We can look inward during this period to work on healing ourselves. We can’t wait for life to return to normal. Things will never be the same, but we can focus on making them better. This is the time to examine what is most important to us and to take steps in the right direction. As Vivian Greene said, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain”.

So what makes you want to dance? Happiness correlates with having a cadre of good friends, the ability to forgive, serving others, and expressing gratitude. As Viktor Frankl said, “…Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.”

We can thrive during trying times, but we need to create and implement strategies to do so. Some people ask, doesn’t it take away all the spontaneity if you create strategies to achieve joy? That may be true, but there is nothing spiritual about failing to find and nurture those things that fulfill your deepest desires. So start this process by looking at what lights you up from the inside.

With the current surges in many US states and countries around the world, this pandemic is showing no signs of abating any time soon. This has many people seriously asking for the first time, “Is this really what I want to do with my life?” We can use this time of crisis to examine our lives, find purpose, and flourish. Mark Twain taught us, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Given the work we do, we are often asked, what is our purpose in life.

Sanjiv’s mission is “To fulfill my dharma to teach medicine, about leadership, and about happiness. To do it grounded in humility and with an ardent desire to learn every single day. To celebrate with gratitude my family, friends, colleagues, students and patients who inspire me in countless ways. And in some measure, inspire everyone I encounter on this amazing life journey.”

Allison approaches each day by asking “how can I optimize my joy and impact in my work and relationships?” That always includes collaborating with esteemed colleagues and helping clients, friends and family be their best, most fulfilled selves in career and life. And let’s not forget sharing a belly laugh or two. That work starts by helping people define their singular purpose.

What is your purpose in life? Your personal mission is where your talents and passions collide with the needs of others and the world, according to author Matthew Kelly.

To get perspective on your talents, set up a video call with a friend and tell them about an accomplishment you are proud of – you got a promotion, gave a great presentation, threw the best salsa dance party ever – and tell them what skills you employed that made you so successful. Then your partner can tell you what other talents you must have used in addition to those you listed. That provides you with awareness of unique skills you possess but don’t recognize as special because they come so naturally to you. Then be sure to return the favor to your partner!Once aware of your skills, draft your personal mission statement. With a sense of your purpose, you are ready to set some goals. Having goals will help you be mindful of your priorities when deciding how to spend your precious, limited time. As Steven Covey said, effective leadership is about putting first things first.  You are the leader of your own life so let’s look at how you can put these principles into action every day.

Strategies to live each day in harmony with your purpose

1. Say an affirmation

As your head hits the pillow each night, say an affirmation such as “I envision enjoying happiness, good health, friendships and serving others every day”. Neuroscience informs us that during sleep the brain consolidates memory and figures out solutions to challenges we are facing.

2. Exercise regularly

Exercise has many health benefits including optimizing mental health. Hippocrates once said, “If we give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” Studies have shown that exercise is as good as anti-depressants and without the side effects, in treating many patients experiencing depression. There is even more benefit if you can find the opportunity to get out in nature while moving your body.

3.  Meditate

Find time daily to experience silence, to pray or to meditate. Meditation leads to a number of subjective experiences including feeling tranquil, happy and anchored. Objectively, there are positive changes in the physiology. In one notable example, there is brainwave coherence and lengthening of telomeres, which prevent damage to our chromosomes. Shortened telomeres are linked with cellular aging. Longer telomeres are seen in individuals who meditate, who exercise and who drink coffee.

4. Set daily intentions aligned with your goals

First thing each morning, before looking at your phone or getting into conversations, create a vision of a successful day. Write down what you wish to accomplish and highlight the 1-2 most difficult tasks.

Tackle the hardest tasks first before allowing yourself to become distracted by non-essential activities. Perhaps they include writing a chapter or revising a resume.  Do that to start and then it will feel like the less challenging tasks such as calling a friend or ordering a book online almost take care of themselves. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you practice putting first things first every day.

5. Create and nurture meaningful relationships

Besides economic concerns, perhaps the challenge people are struggling with most as this pandemic shows no sign of abating any time soon is maintaining meaningful connections with friends and colleagues while observing physical distancing and working from home.

We both see countless individuals in a variety of professions in our work, many of whom are feeling isolated and alone. Many note suffering from “Zoom Fatigue”. While connecting via video is better than nothing, it does not provide a full substitute for human company.

