Creating a System That Works for You

I have been reflecting on the ideas that we discussed in our second workshop with Heather. Although the focus was on networking, and building and leveraging a network with integrity and intent, I found myself thinking a lot more about the idea of the systems we create and use in our lives. Whether it be to manage our contacts, or to have a daily schedule, for most of us, a system and a procedure works really well. Something I find important to remember, however, is that you can’t necessarily adopt someone else’s system and expect it to work for you.

Just look at diets! Have you ever had a friend go on and on about a fab diet they did, and then you try it yourself and nada! not a pound lost? That is because each person’s body is so different that what works for some, may not work for you. The same can be said for schedules and systems. Even ones that you create for yourself. Recently, I set myself up a neat daily schedule, and after a while, I realised that various circumstances were causing me to not keep to the schedule, and I ended up feeling guilty and very conscience of a sense of failure, rather than accomplishment.

I stepped back, though, and realised that the problem was not ME, but rather the schedule. Life throws so many different curveballs at us that a great skill is to learn flexibility. If you created the system or the schedule, and it isn’t working for you, then change it again! Getting advice and help from others on what to do, or how to do it, is great, but you also need to take into account that you may need a different system or set of tools that will work more for you. Don’t be afraid to throw out that schedule – maybe only in the short term – until you feel you can follow it successfully, OR … create a new one! You don’t have to feel guilty or embarrassed, just change it. Do what works for you.

And like Heather mentioned, when you have a plan and intent, and tackle your tasks (whether it be networking, setting goals, work projects) with integrity, you will achieve success.

Geraldine

Road Block

Apparently I require more practice goal setting.  In work I excel at execution and reaching a target; but this process is a real struggle for me.  Do I really know what I want to be? What I want to do? What I want to have? 
My deep thinking usually happens when I am running or riding my bike.  Perhaps the task of writing my thoughts is my personal road block that I must work through.  I am frustrated as I look through my many pages of partially composed thoughts.  Why can’t I do this?  Am I afraid of actually achieving what I want? 
Can I re-think my life as coming from a place of success rather than always attempting?  I know I am not afraid of failure.
This past year I took a step towards my dream job.  I resigned my employment with the long term contracts I held for years and set out to work for a company that I was convinced offered me THE JOB.  My husband called it my mid-life crisis.  But somewhere along the way the promises of the position did not materialize and I suffered – physically, emotionally and intellectually.  And then after one particularly difficulty week I began to grow stronger. Looking back I think I wanted the change so badly I heard what I wanted to hear about the job and not the reality. 

Now the hard part – resisting the temptation of going back to what was.  Road block.  What do I need the more… the money; the comfort; or the opportunity to soar?  How do each of these relate to goals I have for myself?  Why are my goals not clear?

If I can train the long hours and complete an ironman competition I can sit for one hour and come up with specific goals.  I really want this…
I need help.  Maybe I will go for a run, my hour was up a long time ago.  I hope to be back with a story of success.

~ Darcel

Becoming Unstuck

Throughout my life I’ve set goals and achieved them, one after another, with reasonable ease. I supposed that I should consider myself lucky that I believe that I can successfully accomplish what I set my mind to. I honestly believe that with hard work, strong-headed determination and passion I’d be unstoppable.

The only setback is that I actually have to get started to be unstoppable … and lately I’ve somehow gotten stuck.

After attending my first Wired Woman workshop, Personal and Professional Goal Setting, I quickly realized that what I had been lately considering my “goals” were actually “philosophical notions” about how I want to live my life. No wonder I have been feeling stuck and totally indecisive! Without measurable goals, how did I think that I could suck out all the marrow of life? You need to develop a plan for such life-size notions.

I took Heather’s advice and sat down with the daunting task of spending an entire hour taking stock of my goals. I’ve done goal setting exercises before, but it had been a long time since I had reviewed my most recent (aka out-of date) list. I drilled down on my past goals and related them to my current situation. I had, in fact, achieved many of the goals on my list, but since I had not been actively holding myself accountable, some goals had simply slipped through the cracks. The process was somewhat grueling, yet invigorating. As I wrote, I could feel a plan start to develop naturally.  I could tell that it was one of the first major steps in the process of becoming unstuck … and it felt good.

~ Katie

Goal Setting and Accountability

A long time ago, a friend of mine suggested to me an exercise: writing down a list of 100 things that I wanted, just for me. It was a lot harder to fill that list of 100 things that I expected, but it did make me really think and really have to put into words some of my dreams and desires (from the trivial such as “getting a pedicure” to the deeper and more sincere). But as Heather mentioned in our first workshop Personal and Professional Goal Setting, these are not goals, they are simply dreams and desires.

