Moving Forward with Conscious Focus For Your Success by Calvin Harris H.W., M.

Thumbs up to those of you moving forward with a Focus to the changes you are consciously making for Success.  ·

There is always going to be something that will try and keep you from going all-in on your unique take of how to do life and business.

Complications come from - Somatic brain and body things; Relationship things; Business issue things; Family things, and  Spiritual things.

Why do we make the choices we do? It’s a question worth asking because it ultimately determines whether or not we are living the life we choose for ourselves, or we are involved with wasted opportunity.

The true nature of  growth is to be conscious, as much as possible, to your choices. It is interesting to me to hear that Dr. Joe Dispenza,  a noted educator, researcher, author, and international lecturer says that by the time we are 35 years old, 95% of all our thinking is routine and unconscious. 95% of our life is conditioning and machine-like behavior! That leaves only 5% that qualifies us for being the free human beings we pride ourselves  on being.

When you do something unconsciously, we cannot call that choice.  And yes, we know that when it happens,  we can catch a glimpse of it by focusing on our choices and their outcomes. Especially if that outcome, which we experience, is the same one each time, because of unconscious repeated habits applied to situations that bring about outcomes we would prefer not to have happened, yet somehow we are expecting a different outcome.  A different outcome is not going to happen when using unconscious thinking and its emotional output.  We’re left to accept whatever comes our way. It leaves us with no choice but to try to get comfortable in whatever designated little box we have decided to put ourselves in,  telling ourselves that that’s just the way life is, even if we have to go numb to adjust to the situation, and we do that.

I Offer The Alternative:

That you are not stuck.

You are just committed to certain patterns of behavior because they helped you in the past.

Those unconscious behaviors have become what is defeating you in your effort forward. And these are the reasons you are not moving forward.

You must understand that if you want to work, live, and play at a different level, that to do that you must consciously level up - change your mind about the way you go about things and how you view them. Change your view and you change how the world is viewed.

So, you can either settle in and accept it - or you can finally exercise the Conscious  freedom you hold in such high regard. Freedom, however, requires consciousness. You owe yourself a journey of self-discovery. In order to be free, you must become aware of who you are - your tastes, your desires, your personal standards, your values. You must know what you stand for or you'll fall for anything that comes your way - and there's so much that wants to pull your attention these days. That's why you must be focused on what your ideal life is pointing to. Once you choose to be conscious in this fashion, you’ll discover a curious thing: You are in accord with your life path all along. You didn't have to figure it out. You didn’t have to be invented, you only had to be conscious to discover its clues. Who you are was already there and what those urging where and why you want the things you want.

I’ll be dropping some coaching events and opportunities for you to consider into the blogs soon.

Aloha

Keep Consciously Moving

Calvin

The Year 2023 Is On the Move! Are You? by Calvin Harris H.W.,M.

Movement is an interesting word.

Since 2005 my own personal mission has been to extend to others the developmental tools to seek the truth of their self,  and then for them to have the courage to think and act in alignment with that truth.

This is an ever-unfolding path. And in that movement, sometimes old patterns resurface to take over.

In my experience, many people go along with the energy they’ve always had because it feels ‘normal’ for them, even though that particular energy causes stress, conflict and keeps them from true happiness.

Remember there’s a difference between normal and natural.

Essentially, your personal development means looking at your life and recognizing patterns that cause you stress.

Maybe it’s that constant self-doubt, or that overanxious mind, or that constant negative self-talk or even needing that sweet treat after every meal. Your patterns are unique to you.

Whatever the patterns, and how that energy is made to flow, it can be transformed. A change of habit pattern, and thus energy flow, starts with recognizing them for what they are: “ways of doing things based on habits, beliefs and identity.”  Then you can make a conscious choice to create new patterns, new beliefs, a new identity and therefore a new reality for yourself.  

Transforming patterns can happen by combining new or different perspectives from ideas coming from the past  and future. It could happen from ideas coming from different cultures that you combine for use in the development of  innovative ideas for yourself.

James Altucher,  a founder and cofounder of over 20 companies, an American author, podcaster, and investment entrepreneur, suggests that to change patterns in your life you must start with connecting to the idea’s you have within yourself. You want to start by writing down ten random ideas a day. You will use those ideas to be exercises to build your idea muscle, that muscle will give you ways to incorporate within your daily routines, so that over time it will pay off with significant change within your life.

