Photo by Benjamin Davies
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of another term. You’ve done it! No doubt there have been some misfires, dropped balls, and a few times when everything has seemed just a little icky and maybe a bit stuck. But you’ve made it anyway; like you always do. It almost seems against the odds. But it never is because you always do make it. No matter the circumstances. No matter what.
We’d like you to take some time and celebrate that; some time just to breathe and say to yourself, “hey you, you’ve just done a damn good job, and you can be proud of how you’ve made it through”. Because no matter how anyone sees it, there is no-one on this planet who has done what you have done. There is no-one who has had exactly the same experiences as you. And therefore you can(and should), be proud, because only you really know what that has really involved; what that has really meant, in terms of energy, sacrifice, fortitude and patience. Go you!
Now, after you’ve celebrated, take a little bit of time just to think of your future self. I’m not talking about some unknown character in twenty years time, but that person in two weeks time. You know, that person who will drive into your place of employment, park their car in your favourite car park; fill your favourite cup full of coffee; and put their feet under your work space, take a huge breath, and begin the new term.
And ask this question: Will your future self love you?
You’ve got a couple of weeks now to lay this foundation.
What sort of things do you need to put in place, so that your future self will say – “Far out! That ‘me’ from two weeks ago really did a great job for me and got me into a fantastic position for tackling the new term.”
I reckon if you’ve got some crappy things to work through work wise, then your future self will probably love you if you get these little nuisances out of the way sooner than later. That way you can rest and enjoy the majority of the break away.
And after you’ve done this I reckon your future self will probably love you if you give yourself plenty of time just to be you. And when I talk about you, I don’t mean “Principal You”, or “Leader You”, but “You, you”. There’s only one person in the world who knows what that really means to be you. And being that particular YOU for a great part of the next couple of weeks will put you in a great position for the next term.
But trust me, eat the frog first. Get rid of some of the crappy things off your to-do-list first. And then go and find yourself.
Your future self will love you.
Steve