Well, friends, it’s been far too long since my last post. Yes, I am still here. However, like many of you, I’ve been dealing with the press of life and running an organization amidst a pandemic, as well as contending with some personal challenges that 2020 laid at my doorstep.
That’s had me reflecting upon my post at the beginning of 2020 when I wrote the following:
As 2019 draws to a close, like many of you, I’ve been reflecting on the year and the decade that was. Personally, it’s been quite a decade, filled with some real highs and some very tough low points. This year has been no different.
But that’s life.
Too often we want life to be only what we want it to be, not what it is. Life is not linear. Accepting that opens us to new possibilities. Denying it keeps us rigid and, ultimately, trapped when things don’t go according to all of the best plans we’ve made.
So, while this time of year is filled with resolutions, goals, and new plans, and I will have many of my own, chief among them this year will be to remain open the non-linear nature of life.
And that’s hard.
For those interested in success, living life to the fullest, and being the most that we can be, accepting failure, inviting challenges, and acknowledging messiness, is scary. But I believe if we take time to reflect on the curves in the road over the past year (or decade) that, though painful at the time, brought us to places of unexpected happiness, it will remind us that sometimes it is the mess that ultimately pushes where we want to go.
So, plan away these next few days and set lofty goals, but remember not to be afraid of the plans that will not work out. They just may hold the keys to happiness and success.
I wish you all a happy, prosperous (and non-linear) 2020!! 🙂
Who would have imagined in December that entire states would be shut down for all but those businesses deemed “essential” and that our economy would be teetering on the verge of depression? Not me. Or that everyone would be learning how to homeschool kids and “to Zoom” would become the verb of the year? Nope.
To pick up on a theme from the Five Factors, a storm quickly moved into our lives, threatening to blow us off course. As leaders, our response actually may seem easier in the worst moments, when we have to act quickly and decisively.
Now, as the storm at least temporarily subsides, and we survey the water, charting the course forward can be even more challenging. But from crisis comes opportunity and a chance to reimagine what that future looks like.
So, with apologies for lack of focus on this blog during the height of the storm, I am back. 🙂
2020, you certainly answered the nonlinear call. Now it’s up to the rest of us to respond.
Life at the Peak* 