We Decide Our Own Path
As we close 2017, most of us are still planning for both business and personal success in 2018. Some of us may have realized our 2017 plans did not work out as we had originally intended. This realization doesn’t mean we have to throw up our hands and pack it in for 2018. Rather we, at any time, can effect and create the change we desire in our lives! I listened to an inspiring interview and I wanted to share the concept with you.
Neil Patrick Harris was making the rounds plugging his book entitled “Choose Your Own Autobiography”. While I have not read this book yet, the title really struck me. It’s very simplistic and yet very powerful at the same time. Choose your own autobiography should be the model we live by every day! It’s not always simple, and there are a lot of outside influences in our personal and professional lives that affect our decisions and life direction. However, if we keep the idea that we are in control of our own fate in the forefront of our thoughts, it will have a huge impact on our thinking and decision making throughout the day. Living with this in mind will then impact the course of our lives. We don’t have to be stuck in the spot we are in today forever. We have control of our destiny and can make our future whatever we choose. We can take a poor situation and make it work for us.
Where are you today?
So many times we can easily find ourselves in a rut both personally and professionally. Maybe it’s a situation that seemingly has no answer, and as a result we feel helpless and hopeless. Sometimes we lead ourselves into these places and sometimes we’re forced there. The good news is that we can still have an impact on the direction and action we take based on where we want to end up. It’s not always easy to effect change and it doesn’t come without some hard work, and of course it won’t happen overnight, but it can happen.
I am definitely a proponent of getting ourselves squared away in our work lives in order to have a more productive and fulfilling personal life and vice versa. It’s all about finding that elusive balance in life. While there is a lot of ground that can be covered on the personal side, I want to remain focused on the business side.
I have been blessed with the good fortune of analytically-based careers. Analytical careers have allowed me to look at procedures and processes from a fact-based perspective and not be as emotionally charged in decision making. This analytical mind-set can prove to be very helpful when making tough decisions. However, even with this skillset, the hardest part of any decision is usually getting started. It’s much easier to stay where we are today, whether it’s good or bad, than change something. It’s a scary thought to step out there and do something different.
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Taking the First Step
Making the decision that we do not like where our career or business is currently or realizing that we could do better is the first step. But coming to this realization doesn’t fix it. We need to take the corrective step to effect change. Finding what needs correcting or if you know what needs correcting, what do you do differently? (This can be the challenge!)
Analyzing the issues are an important part of developing the fix. Sometimes a Band-Aid fix doesn’t correct the underlying problem. Sometimes a quick fix is the easiest and least painful. However, if we don’t fix the underlying problems in our lives, they will just continue to resurface. And more than likely without a permanent solution they will continue to worsen.
Without getting into the nuts and the bolts of the change process in this forum, I mainly wanted to convey the message that we can effect change. Even though sometimes things look like they can’t be changed, we don’t know how to proceed in making changes, we’re hesitant for some reason to take that first step, or we feel like we just don’t have the energy to figure all of this out, it can be done. Promise!
Write Your Own Success Story
You don’t have to live with mediocrity or disappointment in your current situation. Just make the decision that you know it’s time for a change and I can provide you with assistance to take it from there. I have worked with clients from all types of Senior Living and Healthcare companies with a multitude of issues, problems, or concerns.
The good news is that you don’t have to continue to survive in a less than optimal situation. You can thrive! It’s up to you to write your own Autobiography, let’s get started today!
Roy Barker is Director of Special Projects at Moore Diversified Services, a Fort-Worth, Texas-based organization specializing in operations analysis, marketing development, and investment advisory services. Roy is an authority in the field of employee turnover analysis and retention strategies.