendar; or feel nagged by what hasn’t gotten done?
For me, as for many of us, this time of year is a combination of all these things – anticipation, accomplishment, reflection on lessons learned. What’s important here is the recognition that we can always choose our perspective on our lives, our work, how we want to make a difference.
We put the meaning, the value, the emphasis we choose upon the events of our lives, and into our stories. How and what we choose to believe about ourselves, our work, our projects is up to us: and the possibilities are limitless. The power is in the choosing and the choice.
So for today, the first day of the last month of the year: what will you choose? How do you want to approach the rest of this month and year? How do your choices impact how you want to make a difference?
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.
I’m taking the rest of the year to focus on 2 things:
1) Solidifying the relationships I built in the past year, via e-mail, snail mail, or phone;
2) Positioning myself for an even more impactful 2006.
My personal goal is to help everyone in my network and that I come across unlock the greatness within them, and by reconnecting with them, and by ensuring I am in a position to help, I’ll be able to help others reach their goals faster, and thus help me reach my goals faster.
Great post!
Phil,
Thanks for sharing your focus for the month of December – sounds like you’ll be making the most of the month, as well as having a running start for 2006! Your clarity and focus clearly feed each other, and what you ultimately want to accomplish. Yee-ha!