Where did his youthful exuberance go? What happened to his recklessness, his rebellion and cocky confidence? These thoughts come to me working with some truly great, dynamic people who are turning their strategic plans for the year into WOW campaigns. There is no lack of great ideas, and there is no lack of talent to take those ideas and make them magical. However, there is some anxiety that there simply isn’t enough time to make it all happen, “unless we manage our time better.” As I said, these are groups of great people, and I have every confidence that they’ll make their WOW ideas happen. They are bright and intelligent, they love to experiment and innovate, and if I had recorded their conversations and played them back, they’d be the first to say, It just goes to show how deeply ingrained some things are with us. Like the concept that we have to pay our dues. (No, not really.) Or the one that says we shouldn’t hop from job to job; we should be more loyal. (Uh, well, I don’t think it’s really about loyalty.) And the one that says we should give “these things some time.” (What things? Why things?) So what an exhilarating breath of fresh air, to have a young woman tell me earlier this week that, Oh yeah, now that’s what I want to hear! This young woman is taking control of her life, on her terms. She’s got plans, and those plans are going to suit her schedule, her way. She went on to explain that she had this aha moment: She had been stretching out something that didn’t need to be stretched out. And guess what else? Since she made the decision to just cut the time she had in half, that time became richer. It got concentrated with only “the 20 that gets me the 80 too. All of a sudden, I have much more clarity about my intentions.” What a great attitude. Cut the time you give yourself in half. See what it does for you. Rosa Say is the author of Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawaii’s Universal Values to the Art of Business and the Talking Story blog. She is also the founder and head coach of Say Leadership Coaching, a company dedicated to bringing nobility to the working arts of management and leadership. Rosa’s Previous Thursday Column was: Let’s Talk LOVE at work: 9 Views.
