The other day I was lamenting the day yester-me (the name I’ve decided to give the me of yesterday) had set up for me. Perhaps “lamenting” is too soft a word; I was cursing yester-me as only a Kormanik, raised in that house on Cleveland Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey could.
You see, I’m a planner. I invest 15 minutes at the end of each work day to plan the following day; the things I’ll do to set myself up for success. If I do the things on the list, success isn’t just possible, it is inevitable. This planning session is done when the first word of tomorrow is yet to be written; it’s a blank slate on which anything, ANYTHING, is possible.
Which leads me to the other day wherein yester-me had set an aggressive schedule for the present-day me (I’ll just call that me from here on out) beginning at 4:00 a.m. with a networking meeting (one of two 120 minute networking meetings I’d be attending before 9:00 a.m.), and ending with scheduled calendar activities at noon. Doesn’t sound too terrible of yester-me, does it? Here’s the thing, yester-me also had three relatively heavy-lift items on my list I complete. There were also a few other tasks on my agenda as well which, if completed would feel good as wins.
After my final scheduled meeting, I looked at the list of things to accomplish and thought to myself “$%#*^@*! I’m damn tired and don’t feel like doing those things! I’m just going to blow them off, I can get to them tomorrow.” I continued, “what the HE🏒🏒 was yester-me thinking? How could he do this to me??” (Of course…he IS me!).
To be clear, this is not the first time I thought yester-me tried to hose me; I’ve had this reaction before.
That’s when it hit me. What if yester-me actually had it right and believed in me more than I believed in myself? It was a subtle and important shift in mindset. What if instead of treating yester-me as an overly optimistic and masochistic enemy I, instead, thought of him as a friend who believed in my capabilities more than I believed in them. What would that mean for me in planning and goal accomplishment?
Think about it: if you take invest the time, as I do (and as you ought to consider doing) to plan the following day out with your high-priority and high-leverage tasks, the things which will move you forward in business or life, oughtn’t that plan be ambitious? I mean, if yester-me doesn’t stretch me, I will not grow.
Also, yester-me set the bar when he was calm and unstressed. He was strategic when he looked at the master list of things to complete this week to empower me to move forward in achieving my goals. He wasn’t maniacal when he set the bar, he was ambitious, which, if I’m being honest, I want him to be. Yester-me was definitely coming from an anabolic space (for those familiar the Energy Leadership model, Level 5 or even 6). Today, I was looking at the bar when I was fatigued and with more than a bit of catabolic energy (in Energy Leadership, think Level 1 or 2).
As an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, I know the worst possible mindset for me to make a decision is when I’m stressed, in other words, when I’ve got predominately catabolic energy, Level 1 or 2. My thought that yester-me was trying to somehow give me more than I could possibly handle put me in that place of stress. That was before I changed my mindset and thought of yester-me as an ally thereby releasing that stress.
After taking investing 20 minutes to walk, clear my head, and lean into the concept of yester-me as friend not foe, I got back to work and was able to check all the boxes for the tasks set out for me that day. WINNING!
Then, you know what I did?
I went about setting the priorities for the next day, being sure to stretch tomorrow-me enough to grow but not break. In other words, I did exactly what yester-me had done to for me the day before.
And, so, the cycle will continue because this is the cycle which will allow me to achieve my goals and create the vision I have for my future.
You may ask: John, why did you write this post?
The purpose of this post is three-fold: First, to let you know if you’re a planner like me and, at times, look back at yester-you and consider them a maniacal enemy, perhaps you ought to consider an alternative and get to work on the things you committed to doing, even if only to yourself. Second, I wanted to let you know if you fall into this kind of mindset, there is a way out. Finally, the mindset shift I had will forever be out in the world and, the next time I’m cursing yester-me, all I need to do is come here, read these words, and then get to work.
*If you’re an attorney wondering about the Energy Leadership concepts discussed, shoot me a message or schedule an appointment with me. I’d be happy to talk.