Be sure to schedule time to spend safe, socially distant time with family and friends. It is particularly important to plan ahead because we are no longer casually running into people and making dates on the fly. The good news is that it is relatively easy to find times that people are home and available for a visit and the video visits do render geographic distance a non-obstacle.

6. Express gratitude

One direct way to feel good is to take a few moments to focus on what we are most grateful for. Keep a gratitude journal. Robert Emmons, a leader of modern positive psychology research, has demonstrated that writing down three things one is grateful for daily leads to a substantial increase in one’s happiness. Keep the journal near you and if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, write down at least one thing or person you are grateful for.

And let’s not take others’ work for granted as we get “used to” living in this pandemic period. Continue to reach out to others and tell them how much they mean to you. Make a point of thanking employees stocking the grocery shelves or doing other jobs essential to your well-being. Remind them of how important their work is. Show the people who are meeting your needs that you see them and appreciate their contributions. Give big tips if you can and smile more (even if it is covered by a mask.)

Just Do It!  Think of something you can do to move forward toward achieving your goals. Commit to doing it and letting your light shine – TODAY.

By Allison Rimm and Dr. Sanjiv Chopra

The post Connect to Joy and Purpose During These Difficult Times appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

We cannot always control events around us, but we can control our response to them. For a long time, I was among those who would often see my life as a series of events to get through. I’d go to work knowing I’d have to have a difficult conversation and would just hope to survive it. I’d even find myself going to a social event I’d been looking forward to for weeks, but when the day came and I was tired, I’d tell myself I just want to get through it so I can go home and rest. Once I committed to find the joy in daily life, I’d do what I could to boost my energy before heading to the party and then focus my attention on enjoying the company of friends. With this new intention, I’d approach the difficult conversation with compassion and look for the common goals we shared so I could focus the conversation on how to help the person find a positive path forward rather than simply confronting their bad behavior.

Beyond adjusting our responses to what confronts us daily, we often have more control over what we do when it comes to living the life we’ve always wanted. Going into 2020, we can focus on creating a vision of what a positive, successful year looks like for us to live our best life personally, professionally, and as part of the global community, whatever that means for you.

Try this exercise. Envision yourself on December 31, 2020 looking back at the year coming to an end. You have just had the happiest, healthiest, most successful year yet in all areas of your life. What did that look like? Imagine yourself telling your family, friends, and colleagues about all of your great experiences over the year and what you did to make them happen. Once you can see yourself describing this outrageously positive year, think about what you would have to do starting now, in January, to be ready to describe the outcomes this coming December.

Then, as the Nike commercials used to say, “Just do it!” Make a commitment to something to make this vision come to life in the coming week. It can be as simple as going on line to look at the curriculum of some educational programs you’ve been considering or as audacious as finding the courage to apply for a job you worry is beyond your ability to land. Pick something meaningful and just do it. Once you get some momentum going, commit yourself to taking regular positive steps toward achieving some of the accomplishments that will make you feel like 2020 was an amazing year. Put a recurring appointment on your calendar each week to take some action, large or small that will make you feel happy, fulfilled or satisfied in some way.

Regardless of the outcome of your efforts, find some satisfaction in the fact that you took positive actions. Celebrate your successes along the way. If your results fall short of what you’d hoped for, look for ways to improve your approach based on your experience and try again.

Here’s to keeping focused on finding the positive in daily events and taking action to achieve our own definition of success!

The post Position Yourself to Thrive in 2020 appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

As life gets more and more hectic, most of the spare time we once had for casual conversations around the water cooler or the dinner table has been engineered out of our days leaving more and more of us feeling isolated and alone. The increasing trend toward remote working and the constant use of technology only furthers our solitary pursuits.

One of our most basic human needs is to feel seen, heard and understood. While the workdays of professionals such as consultants, doctors, and lawyers, among other disciplines are filled with appointments, they can still feel cut off from their social supports as time for meaningful connections with friends and colleagues increasingly disappears.

And it doesn’t appear to be much different at home. Our personal lives have become so overscheduled that many of us practically need a spreadsheet just to manage all the weekend activities. Have you ever paused to reflect on this and come to realize you can’t remember the last time you actually looked your loved ones in the eye and really saw them as the special life partners they are?

Several of my clients have told me that one of the most valuable things they get out of their coaching is that their need to have someone understand how their mind works is met. That can help them make decisions that use their strengths and meet their goals.

