CRC Consulting, Inc. - Leanne Cusumano Roque - Change & Transition Specialist

Help! I'm on overwhelm!
December 2005

Hear this tip! Audio 4:13 min

At this time of year, we often feel there is far too much to do and far too little time to do it. What can we do?

First, we can manage what we do control. If you think there is some truth to the statement that idle hands are the devil's tools, or just have a strong preference for doing, you may have scheduled 100% of your time. What's wrong with that? Well, life doesn't always happen on a schedule. If you are already scheduled out, what do you do when the unexpected happens? When a child becomes ill? When it takes you 10 hours to accomplish what you allotted 3 hours to accomplish? When a friend calls and asks you to go for a walk in the falling snow? When your spouse surprises you with a gourmet dinner? When your coworkers invite you out for an impromptu lunch? Allow yourself time to handle unexpected events that you must, as well as time to participate in unexpected joys. As you make your plans, account for about 65% of your time. Leave 35% of your time so you can choose what you want to do when the unexpected comes along.

Now, knowing that you want to account for about 65% of your time, how do you choose what you do? First, be aware that how your spend your time, energy, and resources is always your choice. Make conscious choices. To do this, you must know what is important for you. As you consider your options, use your Life Purpose* and your most important values. For example, is it more on purpose and in line with your values to bake cookies from scratch or spend time with someone in particular? Is it more important to exercise or enjoy time with your family? Or do you need to exercise in order to enjoy time with your family? Ask yourself which option is most on purpose and most in line with your values. Select the options that are best for you.

With your choices, and allowing time for the unexpected, manage your time to accomplish what you want. This is significantly easier now that you have identified what is important for you. Write down the most important doing and being for you to accomplish in a particular timeframe. Some people write down their Top 5 every day. Some write down their upcoming top accomplishments for a two to three week period. Use the timeframe that makes you most successful at accomplishing what you want.

Finally, delegate what still needs to get done but is not on purpose for you. Ideally, find someone for whom the item is on purpose, and let that person shine!

Remember, to banish overwhelm:

Account for about 65% of your time.

Make conscious choices.

Manage your time.

Delegate.
By selecting how to spend your time, energy, and resources, you banish overwhelm from your life and feel satisfied and fulfilled!

*Can't articulate your Life Purpose? Contact me! Identify your Purpose in a special Life Purpose meeting or as the first meeting of our coaching.

Next month:
How can I achieve my goals?

How can I lead if I don't have any power?
November 2005

Hear this tip! Audio 2:49 min

You want to lead yourself and the people around you but you have no power, you say.

Examine the lives of people you know. Talk with them. Who do they consider the leaders in their lives? Who are the leaders in your life? How many of these people are leaders with explicit power?

Think about the people you know with explicit power. Your boss. The President of the United States. The lifeguard at the local pool. Does the fact that these people have power make them leaders for you? Or is it some other set of characteristics that makes a person a leader in your life?

Consider John Adams, the first Vice President and the second President of the United States. Mr. Adams was a leader long before he held these titles. He served a pivotal role in the formation of the United States by securing the first loan for the United States, despite the fact that he had no official role in the country from which he obtained the loan and no official instructions from home to secure that loan. If Mr. Adams had not secured this loan, the United States might not have survived its infancy.

Consider the air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Control Center. On September 11, 2001, they made the decision to ground all air traffic. They did this despite the fact that they had no official authority to do so and no official information regarding additional definite threats. If they had not grounded all air traffic, it now appears there would have been additional tragedies on that day.

Write out a list of characteristics that describe the people you follow willingly. How can you adopt those characteristics that are right for you?

Next time you hear the audio tape in your head playing the I have no power tune, consider the characteristics you have identified that make a leader. Which can you call on to accomplish what you want as a leader?

Next month: Help! I'm on overwhelm!

How do you handle the time between ending and beginning?
October 2005

Hear this tip! Audio 4:09 min

You have made an ending. You want to move to your beginning, but somehow the beginning is just not starting!

You rack your brain. You have completed all the training you need. You have lined up your resources. You have said farewell to what you needed to let go of. Somehow, though, you are having no luck. Everything you start seems to lead to a dead end. The universe simply is not cooperating. What is going on?

Chances are good you are in Between. For someone who is used to accomplishing a lot, Between can seem a horrible place because you are accomplishing few to no visible results. Dr. Seuss, in his marvelous book Oh, the Places You'll Go! talks about The Waiting Place, where Everyone is just waiting. Between can feel a lot like The Waiting Place, but Between is different because you reach Between purposefully. You have, as Dr. Seuss says, race[d] down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and gr[ou]nd on for miles across weirdish wild space. People in The Waiting Place are just waiting. They drifted into The Waiting Place without purpose, and they take no action to leave. You ended up in Between because of deliberate choices, and you take action to leave it.

Between does have a use for those who arrive at it as a result of choices. Between is the place of being rather than doing. Your job is to recenter yourself and clarify your intentions. Between makes sure you complete your job by keeping you there until you succeed.

How can you recenter? You need the time and space to allow yourself to integrate the changes you have made or are making. Some find camping, hiking, or several days of uninterrupted time accomplish this. Others find meditation or yoga helpful. Coaching can help you clarify your intentions. For some, leaving daily routines is not a choice they want to make, and so they integrate their changes in stages, finding time to do what they need to do to recenter as they can.

Part of being Between is managing your expectations. Depending on the magnitude of your change, you could take a few days to a few years to become the new you. Allow yourself the time you need. Acknowledge what you do accomplish. Clarify. Center. And then .... you will begin!

Next month: How can I lead if I don't have any power?

Are you in transition?
September 2005

Hear this tip! Audio 3:30 min

How do you know if you are in transition? If you have moved to a new job, changed fields, reorganized your company, retired, or made another change, you have experienced or are experiencing a transition.

Why does being in transition matter? Often, we make changes and expect everything to work out wonderfully, immediately. Recognizing that a transition is occurring helps us adapt to the natural flow of making changes.

First, we must let go of the way things were. Then, we must experiment with how we want things to be. Finally, we can fully accept the change.

If you want to see how transitions work right now, track what is happening with the people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and what is happening in the government with emergency management. Each of these groups faces a tremendous change, and their ultimate success will depend on how well they make a transition.

How can understanding transitions help you? Simply flicking the change switch will not get everyone on board. Knowing how transitions work can help you make changes successfully.

For example, if you made business changes recently you may wonder why people still tend to follow the old ways. These people have not yet reached an ending. They are holding on to the way things were. This is completely normal. Knowing this, you can anticipate the behavior before making a change, or identify the behavior after making a change, and decide what you can do to support your people in ending.

You may have people who are extremely creative in filling gaps left by the change. These people have accepted that the old way has ended, but do not yet see their needs met by the change. Recognize that they want to contribute to your success, and identify the creativity that will help your change succeed.

You may have had advance notice of the change, and therefore already be at the beginning. Identify what helped you end and through your time of experimenting and creativity. Be patient with those in other transition stages. Determine what you can do to support your people through transition.

Soon, you will be through this transition and on to the next change.

Next month: How do you handle the time between ending and beginning?

The following tips are available as .pdf files and as .mp3 audio files:

August 2005: Are you taking care of yourself first? Audio 3:01 min
July 2005: Got angst? Get rid of it! Audio 3:37 min
June 2005: Can't get going? Audio 3:47 min
May 2005: Want to predict your future? Audio 3:04 min

Tips for Living
Brought to you by
Leanne Cusumano Roque, Success Coach
The Third Week of Every Month

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