The past couple of months have been super productive. Did you think I was going to say busy? Never! Anyway, my productivity has meant that I needed to run at a fast pace and now I am looking forward to having a few days to slow down and put the laptop away. Don’t get me wrong, all the activity has been very worthwhile and I’ll share some outcomes with you next week, however, it’s great to have a finish line and then reset to an operating rhythm that is less hectic.
To ensure I was doing the right activities and tasks to get me to my goals, my to-do-list has been long. And it seemed every time I crossed something off something else was added. I gave up on the hope that I would have an empty to do list years ago. Being in business, my hope is actually the opposite.
However, it’s what the to do list represents – more things to do. This can then have an impact on our mindset and how we feel. For some it can motivate, for others it can overwhelm.
I was having a great conversation with Sonia Bestulic the other week who has written a book about self care (more on this later). She was talking about having more on the ‘to be’ list rather than on to ‘to do’ list. This really resonated with me and I absolutely believe that we should be thinking more about this.
Who we want to be; how we want to feel, think, influence, lead, role model, should influence what we do but often it’s the complete opposite and what we do dictates who we are. This is something that can lead to frustration and doing things that are meaningless to our greater goals and the legacy that we ideally want to create.
Getting clarity on ‘who you are as a leader and role model’ is the starting point for the role model effect program for good reason. It drives your leadership behaviours, actions and results. So rather than leaving it to chance, or it being dictated by an organisation, circumstance or culture, we deep dive into it and get clarity around it. This is what anchors you and what fuels your confidence as a leader.
Your ‘to be’ is your critical starting point.
So heading into your Easter break, reflect on having more on your ‘to be’ list rather than building your ‘to do’ list and notice the difference. This will be my focus to ensure I am being the person I want to be and reconnecting back to what is important to me.