Do you have the discipline and focus of an Olympian?

           

 In the past few days, I have been enthralled, amazed, and truly inspired by the Olympic games.  I love watching the competitions, learning the athletes’ stories, and watching each Olympian earn his/her spot in history.  The story lines are beautiful and the entertainment superb.   However, I am struck by the sage business advice found in each Olympians’ story.  This morning I shared an article that spoke to the wisdom of branding on the global stage. Tonight’s article is on focus and discipline.

As I watch the Olympians, each one is focused on the physical challenge at hand.  Whether a dark horse trying to put together the perfect performance to earn a medal or the strong favorite expected to dominate the event-the Olympians have the discipline of focus.  These extraordinary athletes know that yesterday’s performance, whether good or bad, is in the past, and today’s success depends on having the discipline to focus.  In business, you also need the discipline of single-minded focus.

Think about your own practice.  Do you truly have single-minded focus on the challenges of today?  Too often, professionals rob themselves of the gift of focus by worrying about the past. Every second you spend thinking about what you did wrong yesterday is a second you cannot spend doing it better today.  You have to trust me on this one, it doesn’t matter if you made the biggest bone-headed mistake of your career five minutes ago, it is time to forgive yourself, learn from your mistake, turn the page, and move on.  If you don’t, you rob yourself of the discipline of focus needed to succeed today.

Are you thinking this is a lesson you don’t need?  Let me give you the most common scenario that I encounter in my coaching practice.  I work with type A, high achievers, who routinely take on way more than they, or anyone else, can achieve in a day.  I call this the helium hand syndrome.  This willingness to take on the world serves many of my clients very well.  Until it doesn’t.    At some point, the over- scheduling catches up and something has to give.  Whether it is having to say no to new projects, turning in projects late, or feeling like they are being forced to compromise quality to meet deadlines, the helium hand-syndrome eventually catches them all.  

There is no shame in being caught by the helium hand.  It is the response to being caught that tends to separate the field. 

Some of my type A, high achievers come up with an aggressive plan to work through the helium hand crisis.  These folks focus on the projects that need to get done first.  They prioritize.  They use militant calendar discipline and laser focus to check off the items they must do today.  They do not look backwards.  Instead they focus their attention on the next project, the next project, the next project until they work through the crisis and feel in control of their work and lives again. 

Others, go a different route.  Others choose to keep repeating old patterns, taking on more and more even when they haven’t finished today’s priorities.  At some point these folks learn to hate all forms of organization.    They give up on calendars, throw files around their desks, and pretty much attempt to use disorganization to attempt to hide from the ever-growing pile of work.  These folks rob themselves of the ability to focus on the present because they spend their time worrying about what projects they should have done or what dead line they might miss.  Eventually these folks reach a point where they cannot sleep through the night because the never-ending to do list wakes them every night with the regularity of an alarm clock.  They cannot enjoy time off because they are worried about the what if.  This lack of focus wreaks havoc on their psyche and single-handedly steals the joy of achievement while the lack of discipline deadens the satisfaction of a job well done. 

If you are reading this, it is probably safe to guess that you too are a type A, high achiever.  Kudos!  It is  a great club.  I am proud to be a member.  But, remember, even we type A folks, make mistakes from time to time.   If you happen to find yourself in the throes of the helium hand syndrome, resist the temptation to beat yourself up for getting there in the first place.  Instead, remember these Olympics.  Let go of any would have, could have, or should haves and attack the situation with the discipline and focus of an Olympian. 

About Jonelle- Jonelle Vold is a business coach that is passionate about your success.  A mother of twins, former Assistant Dean at a tier-one law school, attorney, and seasoned sales professional, Jonelle understands the challenges of high-level professionals.  Her coaching philosophy is every person has the ability to be a rainmaker by cracking their own personal code and doing business with intention.  You can reach Jonelle at jonelle@jonellevold.com or www.jonellevold.com.  

