Hey Friend
2020 is trucking along. I had two exceptionally engaging events this week. Friday I was in Atlanta with a new client who unleashed a 10 year vision. It strikes against the common wisdom of not planning that far in advance because of how fast the world changes. But I love the audacity of declaring “this is who we want to be, where we want to go and how we think we’ll get there.” Even if the HOW is way off, it sets in motion an anticipation that’s unstoppable.
The other encounter was much more daunting. It was for a local professional sales organization. They host a monthly luncheon where entrepreneurs tell their stories of how they’ve grown their business. I wrestled a lot with finding a way to communicate the last decade, while extracting values for others.
Thankfully, it turned out better than I expected. The journey of my business has been a thrilling ride, but how it would benefit anyone else, was beyond me? I’m not sold on the latest trend of “tell your story” and simply by sharing it, it offers value. It could be because I’m in the content-creation business and all of my messages have an intended impact.
As I was putting together the different elements of the last decade, I stumbled upon a way to phrase them cohesively, which created a structure for the entire message.
Frameworks Shape Disarray into Meaningful Order
I’ve recently had this realization from my running too. A coach put together a specific plan for me to increase my speed for an upcoming half marathon. Instead of just going out and running 4-8 miles at my own pace, every single run has intervals and targeted pace times.
What I find so compelling about this, is that both the message creating and running were already in process. Like you, if I have to “add” something to my life, I’ll generally pass on it. However, discovering an approach to stuff already going on that streamlines it, makes it much more purposeful and may actually reduce my time – I’m all in!
I think the most common framework we utilize is “time management”. We look at our upcoming weekly calendar and plot in meetings, calls, tasks, productivity, travel, exercise, lunches and so on. Can you imagine entering this upcoming week with nothing on your calendar?
30-60 minute segments of time tend to be our common building blocks for this frame. I wonder within each of our activities if we discovered patterns that fashioned unifying features – how that would impact our effort and results? From team meetings to morning routines, being productive to accessing our phones, deliberate conversations to preparing meals – what if embedded in each of our daily actions were consistent sequences we could leverage?
Framework Discovery
Explore, Meditate, Consider
Test, Try, Track
It’s more than just being organized. It’s a deeper examination of how aspects of our lives and activities align towards our purpose. That may be stretching it a bit, but within ongoing actions there is an opportunity to maximize outcomes! This process produces a theme distillery plucking out continuity previously unseen.
In the case of my business journey, I discovered a Framework of Found. I found my…
Identity
Market
Pacesetters
Niches
Nemesis
Ally
People
Metrics
Assignment
I didn’t know that existed until I pondered over it for a few days. It just seemed to emerge and become evident.
Once we offer our brains the predicament of finding patterns it goes to work for us. It’s like the 10 year vision I mentioned. Just by declaring an expansive direction and undertaking, things that were out of view, will now magically appear on the radar. It happens when we’re looking at new cars. When we settle on one, we start seeing them everywhere. Hopefully it’s happening with your 2020 goals; Where you’re aspiring, more opportunities become blatantly apparent.
I’m incredible at compartmentalizing my life! Like most things it can serve me well and be a wretched deterrent. Realizing how identifying themes enables a structure to materialize is a compelling motive to decompartmentalize. I would love to formulate more frameworks that define an environment for optimal performance, understanding and serving well.
What if this week you…
- Identified current frameworks you already function within effectively?
- Evaluated aspects of your daily/weekly life that seem at odds and see if there is a deeper continuity context?
- Wrote out where you’ll be in 10 years?
- Considered the last 10 years and see what theme(s) reveal themselves?
- Gave your brain an assignment to be on the lookout for something?
It feels like the more intentional we are at formulating frameworks to live by, and within, the greater potential for fulfillment exists.
Have you ever been surprised by a theme that unexpectedly appeared in your life? Are you good at utilizing your calendar effectively? Even though we’re creatures of habit, do you think we can hijack them? Think the next 10 years will be much different than the last? You could alter it by simply saying Hello.