Are you strategic???

“What?” you say!!  “Isn’t strategy about five year plans?  I have no idea what’s coming at me later today, let alone plan for five years or even one year out!!”

If this sounds like you, then I suggest that you get your head up!  Right now you’ve got your head down, nose to the grindstone, battling everything that comes at you. You’re drinking from the proverbial fire hose. You are living in the tyranny of the urgent, fighting fires, spinning wheels, with no strategy other than surviving the day. That’s no way to work, or live!

I suggest that you take some much needed time to reflect and re-group. Get out of reaction mode. Breathe!!  Right now you have about 10 weeks to year end. Give yourself some time to THINK.  Begin with the end in mind: What are the two or three most important things for you to achieve in these next 10 weeks?  What’s it going to take to make that happen? What’s your plan?  Who should you involve in this plan? What’s the timeline? What hurdles might you face? How can you navigate those hurdles and potential pitfalls? What new and different approaches might help you achieve your goal? This is being strategic. 

And you will have some choices to make. You will need to say “no” to some things, so that you can say “yes” to those things that align with your purpose, your priorities, your goals. Be deliberate. Be purposeful. Be focused. Be strategic.

And while you are at it, give some mind space to 2016 . . .