Making a Shift
In my last article I spoke about what your priorities are and what your vision is and does the vision for your life align with your priorities
Today I want to talk about what to do to make a change or shift on the alignment of priorities to your vision. Where to start?
This word shift has been reoccurring in my own life again and again over the past few months. What I have discovered and found in my own life is that we just need to start with a step. A small shift even, just to start to move something in the right direction. Now your vision may be to build the next google, or it could be to get that AWS certification. It could be to manage your work in a way that you are not a work-a-holic. Whatever it is, this is an encouragement to just start doing something, so there is a shift in your life.
I want to set the record straight by saying I am not saying that I have already achieved this but that in writing it and sharing it and encouraging you, I am also encouraging myself. My son said this would be like a therapy session for me and it is at that! My biggest hope is that it is a blessing to you.
The first thing is to look at the change, shift or new thing you want to do. For me, this would be in line with starting to move towards my vision and life goals. For you this could be taking a course to learn a new skill, starting a new workout and diet regime, or planning your entrepreneurial venture. These are just some examples. The point is to know what it is you want to do. If you haven’t thought of it yet have a read on this article regarding your priorities, https://elijah-hibbert.medium.com/pandemic-and-priorities-ecccb9c98dd0.
Once this is done then you need to plan. How are you going to get from where you are now to where you want to be and when? This can start off simple. First a list of the steps you need to take and set dates for when your will accomplish each step. If you really want to get fancy, then you can put this on a timeline plan, so you have visible pictures of your plan.
The stage that many of us have trouble with is the execution stage. Why is this stage a challenge? It is a challenge because you need to disrupt your everyday routine, insert something new. We are creatures of habit and if you are like me it is easy to get stuck in a rut. Doing the same thing, rinse, and repeat. The challenge is how to start something new and make a new routine.
To provide more context, I am married with 3 kids under 15 and 2 kids over 15. We have two sons we have adopted as well, and we are living with my mother-in-law as well. Trying to balance family, work, health and well-being and church life, is already a full plate. The first thing that I think, is how on earth do I take on something more?
There are 3 concepts that will help.
The first one is sacrifice. Something does have to give. You will not be able to do anything new, without sacrificing something old. For me as an example, my sacrifice, as trivial as it sounds, is time just watching TV. I love to watch a show or a movie, when I have finished work, dinner, homework with the kids, and getting them all to bed. Sitting on the couch with my wife, and watching a show or two, is a great way for me to unwind in the evenings. I have come to realize that this is something that I need to reduce to have some capacity to take on a new challenge.
The corollary to this is that you need to be flexible. One thing that used to get me is if things don’t go the way I planned, or I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to then my outlook was negative. I came to realize that I need to be ok with things not going to plan and just roll with it. It is less stressful and usually things change due to family needs and that is infinitely more important.
Accountability is a great tool to help ensure that you take steps but also don’t sacrifice the wrong things. You only need one or 2 people that hold you accountable. This means that you give them permission to ask what you are doing in your life and how you are using your time. In my case my wife and 2 big sons do this for me very well. They keep me focused and on target. For my kids I am motivated to keep working so I model something that will help them in their own lives.
This is the journey that I am embarking on. I am inviting you to journey with me as we are looking to make a shift in our lives to align our vision with our priorities.