I have found great pleasure in the fact that over time, I have been able to check off some of those things on my list (law of attraction? See Lisa’s post), including getting that much needed pedicure J. What really struck me about Heather’s discussion, though, was the idea of having new goals in mind when you have achieved what you originally set out to achieve. I know that I haven’t replaced those list items, and so it got me wondering – have I really set any specific, measurable goals, and have I thought of what to do to replace the things I have achieved, in order to look forward to more great things?

I sat down, set my alarm for an hour, and created a new list. A lot of things on the list are still just dreams and desires, because I don’t feel able to set a time limit (for various reasons I won’t go into here), but what I did find is that I created a lot more specific goals with measurables and deadlines and it felt really good.

Now that I have taken that more specific step, I think my next concern is who to ask to be my accountability partner. I agree with Heather that family or others close to you are perhaps not the best people to ask, but at the same time, I do feel that with something so personal, I want to “report” to someone who understands and knows me, and who can not only check that I have “done my homework” so to speak, but who can guide and encourage me. This is perhaps my first and most important goal for now – finding an accountability partner who fits.

Perhaps our next workshop (on Tuesday the 20^th) on building a professional network will help reveal that partner? After all, I have put it out there, and added it to my list, so here’s hoping it works!

Geraldine

Personal & Professional Goal Setting – Climbing out of the box

This is the tale of what happens when you do not have a Plan B. I have been extremely fortunate person my entire working life. I have been blessed with a career that I have loved and had the opportunity to travel the world. I have had an organic career going from one interesting opportunity to the next. I am a project manager, business analyst, crusader for better customer service, trainer, team builder and a self confessed workaholic. I have a plan, I know exactly where I want to be in 10 years and what I need to achieve to get there. So far so good and I put into play a series of events that lead me back to Beautiful BC to start a business. Yes you can see the sob story coming, clearly I had not thought out the possibility of the market downturn and did not have a Plan B strategy in place. So much for project planning as I overlooked Risk Analysis 101. What If……………

Now I have found myself in this box of preconceived notions and limiting beliefs. My goal for this great series of workshops is to break out of this box and find new opportunities that will get me to my ultimate end goal.
Workshop One: Setting Personal and Professional Goals
A lot to think about after the first workshop.
I had identified a long time ago what I wanted to be doing when I reach 55. But in life sometimes unexpected things occur and I find myself needing to reassess what will work for me both professionally and personally to get me there. During the workshop Heather had us do a lot of reflecting on goals and quantifying those goals. It is not enough just to have an idea one must set bench marks, identify key deliverables and put time frames on our objectives. Well this works with my project management mind set. These are things I can do.
Step One: Not giving up on Plan A – just making it my Plan B. It is something I can continue to work on and develop; it is just not going to my primary focus at this stage.
Step Two: Defining a new focus – this is the hard part. I started by identifying my key skills and attributes that I would bring to another role. This is great exercise for the ego but how come if I am such a talented and wonderful person am I looking for my next opportunity, you would think everyone would be knocking on my door. I am pretty sure in the Secret they said that if I put it out there, it would happen. Clearly I am going to have to responsible for the creation of this new opportunity.
Step Three: What companies are out there? I have limited myself to hospitality in the past (there is that box again), now is the time to look elsewhere and find other opportunities in other sectors of the business world. I log on to the internet and Google is staring at me waiting to unfold the universe if I can correctly identify the key phrase…….. many hours of unsatisfying results later and I discovered I had lost my focus somewhere. Now I just have all sorts of ideas, no game plan or any idea if these companies will be a good fit for me. Time to go to the experts in information and research for help, the Vancouver Public Library. I attended a course called InfoAction. Takes about 6 hours and they show you all the reference materials for businesses, associations, periodicals and most importantly, the on line databases for companies, all at your finger tips with just a library card and yes you can access a lot of this information from home. Now I have at my fingertips companies, by business sector and location with basic information on everything from the number of employees, annual earnings and a contact name.
Still not sure at this point of what my new possibilities will be, that is still fuzzy, the box is open but I have not quite climbed out yet, however,

• I am confident that I am qualified to work outside of my comfort zone and my skills are transferable to other industries.
• I know where I want to be in 10 years and what I need to career wise / money in order to achieve this goal.
• I understand my personal goals and lifestyle requirements in order to achieve the elusive work/life balance.
• I have resources to research potential companies and explore different business models.

The Next Step, Workshop Two Networking
The journey continues… Lisa