One of the most important leadership skills is having a clear direction.
By this I mean are you on purpose? Are you waking up on fire? Are you so on fire with purpose that those to-do lists and irritating daily tasks just become part of the easy flow of your day?
If your answer is no, Mary Bryan, I am not; or no, not lately, then I acknowledge you for being human and welcome you to this conversation.
We often get caught up in busyness and mundane tasks and apply urgency to the wrong items and completely abandon the work that will keep us in flow. It happens. I highly recommend reviewing Stephen Covey’s quadrant to remind yourself of what’s urgent, what’s important and what is just taking you off purpose. This is one of the best tools for that.
This should be helpful, but what I want to talk about is the fact that when we lose sight of our purpose, we often look outside ourselves for inspiration. That works for a while. But we have to keep looking and it causes us to depend on someone or something else. Being on fire with purpose is an inside job. It starts with absolute clarity about who you are, what you value, and what you want to accomplish in your life and in your work. When you have this, there’s a seamless quality of blending personal and professional vision that allows you to create an overall sense of balance. Your vision for your life fuels your profession and your vision for your work fuels your personal life.
It’s very common to have created a vision long ago and not notice that it was already accomplished years ago and it’s now outdated. The result is that we feel bored and tired and disconnected from our essential nature and inner fire. We feel off purpose and we drift from task to task. What’s missing is a powerful huge vision that we can see and feel in living technicolor. It is so real to you that it is the reference point for all of your seemingly small daily choices and decisions. You are constantly asking will this decision or choice lead me to my inspired future or in the opposite direction? You are very present in the moment to what you want in your life.
What we often fail to realize is that the large decisions come along very infrequently and it’s the small decisions, the small conversations and behaviors that count and lead us from yesterday to today’s reality. Today we are creating the results that will show up tomorrow, next week and next year without our ever being conscious of it! Then, we ask, how did I get here? Are the decisions you’re making feeding your inner flame or are they leading you in the opposite direction?
I’m launching a new tele-course “Ten Essential Questions for Work and Life” where we offer you practices that you can utilize in your life to create clarity and decisiveness. We provide quality questions that you can use for the rest of your life. These questions create awareness and move you in the direction you want to go.
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We would love to have you in this initial launch. It starts on June 25, 2012. If this sounds like it is for you, then please CONTACT me and let me know. If you would like more information or if you want to have an introductory conversation to get clarity for yourself, I am here for you.
What I most want for you is to wake up every day feeling excited, feeling energized and being connected inside, so that you are getting your top priorities accomplished while living on purpose.
Mary, this post is so timely for me! With the changes in our world, I’ve seen that my old “on purpose” is no longer effective. Time to delve into these strategies for creating a new one! Thanks.
Hello Louise. I appreciate your comment and I’m delighted that this message came at the right time for you. I know exactly what you are saying. For me, when I’m not on purpose and I’ve outgrown my vision, I notice a quality of hollowness to my daily search. I’ve learned that is a clue that I’m now looking outside myself instead of inside for my connection. It’s time for a new vision. I forget briefly,
that all of my answers are within me. Have a joyful adventure creating the vision of what you want!