I live along Interstate 84 between Scranton, Pennsylvania, and West Point, New York. I recently heard someone tell the joke, “ I want to be like Route 84, always working on myself!” They are so right! There always seems to be construction going on on route 84!
I recently presented at TEPSA, an amazing conference for elementary administrators in Austin, Texas! What a fantastic group!
We did an activity called “above the line,” where we put Post-it notes of things that help us to be good leaders and good people above the line, and things that hold us back below the line. One specific Post-it caught my eye from a woman who placed it.
It read, “Only developed myself while at TEPSA,” meaning she only worked on herself, her growth, while at the once-a-year conference.
She and I had a great conversation, as well as with the group, about ongoing development and ongoing growth!
Here are five strategies that are guaranteed to make sure you work on yourself first, then do all the other work!
Number one: Put it on your calendar. What’s that thing that you wanna work on? Is it exercise? Eating better? Finishing that book? Is that the project you want to complete? Put it on your calendar and focus on it. We brush our teeth twice a day, no questions asked, we follow certain routines all the time. Same for you and your development. Keep working at it.
Number 2: OADB. This is one of the formulas in my new book, coming out this fall: The Magic, Acronyms, Formulas, and Impactful Stories of Leadership. OADB stands for on a daily basis. What can you do every day to help you to work on yourself and help you continually grow?
Number three: Reading. The book The Miracle Morning changed my life. Written by Hal Elrod, it totally gave me a paradigm shift on where I focused my mornings, and I accomplished the things that I wanted to do. Hal describes in the book doing S.A.V.E.R.S. each day: it’s also an acronym: silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing. If you do these five things every day, you’re going to get better. You’re going do the things that you want to focus on. Make time for yourself and get it done.
Number four: Success leaves clues. Are other people doing what you want to accomplish? For the first time in my life, I started counting calories, and I lost 20 pounds this year. I never had to do it and always just generally tried to eat well, but after I broke my ribs some years ago, I didn’t move as much, and just put on weight. I had to make a change and focused on counting calories — 2,100 is my target, and I learned from others who do a great job at it, that is, counting calories. Whether it is an app, a picture that counts, storing the count, and other strategies, I learned from others who have done it well, and now I can do it too.
Number five: Do a little bit a lot of the time. I’d love to go on a three-day retreat and write and reflect and do that kind of work, but I just don’t have the time. This goes hand-in-hand with “on a daily basis.” If you carve out 30 to 45 minutes every day to do an activity, whether it’s writing, reading, exercising, etc., you’ll be amazed at how much you accomplish. Just continually moving forward with your goals will help you develop yourself on a consistent basis. Nobody has unlimited time. Going away on reflective retreats for multiple days at a time is definitely a luxury. But when you have young children and a full-time job, those types of things can be very difficult. I’m more likely to do a little bit, a lot of the time, focusing on the things that I want to accomplish in my life.
These five strategies have really helped me, and I hope they can help you!
To the young lady who put that Post-it note in our session together at TEPSA, I hope you continue to survive and thrive, and consistently work on yourself like Route 84!
Keep surviving and thriving, friends!
