Tag Archives: reflection

Reflections – Be Cool. Stay Calm. Breathe.

I’m reflecting on last year, which was a doozy in all senses of the word. Good and challenging. Fulfilling and full of fires. I learned a lot. I made mistakes. And I got some things right. Upon reflection, here’s a key takeaway:

Be cool. Stay calm. Breathe.

Fires rare up all the time. Problems are flying in your face every time you look up. Decisions need to be made at top speed. This person is yelling about this and that person did something wrong. It goes on and on and on and on and on. This is the way of life, though. Something would be wrong if it weren’t this way. So, you’ve got to know this going into any situation. Any day. Any moment. It’s just going to be crazy on multiple levels.

You can either get caught up in all of it or rise above it. Keep your cool. Don’t over-react. Breathe. Like really breathe. Purposefully. Don’t focus on anything other than taking a few breaths. Being purposeful about these things in all of those situations really makes a difference. Sometimes you have to slow everything down around you. And these are 3 ways that you can do that.

Reflections – Don’t Stop Being Yourself

Beginning a new year is always great time for purposeful reflection on the last one. If you’re anything like me, you know how difficult it can be to stop while you’re in the midst of the crazy and busy-ness of the year. You look up and whether it’s been a long year or one that’s flown by, it’s gone. And now, we have another one to look forward to. Or, at least, prepare ourselves for.

I think reflection, be it one that yields positive outcomes or negative (or a combination), is healthy. If you’re truly honest with yourself and you strive to get/do better, to build upon everything you’ve done in the previous year, then self-reflection could be a different maker.

So, I’m going to share my reflections here, one per day, until I don’t have anymore to share.

For me, this year has been transformative in every sense of the word. It’s been profoundly transformative, in fact. Everything that I expected at the beginning of 2012 and everything I could have anticipated and everything that I wanted it to be…well, it just didn’t happen. It wasn’t a bad thing at all. I am humbled by everything that I had the opportunity to face, but if there was ever a year full of moments and decisions that would prompt reflection, it was this one.

One of my biggest takeaways from this past year was – don’t stop being yourself. With so much newness – more responsibility and authority and less time to spend with people/your team, it can be easy to lose a little bit (or a lot) of yourself and the very things that got you here – investing in those people, taking time to listen, taking time to teach, thinking through scenarios/decisions, being nice and considerate. These are some of the things that are at my core, and whatever those are for you, just don’t shy away from them. No matter what you’re faced with, just be yourself.

I know that this is quite elementary. Basic. Fundamental. But if we don’t start with ourselves, we can’t be great for others around us.

More to come…