What Am I Doing Here?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that question? It seems with the world spinning at such a faster pace, we lose days, weeks, months and sometimes we lose years and look up and realize its already one quarter deep into 2009. Anyone else remember Y2K like it was yesterday?

What am I doing here -- at work?

Inertia can keep you in jobs you no longer are suited for and you find yourself simply going through the paces from day to day. You may not have noticed your robotic pace but I'm sure your employees have. If you feel you are sleepwalking doing the same routine, you need to really address this question. If you are dreading Mondays and begging for the weekend to get here in a hurry (as I talked about in yesterday's blog) you need to ask yourself this question.

If you are not feeling that you are performing meaningful work or realize you are not making great efforts to inspire your employees in these turbulent economic times, then the question really fits: What are you doing?

What am I doing here -- with my family?

If you were a workaholic before this recession, you are an ever greater workaholic now and the stress meter is about to hit the bell at the top. Think your family has seen a difference in your behavior? Think the work stress is spilling over into your family? Stop. Think. What are you doing here? Under stressful working conditions, domestic violence increased, depression increases and family tensions can seriously increase as well.

Sure money is tight, but some solid family time or a road trip can do wonders for getting away from the stress. Turn off the phone, leave the laptop at home and put the watch in the suitcase and take a four days trip to a fav spot you and your family can drive to, and enjoy some relaxing family time. I hear it from executives far too many times how they sacrifice family for the sake of occupational achievement. Now is the time to question your behaviors and time demands, and move the family to the front of the priority list.

What am I doing here -- with my body?

Anyone else a stress eater? Anyone else already lost that New Year's resolution of hitting the gym at least three times a week? Anyone having a difficult time getting a good night's sleep? Stress will tax your body and sap your energy. In addition to that, when we are stressed we eat poorly and on the run, exercise takes a backseat and we get to bed late trying to entertain ourselves with late TV and then toss through the night dreaming of work. Ask yourself, "What am I doing here?"

Now more than ever is the time to grab some discipline in these health areas. I know in my case I need an accountability partner and about three or four exercise buddies. Because we all travel at least a couple of us can get together. If I am meeting someone I will be there for sure. If I am on my own, that snooze button looks too good and then hitting the drive thru for breakfast starts the whole bad cycle once again. What are the body maintenance habits you need to shift today?
If you never stop to ask the important question of "What am I doing here?" You will never make the necessary changes to keep you traveling the right path for your life.

Being sidetracked can be subtle and suddenly two years down that wrong path you realize how far off you are. Add this question to your weekly routine, and constantly search for your success path.

A Shark Won’t Let You Park

The average American watches 30 plus hours of television in week. That's a little over four hours a day parked on the couch, letting your mind idle making no progress to be better. Ever wonder if your life feels stale? Maybe it's time to turn off the TV and get into some shark infested waters.

The Japanese population enjoys fish as a steady diet, and to feed this population fishing boats had to venture further and with larger holding tanks to catch enough fish. Freezing the caught fish wasn't an option as frozen fish doesn't suit the Japanese palate. So the problem facing the fishing industry was how to transport large holds of fish without the fish arriving stale tasting. The fish in these large holding tanks on the boats for days became listless and sluggish without a predator in the tank and actually tasted poorly and people stopped buying fish.

So how did the fishing industry solve this problem? They put a shark in the holding tank on the ships. Although the sharks would eat their small share of the caught fish in the tank, the rest of the fish would arrive alert, and quite lively, and yes, very tasty.

We are creatures of habit. If our habits are sitting on the couch watching TV, then we are embracing listlessness and our minds dull in the process. Put a challenge in your life and you will be livelier, alert, and be able to rise to overcome more obstacles.

What shark do you want in your tank?

Grow in Your Body, Brain and Business

This year taking care of these three most important aspects of your life are critical to creating personal and professional growth. On a daily basis you want to take steps to grow in your life and here are a few ways to focus that growth on the 3B’s.

Body

When you are busy, pressed for time and under stress it seems body maintenance goes lacking let alone actually trying to create positive growth in this area. Want to adjust your food intake? Don’t crash into a drastic diet plan that only is going to give you a short term result. Take it easy on yourself as you grow. Just change one food at a time. For example, if you find yourself hitting the Starbucks drive thru for your morning coffee and frequently throw in a bagel, cinnamon roll or scone, shift that one habit. Instant oatmeal takes two minutes to prepare in the microwave and five minutes to sit down and eat. Think you can build in ten minutes into your morning routine to make this significant adjustment to grow your body better?

Exercise is the other priority that quickly falls off the list. Forget the gym. It can be inconvenient and for some people once you are home for the day – you are home for the day! With an inexpensive exercise ball and a pair of good walking shoes, getting in 30 minutes of good exercise a day is purely a matter of choice. There are tons of at home exercise programs online if you need that guidance. But a brisk walk through the neighborhood, some ab crunches on the exercise ball, push-ups, and good stretching are going to give you great daily progress toward building your body.

Brain

Turn off the TV. Walk away from the Guitar Hero. Feed your brain. Daily growth isn’t about huge dramatic “look at me” type changes you will have a hard time holding onto in the long run. Make a minor shift in the right direction. For example, what do you read? The newspaper is a dinosaur that will disappear. Besides, it usually is loaded mostly with bad news information that doesn’t help you grow. The most popular magazines also are more along the entertainment avenue than the mental growth avenue. My favorite magazines that grow my brain are cheap and packed with mind expanding information. Inc, Fast Company and Wired are my monthly mental fix that I enjoy as much if not more than my Sports Illustrated. Also make the effort to read a book a quarter that is business based that will help your business brain grow. I keep a stack of four in a back log that I work through. I read with a note pad and a highlighter to capture ideas that I want to implement, review and hold onto.

Another way to grow your brain is to network with people that expand your thinking. Small steps here as well. Find a monthly meeting to attend that you feel expands your mind. I know there are certain people that can drain the energy out of a room and there are certain people who stimulate my thinking and I no longer network with the brain drains and I seek to get to know the mental stimulators. Find that local group for you and plug in your brain for a recharge.

Business

Growing your business has already begun if you have done the stuff I mentioned previously in this article because it will make you a more alert, more energized leader and that translates directly to the bottom line. To grow your business incrementally takes subtle positive steps just like in the other areas of growth. One positive step to grow your business is to challenge your managers to engage their minds in a growth mentality. For example, I was advising a board chair of a non-profit on some planning issues for the coming year and he mentioned to me the board was concerned about the current economy and there was going to be a short fall on the budget so they were going to have to either leave staff positions unfilled or cut programming. I asked him how far off are they from the budget and he told me roughly $40,000. I said next board meeting post on the wall in very large type the number $40,000 and tell the board they have a responsibility to go find that much money.

Why focus on the short fall and eliminate a position? You don’t grow with that thinking. Set the expectation of growth and set the tone of responsibility to go find that money by being creative, by accepting nothing less than a full effort and commitment to get that short fall covered. It doesn’t take genius to grow a body, a brain or a business. It takes drive, commitment and perseverance to be a growth entity. Set the tone.