So what can you do about this situation? You can start by being present for yourself. When is the last time you actually looked yourself in the eye and saw the special person in the mirror looking back at you? And make a practice of regularly stopping to think about how you feel about a situation before making a decision about how best to approach it.

At work, consider spending the first few minutes of every meeting you have with close colleagues to check in with one another about what is most important and what you can do to help each other. Make a point of looking them in the eye and reflect back to them your understanding of what they just said so they know they’ve been seen and heard. Schedule some time to spend alone each week to contemplate what’s most important to you in the various aspects of your life.

And for goodness sake, whether you live alone or with a partner, make a commitment to date nights even if it means staying in and playing a board game, watching a movie, or reading a great book while listening to your favorite music. While you may actually have to formally schedule it, take time to connect with yourself, friends, colleagues and partners. Really listen to what they have to say and express yourself so you are clearly heard and understood. It doesn’t have to take a long time, but the payoff will be tremendous when you feel more connected to the important people in your life – starting with your own special self.

The post The Joy of Being Seen and Understood appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

Do you have more time on your hands than you know what to do with? That question always gets a big laugh in my career strategy workshops where improving time management is a top priority for participants. Despite that desire, taking control of how they spend their time remains an elusive goal for even highly accomplished professionals. Escaping the tyranny of the to-do list once and for all requires a fresh, vision-driven, strategic, and organized approach.

Managing your time effectively begins with the realization that you are unlikely to ever complete every task on your list. Once you accept that fact, you will see how critical it is to set priorities.

First Things First

Many people find a visual representation of what’s on their list very helpful in determining what they should tackle first. The Importance/Urgency Matrix is a simple tool that works well for this purpose. Try plotting each item on the grid below. The closer to the upper left corner of the grid you place an item, the sooner you will likely want to complete it as it is both urgent and important. Items on the bottom right – neither important nor urgent – belong on your not-to-do list. You will want to be sure you address all important items, urgent or not. Consider putting important items that are not time-sensitive on your calendar if they will take significant time to complete. This will help ensure you get to them in a reasonable timeframe. In the context of everything else you have to do in a given period of time, evaluate whether it is prudent to address the tasks that are less important but time-sensitive.

Getting the Work Done and Off the List

Now that you’ve limited your list to the essentials, set yourself up to be efficient to complete the work. I keep my list tucked in the clear cover of a durable folder and put color-coded files in it that hold everything I need to complete each task so it is at my fingertips when I’m ready to work on it. Make a regular practice of reviewing your to-do list to keep it current and items ranked according to priority. Make sure you put appointments on your calendar to be sure you’ve left enough time to accomplish any time-sensitive task on schedule.

Don’t Forget to Celebrate

Doesn’t it feel great to complete a project and cross it off your list? Don’t forget to celebrate and enjoy the feeling of a job well done. If all you do to mark the occasion is get up and walk around the block or pour yourself a cup of tea, take a moment to appreciate yourself for a job well done.

The post The Joy of Getting the Most Important Things Done – On Time appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

Come on, you know you want to do something. In my coaching practice, I see highly accomplished professionals from across a variety of industries—people who are capable of getting things done—stymied when it comes to doing something for themselves. Does that sound familiar to you? Why is it that you don’t follow Nike’s advice and just do it?

Just today, I saw a client who exemplifies one such reason many people face. Linda is a hugely successful entrepreneur in the financial services industry. She’s managed billions of dollars in assets for her clients. Yet, when it came to doing some homework to help advance her own personal and professional goals, she found herself resisting—until she caught herself in the act. At first, she saw this exercise as just another stress-inducing task that was taking her away from tackling her epic to-do list. But when she stopped to think about it, she said to herself, “Hey, this is for ME!” When she realized addressing her own well-being was deserving of topping the list, she was able to attack the project with genuine enthusiasm.

Still others don’t believe they deserve the object of their desire. Once again, it requires the effort to notice when you are saying no to yourself and to pay attention to why you are doing so. You can’t make any changes until you are aware of what you are doing. Once you see how your own thoughts or behaviors are standing in your way, you can make a different choice. One tendency I’ve observed is that many people feel like they have to eat their metaphorical vegetables before they have their dessert. My friend Jean was able to say “yes!” and fulfill a lifelong dream. Now she can be seen zipping around town and even speeding around a racetrack in her new sports car. She’s having a blast!