What I found interesting were the three heading types for lists  that Altucher  suggested for you to use to get your ideas flowing:

 1. Combine two IDEAS on SEX to come up with a better idea.

 2. OLD TO NEW: Write out ten old ideas that you can make new.

 3. RIDICULOUS: Write out 10 ridiculous things you would invent.

The practice of these lists will connect you in a fun way with concepts about yourself of which you may not have been aware.  

The practice of these lists can give indications to new patterns of thought and action which you can take to bring success into your life, and maybe a chance for you to fall in love with exploring your truth.

·        Be willing to get vulnerable and uncomfortable.

·        Seek your fullest expression.

·        Seek the truth of who you really are.

When you have a chance, drop me a line and let me know how its going.

Calvin

Thoughts To Begin the New Year - By Calvin Harris H. W., M.

A few ideas as we move into 2023

Here we are in January, as yet another year has come to an end.

Many of you have a special association with the Holiday season. Some with huge Christmas parties.  Others may have put extra pressure on themselves to hit their targets and engagements for a full social calendar that spans November through December.

There were those of you who were maneuvering around relationship issues for the holiday season, a time that seems to elicit family drama.

Yet with the ringing of bells and blowing of horns at midnight, we heralded in a new year on January 1.

We find Living seems to slow down after the 1st, all of a sudden calmer, and you a bit more mindful. Life seems to move at a different pace, you may have even taken a conscious different approach to how you will live the day, the year, or the rest of your life. Maybe between the meals and partying of the last months, you had come to some conclusions as to how you would close out the year and how you would begin this new one. Now that things have slowed, you may feel it’s time to prep plans or at least focus on your plans for the upcoming year.  

Yes, it is that time again to take a breath, to look around your world, or maybe even recline with some of those personal reflections on how the year went. You may want to track to see if your end game is still in sight, or has your goal line been moved up, or to see what could have slowed you down or stopped you from reaching your end goal  before the clock ran out.

Kudos for those who had taken to heart and done the mid-year “checkup” recommended July 2022,  because you may be a bit ahead of the game (See the July 26, 2022 -Time For The Half Time Huddle blog in siteofcontact.net ).

So, to be clear, I am not talking about making new year’s resolutions, but I am talking about planning the year ahead; I’m talking about potential changes in how you’d handle your personal life, business, or career life moving forward.

While we are looking forward to a new year, let us always be in the Now. We also want to be cognizant to Live each moment of our lives with self-compassion which will help us live each day fully present and focused on enjoying life. If you are not enjoying life, then that is a must to incorporate into your life plan.

This is to say  that we want to be balanced in our life, not only to stay practical ( yes, we still have to pay our bills, and still have responsibilities towards others), But to remember in your new year plan, to incorporate ‘enriching your life’, as if it was a survival mask that you put on first, to be able to carry out that feat for others.

Journaling is a good resource for focus about your goals, challenges, and accomplishments.  No matter where you are in life, if you are not journaling, you want to, for it is a good place to start to turn your life around or keep it on track.

Beginning a Journal in January would be a perfect time to start. Let’s Think about January 1st of each new year as a beginning to a  new start on life.  Then adding to that a journal each year as a way to create a new start with a clean slate. You can hit the reset button and do things differently, if need be. It doesn’t matter if you consider the past year a good or a bad year. Journaling gives you a chance for a better one in the Coming Year.

So, Celebrate or Cry over the past year. But never forget that life moves forward, and you are going to engage with it one way or another. Why not try consciously and doing it on your own terms.

Questions you would want to consider for clarity when writing  your journal are these:

What do you want to focus on in the new year?

What do you want to do for yourself, your relationships, or career, in this new year?

If you have planned out the year, then ask yourself what will you do if things don’t go according to plan? (Remember, it is not wise to think that Every detail  in a Plan will go as planned. Be prepared for setbacks.)

Think - What can I control? An example of this is if you are a writer, then you may say: “I’m going to publish one article a week,  and I will spend one day a week on promoting that article.” This is something You can directly see yourself in control of achieving.