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Walking the tight rope. Your life, your work, and...

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Walking the tight rope. Your life, your work, and...: Lately, I have had a lot of conversations about the concept of work/life balance.  What I find fascinating about each conversation is th...

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Walking the tight rope. Your life, your work, and...

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Walking the tight rope. Your life, your work, and...: Lately, I have had a lot of conversations about the concept of work/life balance.  What I find fascinating about each conversation is th...

Walking the tight rope. Your life, your work, and your balance.

Lately, I have had a lot of conversations about the concept of work/life balance.  What I find fascinating about each conversation is that many people seem to think balance is a single event.  Somehow you make dramatic changes to your work schedule, your care-giver, or your daily routine and this dramatic change somehow pulls your world into perfect alignment.  While this idea is appealing, I have never experienced or witnessed it in the real world.

In my view, work/life balance is more like walking a tight rope.  Picture someone walking across the tight rope holding the long stick with their arms to maintain their precarious position on the wire.  With each step they must adjust to keep their weight balanced.  If they begin to lean a little too far to one side, they adjust the stick to counter-balance and regain their center.   Each step is an adjustment and the tight rope walker must always be conscious of their movement and their ultimate goal of remaining in balance.

I am the mother of two amazing seven year olds.  I also own my own coaching and consulting business.  I am working on a tech start up.  And, oh yes, I recently made the decision to take on half-time employment at my alma mater to help the institution through a particularly precarious situation.  So, to continue the circus metaphor (after all I do have two 7 year olds) I have a lot to juggle.  In fact, I probably drop more balls than I catch.  Yet, most days, I believe I have balance.

At this point you probably think I am simply delusional.  I have a sense of balance because in every area of my life, I have clear priorities and rules that I have created that allow me to feel in control of my time.  For example, dinner time is very important to me.  Monday through Friday we eat at the table, as a family, every night.  My husband and I share the cooking.  Dinner is never anything fancy but always includes the requisite amount of fruits and vegetables.  As a family, we all know this time is sacred and we honor this time.  With one exception, on Wednesday nights I travel for business.  So, on Wednesday my family eats without me, often joined by an Aunt or Grandparent.  Yes-I called the time sacred and told you that once a week I choose to skip out on this scared time.  I also feel great about both statements!

Wednesday nights while I am away from my family, I enjoy my time away.  I do not waste time, energy, or mental capacity feeling guilty that I am not home.  In my head, I have created a “rule” that one week-night away from the family is a perfectly acceptable arrangement.  Occassionally, business requires more than one night away.  When this happens, I pull out my work/life balance stick and begin navigating my way through.  Sometimes this means, I leave the office early one afternoon to make up for the dinner I am going to miss.  Sometimes, I make a mental commitment to get up early on a Saturday morning and cook breakfast in an effort to recapture that time around the table that I hold so dear.  Sometimes, I make the decision that multiple nights away is just fine and there is no need to adjust.  The point is, regardless of the time commitments thrown my way, I have created a system that allows me to remain in control. 

Like any tight rope walker, occasionally there is an event that pulls me too hard in one direction and I fall off the rope.  This school year, my children enjoyed 15 bouts of strep throat between them.  All of those sick days pulled me off the tight rope and temporarily toppled my work/life balance.  During a recent consulting engagement I had a client whose CFO was embezzling from her.   This discovery and the resulting work required to deal with it, pulled me off the tight rope.  In both cases, once I found myself out of balance, I re-evaluated, took the required action, and got back to work creating balance.

