What Lies Ahead
I attempted to set my goals for this year last week [Week 2].
However, it felt there’s still something missing.
Much of what I’ve written may not be considered as “goals” as they are all a continuation of what I was already doing. That means those goals were already reached. Done. Finished. Checked
If there’s anything I need to do with them, it would be to preserve and improve BUT then again they are not NEW.
Coming up with new goals took a while. In fact, I had a hard time setting them. Why? I pretty much have everything I want.
This also explains why I couldn’t come up with a gift I would want to receive. Again, I’m already happy and content with what I have.
However, I’m also aware that if I let this drag on – stay as is, do nothing new – that happiness and contentment will be taken away. Why?
Complacency. Complacency kills passion. It leads to boredom and it robs your appreciation of whatever success or happiness you have right now.
The “suffering/challenges/journey” you go through serves as a baseline for the feeling of “appreciation/happiness/contentment” you will feel. Yin and Yang.
This explains why we feel good and so much better after surpassing some of the challenging shit we go through in our lives.
That being said, I need to “put my back against the corner” – set up goals that are challenging and borderline impossible to achieve. Aim for the moon but crash on top of the mountain.
So I took a trip to Staples to print a few copies of a goal setting template (I received from one those e-mails I subscribed to), filled them out and posted them on our fridge.
Why would I do that? To keep me accountable. It serves as a daily reminder of what I should be focusing on TODAY.
I could’ve written that down on my journal – keep it private. But that also means I have to open up my journal every day and flip through the pages to remind myself of my goals. I wanted to say “too much work (when really it’s not)” but let’s just say that posting it on the fridge makes it more accessible.
Unappointed Leader
This week we were invited to join our Sales Annual Strategy Meeting. One of the activities/competition we participated in was to craft an elevator pitch in one hour.
We were split into different groups and each group consisted of employees from different departments.
Now it would make sense for me to talk about sales pitch BUT what I found more interesting is the group dynamic.
There are three characters I noticed during this group activity:
- The Unappointed Leaders – the ones who have the strongest opinions.
- The Yes Men – the ones who agree to everything.
- The Corner People – the ones who stay in the corner but does not really participate. Perhaps they’re clueless?
For this exercise, I played as one of the “corner people”. Why?
Everyone in the group seemed like they knew what they were doing. It’s almost like there is no need to do anything – so why chime in and add to the clutter of amazing ideas?
Ok, team effort I get it. But the “unappointed leaders” don’t really give a fuck about what you think. At best, they’re just being polite. My move
At first glance, I may look like a bad team player. But the truth is, I think I’m doing the opposite. How? I give the “experts” the spotlight – to let them show to everyone how knowledgeable they are about the subject.
I let them disperse all the ego energy they’ve been wanting to exert to the world.
I do this all the time whenever I’m with someone who seeks validation of their greatness. Sometimes, looking like you don’t know sh*t is not a bad spot to be in.
But HOLD a second before you miss the point I’m trying to make—
I’m not saying you should avoid helping out and be a bad team player. That’s not what I’m saying at all.
If your group needs help, by all means, HELP.
However, half of the time, there’s always that someone who speaks for the group whether the group agrees or not. And everyone just follows along and try to be polite to that person.
I’m that person. I follow along. Why? I use these opportunities to practice diminishing my ego 🙂
Because really, let’s be honest…
No One Cares About the Good Stuff
We are often more attracted to tragic or sad stories. They sell. People engage with them. This explains why I’m a little reluctant to share some good news (about myself).
And because they’re about me, none of it will make your life a little better. They only serve my ego.
But for documentation purposes (because I’m going to look back to this at the end of the year). Below are the good things that happened this week:
- Design-A-Bus exercise EXCEEDED my expectations – this exercise I designed did so well it reached the President of our Engineering Department.
- Chef Jep – worked the kitchen almost every day.
- Writing the Future – finally got my 2019 goals set up.
- Total Blackout – finally got the blackout curtains I’ve been meaning to buy since December.
- Made to Fit – got my black pants fixed by the tailor. This isn’t really a “good thing” but there’s a story behind this – which I can use in the future – assuming it fits the context of whatever I’m writing about.
What about you?
Can you name 5 things you are grateful for this week?
