I enjoyed a great dinner-time conversation with a colleague in Colorado Springs last weekend. We met on a Saturday, after I had spent a training day with a few of my cycling coaches, and he had enjoyed a football day with his son...needless to say we had more than enough to talk about with just those two things!
But, our conversation spun around different topics of management philosophies, leadership programs and working with his executive coach. Toward the end of dinner he asked something to the effect of:
"How do you know if you're doing what you need to do?"
Well, this really grabbed my attention. And, the rest of the conversation revolved around a couple of things:
1) If one asks that question, my first assumption is that they are not there yet. Apparently, and I have not read it yet, Barbara Walters wrote about how it took a looooong time to get to "what she needed to do."
2) "Doing what you need to do..." implies that there is more than what is going on right now. And, this follows my belief, nay mindset, that balance is an illusive oasis that most people dream of, but never achieve. Nor, would they really know what to do if they made it there! You see, I have learned over the past few years that this is true:
Once someone achieves something they thought was a goal, they set the next one. They graduate high school, they go to college. They go to college, they major in something special. They get a job. They get married. They have children. They...and, you know, the list goes on. There is ALWAYS something next.
Now, the question, "How do you know if you're doing what you need to do?" is a good one, that still has me thinking. My research project for June is settled (and, for those of you who know me, you know I do a research project each month): I'm going to ask people, "Are you doing what you know you need to do? Tell me about that..."
I am looking forward to the learning!
PS: Thanks, John, for dinner!
