Exhaustion and Wonder

This year we’ve seen entire communities of stranger’s rally to support those in need – tales of courage in the face of loss and struggle – heroic acts of everyday people turning crisis into opportunity. Understandably, people’s anticipation to embrace 2021 is palpable. Stephen Scott Johnson

As we say goodbye to 2020

We close out the year with feelings of exhaustion and wonder. Exhaustion, despite not achieving everything that we would have liked to have done. Exhaustion felt for having survived and for what we have achieved.

Wonder about what the year meant to us. Many of us are actively sense-making about what the good and the not so good parts of the year were. Feeling fortunate at least in ANZ, as we catch up with family and friends for the festive season.

Wonder so far as the decisions and steps that we could have taken but kicked into the long grass. What are those things that got pushed off the to do list?

What are our potential New Year Resolutions? 

My own perspective has been how did the year go so fast? As my goals for the year were quickly adjusted over the course of the year with the changes that we faced.

What can we seek from 2021?

Best Year Ever (next year)

I note with Interest that Michael Hyatt has produced a self-help book – Your Best Year Ever A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals.  Imploring us to believe that next year can be a big improvement for us, if we believe that we can change our habits and getting clear on what are useful beliefs.

1. Connect with our Purpose – what inspires and gets us going and tap into that drive?

2. Carefully involving our support structure, being intentional with our relationships.

3. Confronting failure, looking back objectively, how things played out against our expectations, how did we learn from our trips and falls, and how do we make the most of them?

4. Mindset again being paramount, appreciating the lessons.

5. Be SMART as we move forward, don’t be vague about what we seek from next year, be specific and ambitious, but be prepared for the hard work to come.

Inertia vs Action

These two extremes are tied up with our mental models – how we think about things and get stuff done. Absolutely, there are important elements to our lives that need to be thought through, it is easy an open-ended regime of ‘I’ll think about it’. However are we just kicking the can down the road?

Action orientation can be do first, think later. I am thinking foot in mouth situations.

The trick is finding the balance and setting ourselves limits that we are comfortable with, however ask us to get it done as best as we can at the time.

Beware the Drama Triangle

Stephen Karpman’s famous and oh so relevant geometry has stayed with me in recent months as we have unpicked approaches to the challenges of the year. These roles have been most evident:

Persecutor – I am always right!

Rescuer – you must need my help!

Victim – help me, I can’t help myself!

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