Time to Think

Some thoughts to consider when you slip away from the office to reflect on how things are going:

• What changes do I have to make personally in order to achieve the progress that I hope to make professionally?
• Is it likely that I'll achieve professional progress without making personal changes?
• What have I learned from my opponents?
• How can I stop focusing on removing my weaknesses and instead play to my strengths?
• Out of all of my current responsibilities, which one, in ten years, will I probably say that I've shortchanged?
• Do I have a tendency to overcommit? Why?
• Which aspect of my job do I dislike the most? Why am I still doing that?
• Which part of my daily activities should be delegated to others?
• How many of my important activities are in a "drift mode" instead of a "deadline mode?"
• Which of my virtues has become a vice?
• Does a striving for perfection produce a form of paralysis?
• Do I overwork in order to compensate for a sense that my job is a poor fit?
• Do I set aside sufficient time to complete projects or do I try to complete projects in between the time that is consumed by meetings?
• Have I committed myself to community activities that drain energy, produce little, and detract from my family or spiritual life?
• Do I have a clear and appropriate sense of my goals for the year? The month? The week?
• Have I translated those goals into my daily activities?