Steve Jobs delivered this commencement address at Stanford, June 12, 2005.  It is definitely worth a read and serious reflection.

“You’ve got to find what you love.”

I couldn’t agree more!

Jim Carrey shares a personal story of letting go of HOW he wanted to achieve his dream. He focused on his bigger vision – to be creative. The rest is history.

Jim Carrey

I always feel the most ‘stuck’ when I have predetermined how I want something to materialize. When you let go of how you want something to occur you end up with something even better. That’s how the universe works!

Michele’s Group Coaching Class last night was a Mastery session — focused on advanced personal development.
It was a Mastery Q&A where we could bring up any relevant topics, themes, issues, or questions.

We began with the question of what it feels like to be centered in our lives versus not being centered — and we came up with a few things…

In terms of being and feeling centered, we came up with these qualities or traits:

— The sense of being fundamentally at peace, despite internal or external challenges

— Being able to maintain a soft gaze or non-defensive stance towards reality — being open to life

— Aware that we are not alone or helpless, despite what we happen to be facing — and that we do not need to completely understand or control everything

— Allowing for the presence of Mystery in our lives and situations

— Willingness to be humble and real

(Our True Self is present and in charge of our personality, rather than our ego)

In terms of being or feeling un-centered, we came up with these qualities or traits:

— A sense of being dis-connected/unconnected (rather than connected)

— A tendency to spin around and around in our negative thoughts, imaginings, and fears.

— Temptation to despair

— A sense of being on auto-pilot

— Behaving in mechanical and contrived ways — wanting to force solutions to our problems, coming up with elaborate schemes, etc..

— Feeling defensive

— Feeling scattered and un-grounded

(Our ego is frantically trying to maintain and keep control; it thinks that it has to manage everything — and everybody.)

After coming up with these lists, we gave examples from our lives of when we felt centered or un-centered. We also explored how — especially during times of stress and challenge —  — to fall back into tendencies to worry, fret, or fear, for example…

We then discussed different tools, techniques or things that have helped us to keep our center — or to find our center once we’ve lost it — and here are some of them…

(And please make sure to add what works for you in the comments section below so that we can all help each other with ideas and suggestions!):

1. Take a long two-hour walk in nature — in the trees, woods — on the beach, etc… (this ALWAYS helps! It shifts something — your energy, mood, sense of what’s possible…. you return feeling energized/invigorated/recharged — more calm…

2. Draw up a hot bath, shut off the lights, burn candles and listen to Gregorian chant or sacred music (Mozart Mass in C Minor, Bach Cantatas, the music of Josquin. The cd Messa Paschale/Cozzolani by Magnificat is my new favorite!)  What’s nice about this is that it eliminates harsh stimulation of any kind and quiets the mind. Being immersed in the hot water, seeing the flickering candles and the candlelight, and hearing beautiful, sublime, and uplifting music restores the spirit. It is also nice to throw some kind of scented oil into the water — perhaps patchouli or Egyptian musk or jasmine, lavender — just a drop or two; it changes everything! 🙂

3. Spend some time lying out in the sun. This immediately softens and calms the nervous system and slows down breathing… It helps relax the body and mind.

4. Take a 45 minute walk; don’t return until you’ve walked at least 45 minutes. This seems to be the magic number for me. Perhaps this is when the endorphins really do kick in!

5. Set a timer and write for ten minutes on whatever is troubling you at the moment — or whatever question or issue you’re wrestling with. Do not try to edit. Write as fast as you can and as much as you can. Write whatever sentences, words, phrases come to mind . If something really profound comes up and you need to slow down or pause to concentrate, do so. You will be amazed by what insights can be generated on their own from this simple practice. It can really open up the mind.

6. Read a beautiful poem that you like or a well-written short story or essay — or a chapter in a spiritual book.

What’s great about coming up with a list like this is that we can draw from it when we are feeling dull, nervous, scattered, fearful or out of sorts. We can pick one of these things to do, or — by reading down the list — we can think of other options that would more perfectly match our mood and circumstances.

