This is one of my go-questions when I feel I’m becoming too tactical. In my own business I am very much committed to the long game, to a vision of the type of work I would like to be doing in a decade or two and of the value I can bring (and create). This then informs what I focus on in the short-term. In fact, each day is planned to make some contribution to that larger vision.
This doesn’t mean that I won’t do work today that will be forgotten in a year – the nuts and bolts of running any business quickly fade from memory – but I am continually switching timeframes to get a sense for how what I’m doing today might fit into a larger narrative. Do I have the right processes in place? In short, are the results I would like to see aligned with the habits I am following each day?
Playing with timescales thus allows you to create a vision (set a goal if you like) in one timescale and then focus on process in the shorter ones (habits, routines, rituals). This can reduce the decisions you have to make on a daily basis while ensuring you make progress on what is important for you. I actually explore this in more detail in Episode 2 of my Time Academy Podcast.
Questions in the Image:
- What timescale am I playing at?
- What do I want to accomplish: i) This month? ii) This year? iii) This decade?
- Where do I spend most of my thinking?
Want to Read More Around This Topic?
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown (link to Amazon.co.uk). This book emphasizes the importance of focusing on what truly matters in order to achieve meaningful results across your world. It provides actionable advice on how to eliminate distractions and prioritize tasks that align with your long-term vision.
Nurturing Curiosity – Daily Practice: This is part of the Nurturing Curiosity series of tools, insights and questions designed to help nurture curiosity as part of our daily practice. In point of fact, every interaction we have is an opportunity to question what we are observing and how we and others are seeing the world. Also remember that questions come in many forms throughout our day – a beeping lorry in the distance is asking What do you need to look out for in your life? Where are the dangers ahead? What about the ones you cannot see or hear? Being heavily influenced by Zen thought, I can personally thank these questions for appearing and let go of worry, whilst at the same time reflecting on where I might benefit from paying more attention in my life: What might I be ignoring that is becoming a problem?
About Tom O’Leary
Tom guides bold pioneers through inner transitions towards regenerative futures.
His primary offering – through a process he calls Ecological Coaching – is about working with leaders on the mindset, skillset and structural shifts that will power their organisation’s outer transition.
This means helping leaders thrive while creating ripples of positive change within their organisation and most importantly for the communities they serve and ultimately life on this planet.
It is thus not just about the leader as an “individual” but rather as part of an ecology of relationships. Within this ecology, he helps the leader feel heard, gain clarity, take action, build confidence and thrive all in service of something bigger.
How Might Tom Help?
My first invitation is to take maximum advantage of the free content on this site.
- As you are reading this, you are clearly on a fascinating journey. If you feel you would benefit from us doing some work together on some aspect of your journey, please explore this page: How Can I Serve?
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