Sunday 1 January 2017

2017 – It’s time for REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE …


Those who know me well, know where to find me at dawn on New Year’s Day … must have sand between my toes, feet in the waves, wind in hair, facing the sunrise and saluting the day … after the mandatory wake-up coffee, of course. Bliss!  Also my favourite spot for creative thinking and productive writing, I will have more exciting news about that in my next blog.

So it begins - the dawning of a New Year in remote Far North Queensland … and with it – a heightened sense of excitement, anticipation, motivation, and determination.  Well … that covers the first day or maybe even the first week; then by end of January, many of us get sucked back into the same old routines, roles and restrictions to please others or to fit in with the expectations of the ordinary & comfortable crowd. 

Yep, there always seems to be those who feel the need to slow you down to their comfort zone pace; like somehow, there’s a risk that ‘you might just get a little too far ahead of yourself, and fail’ [NO! – not failure! – we can’t have that!]; or, perhaps their fear is more about you getting ahead of them? Whatever the reason; it belongs to them. 
Their journey is their choice … their fears, they own.

So, back to those New Year’s resolutions … While I don’t believe in making new goals and plans only once a year [quarterly is a far better approach], I have to admit; the Xmas to New Year break is an ideal time for quiet personal reflection. When you live busy lives focused on helping other people’s development, organisational development, community development … it’s important to stop and reflect on your own personal development plan: 
1. What worked well?      
            Action:  Do more of that stuff!

2. What didn’t work well?
          Action:  Try another way or focus on something else instead.

3. What did you learn?
         Action:  Use these learnings to self-improve and to assist others.

4.  What was a significant waste of time, effort or money?
          Action:  STOP THAT!  Time is better spent on developing Actions 1, 2  & 3.

Now, to share some of my personal learnings and 2017 action goals:

My #ONE 2016 learning … [more of a reminder STOP THAT! slap], is: I can’t change others thinking; that’s up to them … and they won’t make changes, if they don’t see a problem with it.   There will always be the comfortable crowd who, by our very presence - [visualise: a pair of proactive, solution-focused game changers, hell-bent on making a positive difference for this community], makes them feel uncomfortable.  Letting  them go …

My #TWO taking from collective 2016 experiences … Reality is: it’s actually NOT a crowd of naysayers; it’s just a handful of people who are stuck in the belief of their own shitty fear stories.  The truth is: there IS an overwhelming local community desire for positive change; especially from the biggest demographic age / life stage group … who potentially are the future community leaders.  That’s exciting opportunity …

My #THREE 2016 learning … [shows up every time I do personal reflection]:  MUST trust my gut feel! My intuition is almost always ‘spot on’ … especially when my inner alarm bells go off, when things don't add up.  Accepting unethical behaviour is not OK for me. One thing I will never stop is: asking ‘why is it so?’ questions with curiosity – from a genuine need to understand, so that I can choose the right response … that way, never compromising on my own values.   Intuition rocks … Integrity is a 'must have' ... 

Of course there were lots of wonderful 2016 achievements to celebrate; like the awesome feedback I received from our Workforce Vitality clients, many valued new connections with like-minded colleagues, and the positive growth 11 women from our local Cooktown ElevateHER - LEAN IN to LEADERSHIP Circle have experienced … all of these things feeding into some pretty exciting goals and plans for  2017. 

Here’s just a hint of what’s planned for 2017:
  • Book writing – [YES! – finally ready and committed – Authors Academy Retreat  - Jan-Feb 2017]
  • Write more blogs and articles [Can’t believe I only posted 3 blogs in 2016, blogposts scheduled for fortnightly action this year]
  • New offer - quick access mentoring for our Workforce Vitality clients [individual leadership development focus]
  • New support - regular online interaction with our coaching clients [to support their leadership journey]
  • Community Development programs [for local business managers and future community leaders]
  • 2017 ElevateHER – LEAN IN Circle - #2 for Cooktown [15 local ladies have already expressed interest – kick off mid-Jan 2017 … exploring #3 circle option]
  • ME time [the obligatory healthy eating and exercise plan, and daily scheduled personal development research and reading time].

With an on overall, purposeful and passionate focus on encouraging, enabling and empowering game changing leaders, it’s little wonder we’ve named this year:
2017 - The year of revolutionary change.
Join the movement ... be a gamechanger.