Over the years, I have come to accept that one the best ways forward is to keep things simple.
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Category Archives: GOALS
The Pursuit of Discipline
Time is ticking away
One major challenge I face everyday is to focus on what is relevant. In a fast-paced environment, everything seems urgent and important.
What drives you to seek medical help are the symptoms of Ill health. However, these are just indicative of underlying issues. These are what a medical expert seeks to establish. They will dig deeper, run tests to establish the foundation the symptoms are built on.
It occured to me that my out-of-focus state might be a symptom of something else.
We were having a conversation with my teenagers (19 and 17) this week about how 2024 has been so far. I let them know how frustrated I feel. I just can’t get consistent traction on what I set out to do! Somewhat like I am on a muddy stretch with my wheels spinning out of control.
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How committed are you?
Why simple goals just make sense!
Since 2018, my personal and professional life is committed to deliberate goal-setting. Before that, I would create a detailed matrix that quickly overwhelmed me due to its complexity.
The overwhelm became apparent at the end of every year. About half of my intended activities were not done! In trying to look smart, I had over-complicated things for myself.
That is why I decided to shift to a one-page goal template in 2018. I narrowed my goals down to four critical categories: Spiritual, Work, Health and Community. In total, I am committed to a maximum of twenty goals for the year.
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Wing-it or Strategy? [Part 2/2]
Begin with the end in mind
Living with intention is the flip-side of winging that I explored in my last post. It takes prayer, patience, practice, proof and performance.
To swim against the current takes deliberate thought, direction and action. In other words, I need a strategy.
I cannot afford to rest on my laurels lest I become conceited and lose track of my mission. Once my goal is achieved, it is time to embark on the next one.
Being a good friend of a scorpion does not mean that you can’t be stung by a bee.” ~African Proverb
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Coaches need coaching too!
Questions lead to deeper meaning
I contemplated on this during a conversation with myself on the day the International Coaching Week 2021 kicked off. With a deep focus on supporting my coaching clients, it can be easy to forget that coaching works for me too!
Cycling has become my channel to care for my mental, spiritual and physical health. Occasionally, my body becomes ‘non-compliant’ as lethargy births lame excuses of how I can ride another day. It does not take much to slide back into my lowest form. A place where laziness wafts in like the cold fingers of a cold night; where I just exist.
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Disciplines That Define an Intentional Leader
The ‘small’ things eating me up
Solitude has a way of illuminating our paths. As we slow down, deep truths seem to ‘magically’ emerge like from a hazy mist.
Slowing down in our present world sounds like an oxymoron. To find the time to connect with friends and family is like a far-fetched theory. My calendar ends up looking like a city map in a traffic grid lock. There is no breathing space, nowhere to escape.
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Set goals that matter!
Get out of dream-land and get doing
If each ‘New Year’ resolution we made was worth a dollar, the world would be free of poverty! Oh what a happy day that would be.
I stopped making resolutions decades ago. Those that I made just wouldn’t stick. Within weeks, if not days, I would go back to my comfort zone. And I wasn’t alone. Many of my friends were in a similar dilemma. That critical weight-loss program collapses in February. A reading habit shuts its pages with the first book of the year. The list goes on.
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Are you in position?
Leading from the heart outwards
Out on my regular cycling route, I had just come out of a sweet, fast descent feeling pumped!
My finger went for the gear shift in anticipation of the fast approaching climb. “Click!” Nothing! “Click, click!”Another two clicks just confirmed that I was in trouble. No matter how many times I pushed the lever, my gears weren’t changing. My rear gear cable had broken. In a flash, I was reduced from a 21-gear option to only 3 gears. And did I mention that I was only 20km into my 45km ride?
Feeling stuck? Get a Coach!
“I just can’t seem to reach my desired goal. And it is sucking the life out of me!” Has this been you in the recent past? Well, a coach is just who you need to help you out of the jam.
It makes sense to have someone else to help us navigate through difficult experiences or events. How many time do we resist any support, instead wasting time and other resources trying to solve it our way? I am not saying that we shouldn’t try, but we can go further with the right support system working for us.
For a number of months, I struggled with what I thought was an anger management problem. I was routinely on edge, snappy and confrontational. The frustration of feeling stuck and lost at what to do next was unbearable.
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Leadership Not A One Day Event!
Growing up, my family knew more lean times than days of plenty. Sometimes there would be so little to go around that I would go without lunch at school. Now, let me clarify that there are people who have been in more dire situations than I was.
But back then I would watch my classmates munching away at hot dogs, sandwiches and cake while I consumed copious amounts of air-burgers. This was tough to deal with, both mentally and emotionally.
I did not want to bother my poor mother. She cared (and still cares) very much about all her children. Voicing my thoughts about the food would only spike her blood pressure off the chart. So instead of bothering her, I chose a very interesting method to block out the torment I was going through: books became my solace.
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