Motion, Movement or Momentum

Stuck is not a fun place to be, is it? Routine is one thing, but a feeling of stagnation, of not being able to break through a plateau, can be demoralising.

We instinctively feel the desire – the need, even – to push through and make start making progress again.

When you find yourself in this situation in one or more areas of life, it’s helpful to keep in mind the difference between Motion, Movement and Momentum. 

What Penguins Can Teach Us About Creating A Successful New Year

“Once upon a time a colony of penguins was living in the frozen Antarctic on an iceberg near what we call today Cape Washington…”

So begins John P. Kotter‘s classic organisational-change fable, ‘Our Iceberg is Melting‘, in which the Emperor penguins Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and No-No (we all know that guy, right?) must confront the challenge they are facing, and learn to successfully change as a result.

Widely considered to be THE change guru in the world today, Kotter is perhaps most famous for his eight step process for leading change, which he first put forth in his classic book, ‘Leading Change’. In ‘Our Iceberg is Melting’, Kotter took those same eight steps and placed them in the context of a simple story, to great effect – it, too, became an instant classic, selling more than a million copies over the last decade.

Businesses and organisations around the world have utilised the principles modelled by Kotter’s plucky penguins in order to execute change and reach their goals, and so too can we, as we face a New Year and all that we might hope to achieve within it.

What Season Is It?

This year, I’ve been learning a valuable lesson about the power of defining the seasons I am moving through.

At the start of the year, I completed a great digital planner by Alison Hill to map out my year. I’ve already written about choosing my ‘One Word’ for the year through that process. What it also helped me do, though, was map out my own stages, or seasons, for the year. This has been incredibly powerful! Let me tell you why –

4 Apps that can help you manage life more deliberately

Part of living a deliberate life is the work of mindfulness, of choosing the best over the good, and of working to align our decisions and behaviours with our values.

Another part is the practical day to day of living it out.

That’s where the right tools can make all the difference.

In this post I want to share 4 apps that I find incredibly helpful in allowing me to filter, process, action and organise the stuff of life, deliberately.

How to conduct a great mid-year review (on yourself!)

For lots of companies, the end of financial year is also the time for mid-year reviews. Perhaps you’ve just completed one for your role or your team. But have you conducted one on your own life?

We’re now halfway through the year, and it’s a great time to look back to what you wanted to achieve this year, and forward to how you can head towards the best possible December 31st!