Resolutions for 2015? Enjoy the play!

The New Year is almost there and this is the time to think things over and look back. What went well, what to do more of and what to do different?  In the last couple of weeks I have reviewed the year with a lot of my clients. And what I got back was very different from the year before.  Everybody is much more optimistic, sees opportunities they want to jump on and are much and much more relaxed about the next 12 months than they were last year. There is a distinct “now that we have got this we will not let it slip away” kind of feeling.   A combination of action and reassurance that it will all work out.   Is there room at all for some 2015 resolutions to secure this feeling?  Yes there is one or two worth mentioning.

Seize the opportunity – don’t let limiting beliefs stop you from achieving

“A sailor should cross the ocean if he has a boat; a general should defeat the enemy if he has an army; a poor man should milk the “cow of plenty” if it is within his reach; a traveller who wants to go to distant lands should pursue his journey if he has an excellent horse”.  An old saying from Shabakar Tsogdruk Rangdrol and still very true. Don’t forget to act and with joy and enthusiasm step into the new opportunities. Don’t let your self be held back by all kind of limiting beliefs. You will have too many blind spots and miss good opportunities.

A very serious play – write the next scene yourself

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with a very talented C-suite executive who I will call Brian.  He was hire to support the -  second -  attempt of a massive turnaround in operations, finance, marketing and HR. Private equity was getting ‘impatient’ and there was quite a troubling legacy of lawsuits. Long hours, tough decisions in the first couple of weeks. And Brian succeeded. When we reviewed the first month Brian concluded that there had been a couple of things that had helped him to get through. Taking the time to reflect and make sure he continued to see the wood from the trees was one of them. What was happening in the system? Who took what position and what was their direction in the force field?  How did they react to his interventions? But more and most: he was able to see the play that he was part of. And consequently started acting as the star player. Very serious using all his skills, knowledge and competences. He revealed that the moment he started to see situations as part of a ‘play’ he started to enjoy it. And that made the results came almost ‘automatically’. Brian’s 2015 resolution: reflect and look at the play you are in. Only then you will write the next scene yourself. It will best the piece of theatre you have ever seen.  Enjoy 2015.