Finally, one of the thorniest issues people face is that they simply don’t know what they want. They may know they want to make a change, but don’t have a good way to evaluate the options in front of them. Sometimes, the considerations to be taken into account are so multi-faceted, it is hard to get a grip on which are most important and ultimately, what is the best choice. This was such a frequent problem for my coaching clients that I developed a tool to help organize their thoughts. It provides an objective way to assess some decidedly subjective considerations. If you are dealing with the need to make a decision factoring in considerations of both head and heart, take a look at my most recent HBR article, which presents this scorecard and a full description of how to employ it.

Now what are you waiting for? Just say YES!

The post The Joy of Saying YES!! appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

Most every American was eagerly awaiting the end of what felt like the longest, nastiest, and most polarizing presidential campaign in history. Regardless of how you hoped the election would turn out, chances are you were hoping the nation could move forward in a positive direction and begin healing.

That didn’t happen. People took to the streets in protest. Violence and vitriol have erupted in some communities – even within some families. Thus the sense of dread and fear of what the New Year has in store for us. But rather than just sit on the sidelines as helpless observers, I’d like to suggest that we change “That didn’t happen” to “That hasn’t happened yet”. If we can do something to inject some positivity into our own thoughts, perhaps we can then take positive action to help bring about the affirmative change we wish to see.

One of the reasons I love strategic planning so much is that, by its very nature, it is a forward-looking, positive process. When done right, it both affirms our purpose and forces us to define the results we are seeking so we can develop plans that optimize our chances of achieving them. Creating a vision of what we hope to achieve, by definition, focuses us on the future we wish to create so we can take steps to make it happen.

What better time to look forward to what we wish to accomplish than this dark period in our history that has revealed deeper discord than many of us knew existed?

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said,

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.”

These have been some dark days, indeed. Deep philosophical divides between and among Americans have been revealed throughout the election season. Think what you will about our next president, he would never have been elected had millions of people not felt so disaffected. The divisiveness has been building for a very long time and is not likely to go away anytime soon. Even as the next administration gears up to enter the White House ready to dismantle programs and policies that many of us hold dear, we are not entirely powerless to contribute in a positive way to achieving the worthy goals they were intended to address.

It is up to us to do whatever we can to light the darkness. So what are some things we might all be able to do to help create an America where every citizen feels welcome, safe and cared for? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Donate your time, expertise and/or money to charitable causes that are important to you. My family talks about the issues we most want to contribute to every year and selects one or more organizations to support. This year, much of the conversation focused on services the new administration is likely to cut and our selections are intended to help fill that void.
2. Participate in community events intended to promote diversity and inclusion, recognizing the value of all human lives.
3. Contact your elected officials and tell them to support legislation, policies and organizations you care about. Many in elected office say that a brief phone call by their constituents can be especially influential in shaping their views on important issues.
4. Band with other like-minded souls, or act on your own, to create programs that address a vital need in your community. Charity begins at home.
5. Practice random acts of kindness.

These are a few thoughts of how each of us can begin to act, right now, to start turning the tide toward a more positive 2017. I’m holding clear in my mind a vision of a united country where we care for and about one another and take steps to show that concern in our daily lives, speech, and acts of loving kindness.

If everyone can focus on a positive vision of the country we want to live in and take one small step toward creating that reality, we could achieve some great movement in the right direction. If even half of the United States’ more than 300 million inhabitants held up a single light, through word or deed, imagine how much darkness we could illuminate. Maybe then we can truly begin to heal the nation’s wounds and create a brighter future.

The post Lighting the Darkness: The Joy of a Positive Vision appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

It has been great experience in ways both predicted and unexpected. As hoped, it’s been wonderful to have smart people with different expertise and experiences to bounce around ideas and brainstorm solutions to thorny problems. What I hadn’t expected was that having friendly colleagues onsite would actually contribute some real balance to my work habits. Last Friday evening, Susan told me that it was time to knock off for her company’s holiday party. She was not impressed with my usual reply – “I just need to finish (fill in your semi-urgent task here) and I’ll be right with you.” She gave me a stern look and ten minutes to get it done. She was right and we had a wonderful time.

Balance. Joy. Sometimes we all need a little help getting what we set out to achieve. As you look forward to the coming year, may you have the inspiration and determination to bring your own vision of success into reality. And some caring colleagues to hold you to it.

I wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous, and of course, joyful New Year. Cheers to you!!

