Amanda Setili* says there is no time like the present to take charge of your life and create a reality that better suits your purpose.
Each of us has certain historical truths that together seem to define the reality of our lives.
Maybe in January of each year you get a raise that’s somewhere between three and five per cent, or each year you get three weeks of vacation.
Perhaps you run a section that’s chronically under-funded or under-appreciated.
That’s the way it is, right?
Wrong.
You can change your reality, if you are willing to pay the price of change.
Most people who say: “I can’t do anything about it” really mean: “I am unwilling to do anything about it.”
Change would be too risky, difficult or stressful.
Groups, just like individuals, can change their reality, too.
Perhaps your team always gets told at the last minute how much your budget is going to change in the year ahead (usually for the worse).
You can wait for it to happen again this year, or you can proactively seek to change the dynamic.
Maybe three months ahead of time, you should deliver a comprehensive presentation that outlines a different vision of your group and its deliverables.
Or perhaps you can find other funding sources for the level of activity you believe makes the most sense.
If the past 18 months have taught us anything, it should be that change can happen much faster and more dramatically than we ever imagined.
Change is not something that just happens to us; it can also be something that we affect.
I realise that most readers of my column are proactive professionals who understand how to make change happen.
Yet, I’d like to suggest that each of us has certain areas in our work and professional lives in which we still underestimate our ability to change reality.
A quick example: I know many people who spent a couple of decades thinking they could not do anything about their horrible commute.
Then came the pandemic and the ability to be a star at working from home.
The more expansively we contemplate change and our ability to make it happen, the better able we are to create a reality that we truly love.
*Amanda Setili helps successful leaders and their teams agree on what needs to change and how to make it happen. She is author of Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets. Amanda can be contacted at setili.com.
This article first appeared at setili.com.