The more centered we are, the better we feel — and the more tuned in we are to Spirit, nature, ourselves, and others. We are also much more open to looking at our problem(s) in new ways and being open to unexpected insights and solutions.

What other centering tools or techniques work for you? I would love to add them to the above list!

Back in 1981, Ken Blanchard wrote his #1 bestselling book, “The One Minute Manager”.  The book demonstrates some very practical and proactive ways to manage your people, all centered on the thought process of quick and focused interactions with your employees.  The end goal was an empowered team that was led by a proactive and focused manager.  Some thirty years later, it seems that our business culture has morphed many of our leaders into the “Got a Minute Manager”.  The “Got a Minute Manager” is characterized as being easily accessible, constantly operating in interruption mode, and micromanaging the team to the point that the entire organization operates with a short term, tactical focus.  The end result is a team and organization that is working harder, not smarter, and employees asking the question, “Whatever happened to great leadership?”  If you find yourself living in the world as the “Got a Minute Manager”, here are some steps to get you back to the “One Minute Manager” mentality:

 Take Back Your Time by Implementing Strong Boundaries

The key to ending your days as the “Got a Minute Manager” is to build some strong boundaries around your time.  The best way to accomplish this is to tell your staff that they are no longer free to interrupt or approach you whenever they feel like it.  Ken Blanchard suggested in “The One Minute Manager” to set up 15 or 30 minute touch bases once a week with your employees.  Instruct your employees to bring their questions and issues to their weekly touch bases.  If there is an emergency and they absolutely have to talk to you, set up two or three 10-minute times during the day where you have an “open door” to address those specific issues.  Taking this step will free up your time so that you aren’t in constant reactionary mode, and will allow you to have time to actually lead, instead of react.  Additionally, it will empower your employees to find their own solutions to problems, instead of constantly relying on your direction.

End Wasteful Meetings – Once and for All

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’” – Dave Barry

As the quote above suggests, most meetings are a complete waste of time.  If you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time in wasteful meetings, here are a couple of key things you can do to end this problem: 

• Have a written meeting agenda for every meeting you hold, and demand the same from others
• End your meetings with specific assigned actions items and due dates
• Make sure your meetings have a time limit, and stick to it

Following these three simple keys will eliminate 80% of your wasteful meetings, and open up huge blocks of time to focus on the two key areas every great leader focuses on, which is leading and developing.

Lead and Develop Yourself and Your Team

Great leaders do two things well – they lead their teams, and they develop the capacity of their people.  One of the main reasons that we have so many “Got a Minute Managers” these days is simply because managers don’t understand how to lead, and the power of developing the talents of their team.  So, it becomes easier to completely avoid these things by being ‘busy’ reacting to things all the time.  By installing some boundaries and managing your time, you can open up the time to lead and develop.

Great leaders take the time to understand the needs of their employees, and work with them to develop their talents so they can move up within the company, as well as increase their capacity to contribute to the team.  Now that you have extra time for this, set up a time to talk to each of your employees to have a discussion about where they want to go with their careers, and how you can help them.  Put together a formal development program, where you are meeting on a regular basis to develop your staff and provide them the tools and training to do so.  Additionally, be a role model by doing the same for yourself.

If you follow the 3 keys above, you’ll quickly make the shift from the “Got a Minute Manager” to the “One Minute Manager”.  The end result will be a team that works smarter, not harder, and an environment of development, growth, and superior results.  Now, go be a great leader!

Here is a good article on CNN, 10 Habits of Highly Organized People…

It seems to me it might be called, 10 Habits of Not-Normally Highly Organized People that Don’t Want to be Overwhelmed Anymore, because it is very good advice for those of us that aren’t naturally organized.

I find that people consistently UNDERESTIMATE how draining clutter and disorganization is for them!  Simplifying your environment and your life can have unexpected benefits to your energy and your outcomes!