You are more productive than you think.

The 7 Year Itch.

Last night, I couldn’t sleep. I began a long conversation with myself when this happens, and for some odd reason I listed all the major life milestones passed in one 7 year stretch. I started with the year I turned 18:

• Graduated from high school (1992 at age 18)
• Kia and I were married (1995 – 21)
• Graduated from college (1997 – 23)
• Received my first “real” job (1997 -23)
• Made my first career jump (1999 – 25)
• Purchased our first house (1999 – 25)
• Kessa – our first child – was born (1999 -25)

Wow, pretty impressive series of events. I thought, “That is kind of a fluke. It was my first years of adulthood.” So I did the same thing with the next 7 years of my life:

• Received my first (and only) coaching job (2000 – 26)
• Witnessed 9/11 – I remember where I was…I’m sure you do too (2001 – 27)
• Sold our first house & purchased our current home (2001 – 28)
• Renovated and then moved into our current home (2002 – 29)
• Sephine – our 2nd child – was born (2002 – 29)
• Resigned from church position to join the family business (2004 – 31)
• Co-created and directed Senior Portrait Artists & Robert Andrew Designs (2005 – 31)
• Chilton – our 3rd child & first son – is born (2005 – 31)
• Grew spa from 50 person conference to over 200 (2007 – 33)

What about you?

Take a moment, look back through your life. Look at either the last 7 years or the first 7 of your adulthood. List all of your achievements, milestones, and history. I bet you’ll be surprised about what you’ve done.

Grounded present but future focused.

So what? Why did I just tell you all of that stuff?

I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts lately. A favorite is Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast. In a recent episode he talked about a pitfall many leaders fall into – being too forward focused.

When running a business it is so easy to become focused on what’s next. It’s natural to look into the future 2, 5, 10, 20 year goals or plans. The problem is that you don’t take stock of what is happening right here, now. You lose focus on what is most important – family, friends, self, health, story.

So Stanley suggests looking forward, but regularly stopping to look around. In essence that is what I did last night. I looked around. While I feel like I’m not accomplishing much at the moment, I realized I don’t have a wider angle view of my life.

We need perspective.

When we stop to look around, we connect with ourselves and others. We hear what is really important. We find a larger, global picture of our lives, business and art.

I needed the perspective I gained last night. I can’t see what my next 7 years are going to be (exactly), but I know that I will continue to move forward. It’s my pattern; it’s what I do. Though I may feel stuck now, I will continue to new and greater things.

Stop. Breathe. Look. No matter what you are dealing with, this practice will give you a better picture of where you really are, and where you are really headed.

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