Refresh Resolutions
Do you ever have those times that feel impossibly stagnant?
I mean, no matter how much effort you give or how much momentum you've gained you just can't seem to feel any progress inwardly? This is where I've found myself recently. Yeah, I'm just getting honest for a moment so hang in there with me.
I am feeling the familiar lull of day-to-day, but right now for some reason that day-to-day feels like scaling Mount Everest. I just can't seem to find it in me. Now, I have no problem with work ethic. I haven't aced this report card or anything, but ask almost anyone I've ever worked for or with and I guarantee you won't hear stories of procrastination or halfheartedness. On the contrary, you'll probably hear the phrase "above and beyond" thrown around. I'm good at working. You know what's funny though? I am good at "work" as a general concept yet receive almost no satisfaction from it. I am one of those rare birds who doesn't require or even value adequately the words and approval of other people. And it's maddening.
You know why? Because if getting positive feedback and hearing "Great job!" filled me up, it would be easy to find those words, or create experiences that generate those words. But what nourishes me is helping to connect meaningful ideas in a way that creates a compelling end product. This type of nourishment, it turns out, is in shorter supply.
Why is that? Well, I think I'm discovering some of those answers little by little. A big one could be that my work often deals with strategy and then tasks but rarely in the theoretical. For me and others like me, the theory behind a strategy that guides a project or a list of tasks is paramount. Not an "ideas for ideas sake" approach; rather, it's the bloodline for meaning in the strategy and the steps to carry it out. So I'm starting to see my deep need to not only exist in the theoretical from time-to-time, but that theory plays a vital role in the structure of my workflow, which looks like this:
THEORY > STRATEGY > PROJECT > DELIVERY
How this plays out in my day to day is that when I stick more closely to this model, I enjoy my kids more, I don't mind cleaning the kitchen, and I actually enjoy making fundraiser graphics for a client. This is all REALLY important, you guys. It means I can be a decent human and find meaning in my work. Which I tend to put in the "good things" category.
There are other things I'm discovering too, little things that add up to pretty substantial shifts in my life, like how actual solitude is increasingly necessary to my physical and emotional health. But the overall idea here is that I am discovering, and this act is next to holiness for me. I have to keep discovery sacred, or else the theoretical world in which I thrive loses a little light. When this happens it opens the door for strategy to consume it completely, because strategy is the framework for the tangible, and therefore a seemingly more important step. This is where I've been existing for the last couple of months. And I don't like it.
I'm giving my world a little bit of a refresh, but I'm finding that every day needs one in an effort to keep my heart connected, my work excellent and honest, and my mind engaged and excited. Here are a few of my resolutions (November 1st isn't too late for resolutions, right?) in an effort to embrace my wiring more fully, and hopefully create healthier relationships, as well as more meaningful and compelling work.
Keep Discovery Sacred
Put Away Work By 6 pm
Walk The Park For Lunch Sometimes
Make Time To Dream About What's Next
Write For Myself
Read With The Kiddos
Start Everyday With Some Silence
Pursue MY PEOPLE Time
Get A Sitter Once A Week
Cultivate Something Bigger Than Me
So, these are just some of my Refresh Resolutions. If you're feeling the slump, or just need a bit of an end-of-year reboot, I invite you to join me. Share your own list. What are your Refresh Resolutions?