If you are feeling like the term work/life balance was created to torture you, it is time to re-evaluate your rules.  Chances are you have created rules in your head that set you up to lose the balance game.  Take a hard look at your work life and your home life.  What do you want to more of in each?  What are you willing to give up to get it?  If your children are babies, perhaps you want more awake time.  If so, can you alter your work schedule to allow you to be home from 4-7 even if it means working again once the baby is asleep?  Do you need to leave the office early three days a week to get through baseball season?  Rather than approaching work/life balance with the idea of making dramatic changes to miraculously pull yourself into alignment, start small.  Maybe all you need is 4 nights home for dinner to make you feel like you have balance?  Just like the tight rope walker, stay focused on your end goal and make small adjustments.  Don’t beat yourself up when you fall out of balance.   It will happen.  Stay aware and keep adjusting.  Work/life balance is absolutely possible.  But it requires conscious and constant effort to get there. 


About Jonelle- Jonelle Vold is a business coach that is passionate about your success.  A mother of twins, former Assistant Dean at a tier-one law school, attorney, and seasoned sales professional, Jonelle understands the challenges of high-level professionals.  Her coaching philosophy is every person has the ability to be a rainmaker by cracking their own personal code and doing business with intention.  You can reach Jonelle at jonelle@jonellevold.com or www.jonellevold.com.  

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Who has time for that?

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Who has time for that?:              It is Friday!   Hopefully, many people reading this blog are wrapping up loose ends, planning for next week, and preparin...

Who has time for that?

            It is Friday!  Hopefully, many people reading this blog are wrapping up loose ends, planning for next week, and preparing for a relaxing weekend.  Unfortunately, I suspect that for many of you, Friday feels less like the end of a productive work week and more like a nagging reminder of all the things you still need to do.  If so, it is time to take a long hard work at the way your managing your time.

            Several times a week I hear someone tell me, I didn’t have time for that.  My answer is always the same-“Actually, you did have time, you simply made a decision (conscious or unconscious) that this item was low priority.  As you can imagine this answer infuriates just about everyone who hears it.  But-it is the truth.

            Here is the tricky thing about time-we all have the exact same amount.   You cannot create more and you cannot get it back once it is gone.  Unfortunately, it is also very easy to lose control of the way you spend it.  So, how come some people seem to be able to get it all done and others, are constantly busy, but never seem to catch up?  One word-priorities.

 I think of my time like money.  There are endless amount of things I would like to do with my money.  Yet, each week, I have a finite amount of money to spend.  I have a few key priorities (food, shelter, etc.) that must be taken care of.  With the rest of my money I make conscious decisions on where to spend it.  Sometimes the decisions are easy: pay my mortgage or blow the mortgage payment on a weekend of debauchery.  Most of the time, the choices are much more difficult: put extra money toward retirement or my child’s education fund, take the family on a vacation or buy a new family car, etc.  In my household these decision are decided in advance by following a budget that reflects our families values and financial goals.

Your time works the same way.  You have a finite amount of time and endless amount of options of how to spend your time.  Each week, there are a few key priorities that you must handle.  After that, you get to make decision about how to allocate your time.  Sometime the choices are easy-go to work or stay home and watch TV. Most of the time the choices are difficult.  When you face difficult choices on how to spend your time, you should be turning to the governing documents that spell out your priorities-your business plan, your mission statement/vision statement, or marketing plan. 

You have exactly the amount of time you need to get all of your key priorities accomplished.  The trick is-do you REALLY know your key priorities.  If you are struggling with time management, stop blaming the calendar and take a hard look at your priorities.   Need more help?  I highly recommend,  Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”

About Jonelle- Jonelle Vold is a business coach that is passionate about your success.  A mother of twins, former Assistant Dean at a tier-one law school, attorney, and seasoned sales professional, Jonelle understands the challenges of high-level professionals.  Her coaching philosophy is every person has the ability to be a rainmaker by cracking their own personal code and doing business with intention.  You can reach Jonelle at jonelle@jonellevold.com, 520-225-9053, or www.jonellevold.com.   

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Know Your Numbers

The Monsoon- Making Rain in the Southwest: Know Your Numbers:             A few years ago the medical industry launched a preventative health campaign about the importance of knowing key numbers rel...