2020: “Perfect Vision”…with Results
So there I was, brand spanking new to the US from the UK in my Biology class freshman year of high school with Mr. Carlson. While learning about eye anatomy, I remember him towering over the class (mind you, he is 6’7”) at one point saying that he will run for presidency in 2020 with this slogan: “2020: Perfect Vision for the Future”…and what a genius that man was! So here I am borrowing that slogan and taking it a step further with 3 big suggestions goals I implore you to explore!
Do Fierce:
I typically say “Be Fierce” instead of “Do Fierce,” but before any attitudinal changes happen, behavioral patterns need to shift first, so here I am advocating for doing fierce. Each and every day, there is always an opportunity to “do” activities, and it’s always up to us to selectively make the most (or not) out of those opportunities. It’s always easy to tell people to do something extraordinary, but hardly anyone talks about the risks associated with audacious undertakings. It’s hard or else we’d be doing it everyday, but that’s where true beauty lies. I highly relate with this as mirrored by my risk-averse path toward entrepreneurship through a master’s and coaching program. Many dollars later, all it took for me to take off was one fierce step. Take this opportunity to get to know yourself better; it is only when our arena is wider and know ourselves better can we calculate risks and know our own challenges so that we can, quite frankly, challenge them:
- Reflect. Maybe ask for feedback (when appropriate).
- Fill out your Johari Window.
- Do something that scares you (nothing related to debt, death or dying, please!) and enjoy the ride.
- Be amazed at what you are capable of truly doing.
- Rinse and repeat.
Stay Fresh:
You know how technology has changed the way we receive information? People (and organizations) are always trying to stay up-to-date and one-upping each other when it comes to learning new technology. As an Organization Development practitioner, this is a pillar that I hold dearly as part of my practice. As a Pilipino growing up in America? Well, chismis (read:gossiping), is ingrained in my culture and a colleague and I have joked around with others by calling this as a form of…qualitative research. All jokes aside, approach things, ideas, relationships, people and what-have-you from a place of curiosity because, truly, you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s only when you are learning do new neural connections form and you find out how you can *insert verb* something differently (Andersen, A., 2016) So go ahead. Be the cat that curiosity killed.
Live Fabulous:
More often than not, when we stay true to ourselves, we spend more time worrying about judgment than remaining true to who we are. Questions like: how am I presenting myself? How are others reacting to me? Etc.always come up! When we carelessly shift our focus from being ourselves to catering to what others want from us for the sake of saving face or impressing, we miss staying present. Similarly, when we shift our focus from expressing ourselves to judging others, we lose sight of what needs to happen in that moment in time. “Our inner voices are the commentaries we lend to our experiences” (Hougaard & Carter, 2017), so don’t let those inner voices get in the way of you being fully present in any given circumstance. When I started my coaching career, I was always ever so careful with how I acted in front of clients. I felt the need to be XYZ so much so that it got in the way of having impactful, meaningful and powerful conversations. My lesson? Be any combo of the alphabet! Be yourself. Do you. Live Fabulous.
