Do You Need a Clear Path for an Uncertain Future?

I’m launching this blog in a very uncertain time. What I believe to be true, however, has been no more clear to me than it is right now.

First, we need to know who we are.  Second, we will be sustained if we do “first things first.” Third, we need to keep growing everyday by building productive habits. This is true for everyone, at all times. But it’s ESSENTIAL for leaders.

Discover Who You Are

How do you adapt when times are uncertain, or difficult? How do you deal with change? Your personality and your family of origin probably influence a lot of that. I recently received a health diagnosis during this pandemic that was a wake up call for me, and gave me time to think deeper about who I am and what I want to be about. Now, two months down the road from my diagnosis, I have never felt healthier or more alive. That’s because I took the time to finally get serious about my eating and lifestyle habits. But I did it knowing a lot about my personality and tailoring my response to fit who I am.

Do First Things First

Socrates famously said “the unexamined life is not worth living.” And the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “And this is my prayer, that you love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best….” We keep growing by examining ourselves and focusing on our main priorities. It’s what I discovered in my research on the “ideal self.” Really that’s just a fancy phrase for a personal vision for our lives. We start by reflecting on who we are, and then we chart a course for who we want to become and where we want to go. When we engage with aspects of our ideal self we actually find motivation and inspiration, and we can sustain actions that move us in a direction we want to go. This is not a one- time experience. We do this throughout our life, in various seasons and even from week to week. The power of identifying  priorities for our life is that it gives us fuel for actions based upon a clear vision of who we want to become and what we want to accomplish.  

Build Everyday Habits

Do you have any good habits you feel happy about? Are you a consummate “flosser” (I’m working on that one–the dental habit, not the dance which I gave up on long ago.) Probably not hard to identify the bad habits (why are you always calling out to me you diet-crashing box of cheesy crackers?). I love the research being done on habits. I read Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and since then have realized that the things I most care about deserve the opportunity to be pursued daily. You may have heard about habit stacking.  For example, I like to eat a small snack when I wake up, take my vitamins/medications/supplements, then get the coffee going. While I tend to my beautiful glass Chemex pour-over  I read through a daily prayer app on my phone that gets me centered for the day. Many little habits stacked together, hence “habit-stacking.” Really it’s just an example of one type of process that I commit to every day. I have built other processes and sequences in my life that help me pursue what matters most. They get tweaked from time to time and I experiment with what works and what doesn’t. But the point is to take those actions that are most important and do it daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

What I’m really getting at is our personality, our priorities, and our process. These three things intersect as avenues for continual growth and they are essential for us to thrive, especially in uncertain times and constant change. Over many years I have both failed and found success in understanding these three aspects of my life. In this blog I intend to share what I’ve learned with you so that we can pursue the path together.

Question:  Do you have a sense of who you are and how to live out your priorities on a weekly basis, so that you feel renewed and moving toward accomplishing your hopes and dreams?

Keep reading, and in my next posts I’ll look closer at these three aspects for our lives. And don’t hesitate to share your comments. If you’re looking for more growth in these areas email me at jeff@jeffgephart.com about what help you desire to pursue the path to your best self everyday.

With joy in the journey,

Jeff