In all candor, on any given day of the week, all of us are at mid-life — in the midst of the life given us – mindful of what is past but unaware of what may lie ahead coming at us as quickly as taking the next call.
In these pre-holiday, mid-October days, what if you chose, right now, to push life’s “Pause” button. I’ve sat in your chair. I know how demanding the business can be. What can happen to us often happens unexpectedly. We get caught up in the numbers of our business – revenue, performance metrics, goal attainment – and can unwittingly find ourselves deep in the salt mine of hard labor unaware of what the job is doing to us.
Push the “Pause” button. Go ahead. You can do it. Ask your associate or partner to take your calls for the next 30 minutes, put your cell phone in the “Do Not Disturb” mode, darken the computer screen, and sit at your desk in the quiet with a blank sheet of paper and write down the first answers that come to you in response to the following questions.
- What am I most looking forward to doing right now that has nothing to do with business?
- Are there holiday plans the involve family and friends? If not, make some.
- Is there a friend with whom I need to spend some time?
- Is there a tee time or bridge table or candlelight dinner that’s calling me?
- What gives me joy – deep joy – unlike anything else in life?
- Is it the smile and laughter of my children or grandchildren?
- Is it some deep spiritual centeredness that enriches my soul?
- Is it a love for art or music or the theater or time with your spouse?
- If there were no limits of any kind, what would I choose to accomplish or become between now and December 31st?
- It could be something big or small, personal or relational, business or pleasure
- What might the first step be to reaching that goal?
When I’m being good to myself, I spend a couple of hours on my back porch with a glass of ice water and an old journal with lots of blank pages. During those moments, I make notes on the questions I’m asking you to consider. With a gentle breeze blowing across my face as I look out on the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance, I often come to an awareness that awakens me to new purpose, centeredness, and joy.
Who knows what all of us might discover about ourselves if we but gave ourselves permission to push the “Pause” button and have a thoughtful review of our life’s portfolio? The possibilities might very well touch the realm of astounding.
Dr. Tim Owings is the preeminent authority for care-centric client engagement in the service-oriented industries of finance, accounting, law, insurance, and human resource management.