September can often feel like the start of a new year with endless opportunity but with Q4 looming and year-end targets to reach, it can also be very stressful. Here’s how you can tap into the positive and take advantage of a fresh start.
So, it’s September. For many of us that means back to routine, back to structure, and back to longer hours with increased intensity. For even more of us, it's a time where we find ourselves looking forward to the Christmas break and wondering if it is really as far away as it seems.
I'm curious; how are you heading into this last quarter of 2018? Miles of meetings, critical projects or deals, a to-do list longer than an extension ladder? Or are you focused on what you want to accomplish in the next 3.5 months, what you want to create, the wake you want to leave?
The next 14 weeks can be about meetings, deadlines and stress or they can be about something bigger, more energizing. The next few weeks can be about joy and purpose and creating something or they can be about difficult clients, outrageous expectations, childlike employees and managing chaos. The beauty of it is you get to decide.
When it comes to work, people seem to have the hardest time connecting to a vision, an end-state. I get a lot of blank stares when I ask about the end-state or destination that all of this work and stress is supposed to create.
Think about it; when you book a vacation, don't you start with the kind of experience you want to have? Do you want to rest? Have an adventure? Be pampered? The answers to these questions determine where you go, when you go and who will accompany you.
The same is true for our careers. What do you want? What kind of experience do you want for yourself, for your team, for your colleagues? It is the answers to these questions that should determine both what you do in a day and how you do it.
September is a time to be bold, fresh and clear. Use the bright fall colours and that nip in the nighttime air to reconnect to who you want to be as a leader, the legacy you want to create, the purpose of your career.
In September you can choose to begin again. Make a fresh start. Begin by asking yourself the right questions! 🍂🍁🍂
BSOFO,
