In a world that can sometimes feel like someone stacked the deck against you when you weren’t looking, it’s hard to achieve anything without a level of compassionate determination. Goals, objectives, performance indicators – these things rarely achieve themselves (and you could argue that if they did, then you should have set a slightly harder one). But if the last year has taught us anything, it’s necessary to remain flexible in how we get there.
Judging by the number of articles, webinars and adverts about getting into a 2021 mindset, setting goals, pushing forwards into the year, making it mine, etc. there should be very few people out there now without a clear set of objectives for the year. Phrases like Accountability Partner and Accountability Buddy or Coach seemed to be everywhere for a while along with the not so subtle message that if I didn’t have one, I’d be lucky to achieve anything this year.
Last year was tough. I get it, and honestly, I sometimes feel like I’ve spent the last 12 months on a spin cycle. 2021 as we’re all rapidly learning is likely to be just as hard, and keeping going through all of the tidal waves life seems to keep throwing right now isn’t straight forward. I must admit though that if I were in a position where I felt that I needed someone else to tell me the truth about myself and secondly hold me to account for my goals, I would wonder if I was aiming for the right things the first place.
My goals for this year are simple:
1. Launch a new approach to leadership development with compassion at its core
2. Spend as much time as possible with friends and family (and I mean actual face to face time, not digital)
3. Slowly expand my 1-2-1 coaching practice as slots become available
Many of us have been taught to focus on achieving goals to the exclusion of all else. This can lead to rigidity, stress, and us defining our happiness as being based on achieving a set outcome – kind of strips any form of enjoyment from the process of achieving them for me.
A more compassionate approach would be to remain more agile in how we relate to ourselves and the process we take when achieving our goals. After all, 6 + 3 = 9, but so does 5 + 4.
There’s hardly ever only one way to view something. The world is far more grey than either black or white. If we can figure out a way to slow down, remain compassionate with ourselves and be kinder to others as we pursue our goals, life would have a lot less sharp elbows. And maybe, just maybe, we could all start to take a breath and recover from everything that the last 12 months have demanded of us.
Know your mind but appreciate those of others. You never know, you might learn something.
If you got this far, read my ebook on Successfully Leading Change to see how I explore compassionate determination in more depth.
