Change is in the air

If you've been reading along, you'll know that I've had two great experiences lately. The first was attending the '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' seminar. The second was reading, 'The Happiness Project'. Both of these experiences resonated very strongly with me and have resulted in some big shifts in my thinking and doing.

As a result, I'm making a few changes.

There are a few little things; like no TV nights, writing a daily one sentence gratitude journal (sounds a bit 'Oprah', but is helping me focus on all the great things I have to be thankful for) and taking time out for fun.

And there are a few bigger things; like creating my personal commandments (or personal mission statement as Mr Covey refers to), goal setting, committing to an exercise routine and making sure I stick to my new weekly and daily planning routine.

So far so good, but feel free to drop me a line and make sure I'm sticking with my changes!

Habits

This week I spent 3 days locked away in a training room at work. To some, this might sound like a strange form of corporate torture. For me, these days were the best days I've had at work in a long time (maybe even ever!)

I've just completed the '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' signature program and wowee, what a great program it is. I'd heard about some of the elements before ('big rocks' and 'sharpening the saw' to name a couple) but I'd never read the '7 Habits' book or attended one of the workshops before.

I'm feeling really inspired and committed to living the habits.  In particular, writing my personal mission statement is something I am super excited to complete. I've been feeling a little adrift of late and I now understand why; I haven't formalised what I stand for, where I want to be in life, what I want my legacy to be.

I think this was the most powerful component of the workshop for me; thinking about my legacy, what will I leave behind, what will people say about me at my 80th birthday? Take a moment to think about that last statement, it's incredibly poignant.

So this weekend one of my 'big rocks' will be to allocate some time to drafting my personal mission statement and thinking about what I want my legacy to be. I can't wait.