I tend to wax a little poetic/philosophical at times. It's how I start something. Figure out the very big context and then start moving into it.
Today seems like a good day to start looking at the active part of putting making 2017 a great year. A theme of that for me is saying no in order to give myself time to focus on what I've prioritized as the most important things I need to be giving energy toward.
To that end, I'm working through a great list of 13 things you need to give up if you want to be successful. Saying no to anything has and will continue to be what I rub up against in life. My eternal optimism is a great gift, but as with anything, in excess doesn't help to get me where I want to end up.
This year I've got four of these high in my sights to keep myself in check:
- Give up on the unhealthy lifestyle – this one seems highly ironic since I work in a recreation facility. Just goes to show how challenging being healthy can be for anyone.
- Give up on playing small – In an effort to be modest I can get caught in hiding from ideas that I have or things I want to say. It's a disservice to myself and others not to share the gifts I've been given widely.
- Give up your perfectionism – My achilles heel. I want everything to be right and to be praised for it way too much. It is my blind spot and the wall that gets me stuck. Hoping to make some holes in that wall in 2017.
- Give up your need to be liked – This for me is also linked to trying to make everyone happy. Sometimes making decisions through diplomacy works, but sometimes it can make a solution/product/project you're trying to create seem muddled. It's OK if others disagree with your approach as long as you have filtered that feedback through a process and know why it may not be a fit.
Being a Force for Good 