Clarity of purpose focuses the mind and simplifies life. Suffice to say, contending with the daily barrage of media and life can be exhausting and overwhelming. Labor Day provided a good opportunity to focus and evaluate. It signaled the end of summer and the beginning of the final seasons of the year. The change of seasons is welcome – even in Southern California.
How about you? Where is your focus? Are your energy and resources aligned with your priorities and purpose?
For example, there’s a big difference between saying “I’m going to take a vacation in January,” and “I’m going to rent a small house in Carmel Valley for two weeks in January. The weather will be cold and foggy, so I won’t have to deal with many tourists. I’ll take my doggie, my journal and a couple of books to read. I’ll walk on the beach every day, sleep late when I want and hike. Wine may be included. I need to replenish and refresh my mind, body and soul.”
My focus highlighted the realization that my business goals lacked clarity. Despite investment of significant time, energy and resources, my strategies and tactics were not well positioned to achieve desired and sustainable results. This realization caused surprise, frustration and disappointment because I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
It’s not what happens that matters so much but how we handle things and what they mean to us that count. Getting caught up in the drama of this tumultuous year is not productive as divisiveness and tension will likely continue throughout the 2020 presidential election year. The good news is we can manage ourselves, choosing to ameliorate rather than perpetuate disunity. Life is not fair, and life is not easy. Avoiding reality won’t eradicate it.
Dr. Victor Frankel’s prescient words – “the last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances” – remind me that our attitude helps us keep the main thing, the main thing.
“We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”
– Dr. Victor Frankel
Take time to reflect, and get clear on your path and priorities for the duration of this year. What is working? What isn’t? What matters to you, and why? What will you do to live that reality? Creating a life that is meaningful, fulfilling and joyful does not happen by accident. Take at least one small action step that is in alignment with your purpose.