And, it seems that almost daily life is changing and this change can mean having to regroup, rethink, make a plan and move forward. You see, I’m planning a road trip (which I’m on by the time you read this) to see family and friends out West along with a couple of potential clients along the way. When I get back from out West, my wife wants us to go to Michigan for a few days the first weekend in August. At the end of August, our daughter is leaving for university. Somewhere in all of this, we are in the process of relocating my wife’s business to be closer to home (with exciting news coming soon about the move). Somewhere during this time, I get to work, meet with clients, and connect with my network.
That’s the next 6-7 weeks of my life; and I’m not complaining. I love my life.
Some of you might read that paragraph and think,
- I’d pull my hair out.
- That’s too much, something would have to go.
- I have stress and anxiety just reading that.
You might wonder, ‘What’s the secret to navigating a schedule like this?’
There is no secret. Learning to Pivot when life fills your plate or presents challenges that have to be done, shifted or modified is part of what I help clients with. Does that mean I’m perfect at it? Nothing rattles me? Hardly! My family will tell you there are days when changes get to me.
For the most part, I’ve learned to handle these Pivots through building resilience and DHT. Building resilience is about knowing when to push forward and when to pull back. Understanding the Rhythm of push and pull is important to changes that happen in life. Part of resilience is having a mindset of growth.
Carol Dweck, author of Mindset, said, “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.”
Life isn’t always going to go smooth. Developing a growth mindset is not hard, it just takes time and discipline to make choices each day to grow. That growth will build resilience so that when the ‘whirlwind’ of life comes, you are able to stand strong in the face of choices and decisions that need to be made.
Another aspect of navigating Pivots in life is to DHT. This is shorthand for – Do Hard Things. Every day choose to challenge yourself in at least one of the four dominions of life: Mind, Body, Soul, or Work.
What that means is choosing to get comfortable being uncomfortable. There is uncertainty that comes regularly in life… sometimes daily. By choosing to Do Hard Things regularly prepares you for the unexpected. What I have found is when I regularly build resilience and choose to DHT; life flows a bit better. It’s like surfing, which I tried a few years back and was successfully unsuccessful (Yep, that is me in the picture); but I kept getting back on the board and trying to DHT that challenge me physically and mentally.
The next six weeks will be challenging; but I’m up to the challenge. I’ve prepared for it. I’m ready for it. Maybe I’ll bring you along on the journey with some pictures of my successes and my failures. After all, it’s life. It happens every single day.
