Do you have faith in where you are going? Are you on the right path or is it time for a review and possibly a change of course? As we enter the 3rd quarter of the year a personal review might be in order. I found some excellent resources in the blogscape that may help.
Steve Pavlina has a post today about being a 7. Do we really want to be a seven or do we want to strive to be a 10?
Steve puts it this way:
A frequent question I ask when trying to improve some area of my life is: If I were to rate this area’s current performance on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst imaginable and 10 being the best imaginable, where am I right now? Very often I find that areas get stuck somewhere in the 6-8 range, usually at a 7. A 7 seems very close to a 9 or 10, but often a 7 is a local maximum — you can’t get any higher by continuing the follow the same path that got you to that 7 in the first place. You’re already at a peak. The only way to reach a true 9 or 10 is to climb back down (sometimes back to a 2 or 3) and take a new path.
How many times do people get stuck at a 7 and remain there for years? Is your job a 7? Your health? Your relationship? Your family life? Your self-esteem? Is it likely to improve much if you keep heading down the same path you’ve been on for the past year?
I think Steve is on to something here. We might need to retreat back to that fork in the road and take another path.
Bert, over at Open Loops is doing a complete review of his “blog roll” or site links.
He mentions the following concerning his site listings: In my process, which is much like my weekly review, I focused on this blog for a while and noted that the blog roll had grown way out of date. People that I read for a while, no longer draw me in, for one reason or another. Perhaps it was inconsistent posting with a large number of days going by without a post. Sometimes I noted that the direction of the posts were going in a different direction than what I need. I’m more of a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy, with a need for clear processes and procedures, concrete doable items that yield a benefit to me. I never was one for long essays on reflection, although I’m sure I should be.
In response to my “tune-up”, I’ve removed my blog roll and am going to rebuild it. I can rebuild it. I have the technology… Better than it was before. Better . . . stronger . . . faster — Oops, that was the Six-Million Dollar Man, wasn’t it? In any case, my intention is to create a “Site of the Week” and highlight one blog or web site that I find intriguing, insightful, and, most of all, useful.
Great idea Bert. I’m looking forward to your reviews
Lisa Haneburg has a tune up kit for a quarterly review on her site
She asks the following questions: Are your cylinders firing? Is your team running at tip top shape? Do you need to top off goals or rotate priorities? Our organizations need periodic tune ups to perform efficiently, well, and to avoid unplanned breakdowns. As we finish the second quarter, it‘s a great time to plan your quarterly tune-up. What, you don’t know where to go to get a quality tune up? Fear not, an organizational tune up is easy to do. All you need is the “Supreme Service – Do it Yourself Kit“
Wow Lisa, I didn’t realize I had a couple of misfiring plugs and a clogged air filter. Thanks for the tune up!
Is the path you are one the right one? Is it choked with weeds and thistles? Are you just in a valley on your way to the top or is your path leading to a dead end?
This poem comes to mind…
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost
Do you have faith in the path you are on?