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So many professionals accept this condition as an unpleasant fact of corporate life. But it’s even worse than that. Chronic stress has been linked to heart disease, asthma, ulcers and other dangerous conditions. So if just wanting to experience joy and ease each day doesn’t seem like a worthy enough goal on its own, it is imperative that we learn to manage our stress for health reasons. Fortunately, there are several strategies and tools that can help.

Tools for Managing Stress While You Manage Your Work and Life

1. Good old fashioned paper and pencil – or an app

These quaint objects can take so much off our burdened brains when we simply write down the many things we need to accomplish. Sometimes I can’t remember what I went into the next room to fetch, let alone something that needs to be done a few hours from now. So, I’m a fan of keeping a pocket-sized notebook handy at all times throughout the day so as soon as I think of something that needs to be done in the next day or week, I can write it down immediately and refer to it throughout the day. This has the added benefit of giving you the ability to record an item your boss asks you to do as you rush by her on your way to a meeting that started five minutes ago, which you almost certainly would forget to do when you’re so focused on something else.

You can also assign a priority ranking for each item on your list and commit to completing the most urgent and important tasks before tackling those that are less pressing. If carrying paper around doesn’t seem convenient, try using the notes feature on your smart phone or a free app like Evernote that lets you create notes organized by folders that are stored in the cloud so you can access them on all your electronic devices.

2. Your Calendar

People often ask me whether your calendar is a friend or foe. The answer to that really depends on how you use it. If you just add an appointment to it every time someone requests your presence without thinking about
whether it is a good use of your precious time, it can be your enemy. But if you use it to schedule time to complete an important assignment or even – gasp! – time to think, it can be an indispensable ally. If a task has a clear deadline, I often bypass the notebook and schedule it directly into my calendar to be sure it’s completed on time.

3. Your Custom Life Closet

What’s this? It sounds strangely out of place, you may be thinking. This is a great way to record your goals for the short-, medium- and long-term along with what you’re going to do to achieve them. This is the subject of my recent article on HBR.org.

4. Comrades

Finally, having a friend or colleague to serve as a sounding board, cheerleader, and to hold you accountable can be a great way to stay on track over the long haul.

Recording and ranking your priorities can be a powerful practice to reduce stress while boosting your chances for successfully accomplishing your goals. Doing it with a friend can make the process more joyful – a happy side effect of sound medicine.

The post The Joy of De-Stressing by De-Cluttering – Your Mind appeared first on Allison Rimm and Associates.

The fact that I can worry too much is not news to me. In my work as a strategy and management consultant, mapping out possible scenarios and anticipating potential issues so they can be addressed before they become full-blown problems is a strength that serves my clients well. But when I blow a gasket over a blown fuse, that tendency doesn’t serve me so well.

Susan’s calling me out on my over-reaction was the gift of a true friend. She didn’t do it to criticize me. She assured me we could address the issues we faced together. She simply said, “Let’s make a list of everything we have to take care of, decide which things are most important, and just tackle them one at a time.” It was such a comfort and joy to have the support of a capable colleague.

Has anyone told you that you worry too much or – fill in the blank – too much and left it at that? When the statement comes alone, it can feel like an unhelpful putdown. But when it comes with an action plan like Susan provided me, it was a gift. Not only did she point out that my reaction wasn’t that helpful, she appealed to my more constructive self by showing me how we would deal with our challenges together. It was on point, calming and reassuring.

Frank feedback can be hard to take if it is delivered as a disparagement and left at that. But done constructively, the same criticism can be a priceless gift that leads to self-examination and personal growth. Remember that as you manage yourself and others. Thanks to Susan, next time the air conditioner blows a fuse, I won’t blow up myself.

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As hospitals increasingly migrate their medical records from paper files to digital media, their employees face the challenge of making the information readily accessible to providers while adequately protecting patients’ privacy. At my hospital, I was a senior vice president with a long track record of establishing successful programs, and I had oversight responsibility for my hospital’s IT and Health Information departments.

To make sure our 23,000+ employees were up to date on the industry rules, policies, and procedures they were legally required to be familiar with, my department heads and I created a robust training program. We went well beyond the minimum that the law required, creating a curriculum rooted in industry best practices. We could have just printed out a thick informational packet to give to each employee, but we knew the training program had a much greater chance of being effective. And we gave the program a catchy name to top it off.

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