Yesterday I came across a meme that read, ‘the pandemic has been going on for so long that I got into shape and got back out of it.’ I let out an instant gasp as it echoed my exact sentiment. Not only have I slipped out of all good habits I’d formed in the initial days of the lockdown, I have spent a good amount of time feeling guilty about not writing regularly (as is evident on this blog). My initial excuses of too much work, that even the oldest HR bloggers are disappearing off the sphere – all fell flat when I realized that I’ve been losing steam for two months now. Of course, the excuses are real – there is too much work, HR bloggers are finding new avenues and it is ok to slack. However, it can’t go on forever and definitely does not excuse myself from not spending time on things I value most.
The meme was just the first sign that the universe was giving me. The second followed in the form of an introduction to a new framework. It is a framework that exists in some book that someone showed me a picture of and surprise, surprise – is not to be found on Google. So I am going to recreate my impression of the framework here and we will use that to frame our 31-day challenge for September.
Think of the framework as three cogs in a wheel; all of which need to run in balance for the system to work. The circle of ‘me’ defines placing our own world in a state of balance. This includes our personal space, aspirations, dreams, home and everything that relates to us as an individual. The circle of ‘us’ defines interpersonal relationships with family, friends and colleagues. The last circle is the circle of everything else including work. Setting all of them in balance also follows the same order. It is impossible to have the circle of ‘it’ revolve happily without ‘me’ and ‘us’ in place. It is ludicrous to expect ‘us’ to function if the ‘me’ isn’t well set.
Why do we need a framework to tell us something that sounds like common sense? Because if you are anything like me, you allow work to eat into all other circles and forget to prioritize what’s truly important.
September is the month of re-balancing – one wheel at a time. It is time to let the wheel of ‘it’ run as it wishes to while we bring our focus back to ‘me’. There’s a big change coming my way and I for one have decided that I am going to sift through everything I value most and find a way to turn that into habit. I never want to run two months with a messy morning and night time routine again. Or of forgetting to create to-do lists and then creating ones with 25 things on them. It is 8 days past the start of September but it is early enough to start. Oh – I will also re-attempt at least 2 posts a week on here. Tall order but I will try.
Per usual – the challenge to self is my challenge to you. Let’s not boil the ocean. Let’s pick three critical things that we need to restart or get in order this month in order to spin our ‘me’ wheel better. And then by 2021, we’ll have the three cogs run so smoothly that no one in the world can stop us from winning. What say? You with me?
P.S: Don’t quote me on the above model. It’s likely that I got it completely wrong. And then we’d have one more framework in the world of a million. Which may not be the worst thing to happen.
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