Another example would be if  you were in business for yourself, you can’t control how many people buy your products without  focusing in on your effort and the effectiveness of your skills.  You may want to consider how many people is it possible for you to reach? What steps are you going to take to reach them? How well do you know your product or service, to have someone else want to purchase it?

A year is enough time to make a lot of things happen. One can make a big impact by doing small increments of working toward your goal each day, so that in time, after a few weeks to a few months, you will find you are mastering skills, working on your character, and building relationships that are better than you have ever had before.

In this new year you may find that chasing your dreams, might mean finding out that the time has come when you will have to stop doing what you are doing in the way you were doing it. You need to move it up a notch or have it disengaged from its present form. To do that, you will need to bring self-awareness. This will notify you as to whether to keep at it, or to decide if this is the time to pivot or quit a particular action.

Self-awareness is a skill that can take years to develop, or that can be shortened by working with a Mentor or Coach. When you use Self-awareness combined with Self-Reflection you will see that  Life is full of paradoxes, and like Alice in the Looking Glass, that there is never one relative truth or ‘right’ path. The only path that’s right for you is the path YOU chose, and that may not be the same one that you are on.

Self-reflection is a powerful way to discover your goals, strengths, and weaknesses. It requires space — a chance to quiet the mind and to be still, to take advantage of the options afforded to you.

Now with a focus and thinking about the new year, don’t forget to be in the moment, to make work equal play; To make time for self-reflection and to have self-awareness; and to have a good time engaging and enjoying the company of others. 

And when January 1st comes around in the following year, you wake up with these practices under your belt.  You are ready to make work into play out of your plans and goals; and you are looking forward to conscious success, one small step at a time.

Happy New Year.

Calvin

Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur by Calvin Harris H.W., M.

Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur

It is often asked by novices what is the one ingredient, tool, rule, key [or you fill in the blank] that will allow me to become a successful entrepreneur?

Sorry to disappoint, but there is no one tool, ingredient, rule, key, or anything else that will allow you to become a successful entrepreneur. For like a good meal, such as a good soup, it takes many ingredients in the right amount, added at the right time, to produce a successful soup; so is it with creating a successful entrepreneur.

Yet like water, found in all soups, to make the broth, there is an essential ingredient that you must have to drive success. That key attribute and operating principle that has been seen time and time again in successful entrepreneur stories; that causes the difference between successful entrepreneurs and those trying to be successful, is the ability to handle uncertainty.

Successful American businesswoman, Marissa Ann Mayer, an information tech executive and co-founder of Sunshine Contact, has a quote that illustrates this idea when she says  “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”

Another quote I quite like is Tony Robbins,  when he says:

"The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty we can comfortably live with."

So, I want you to think, are you an entrepreneur who is wanting to  live without taking a risk?  The tentative result seeker?  🤔

But  here’s the thing…

The challenge in Life is for  you to embrace opportunities in life.  Success is not hoping  that success will come to you a little bit at a time, but you have to decide to take action to go for it.

Ask yourself if you have the aspirations of starting a new business in 2023?

Or

Are you wanting to reignite  passion, excitement, and joy into your existing business to make it a success in 2023?

Then Do It! 

If you would like to talk over or flush out your plans with someone, contact me, and let’s talk.

From my heart to yours,

Calvin

Time For The Half Time Huddle by Calvin Harris H. W., M.

Aloha, Calvin here,

This past January of 2022, like every 365 days of the Gregorian calendar, I have reset and begun goals,  projects, and directions for the coming year, as I have done every January.  

Yet what I don’t always get around to doing, but I am more focused on of late,  is the mid-point of the year, which is in the month of July.  Around the 182nd  day of the year is the time I Look Back,  to slow myself down,  maybe even to stop, to recalibrate and gauge where I am, look around at my goals, projects, and directions, to see what has changed or is in a different form than when the year began? 

Athlete Ezekiel Elliott Photographed by Kwaku Alston

I need to take a breath, to look around my world, maybe even recline with some personal reflections. Is my end game still in sight, or has the goal line been moved,  or been tackled by unforeseen forces; what other maneuvers could be slowing me down or stopping me from reaching my end goal  before the clock runs down.

I might want to look at those additional projects that I’ve taken on, or re-examine my response to the positions of responsibility that I find myself in.

This mid-year huddle allows me to regroup, redirect and recenter myself as a scrum for my game plays ahead.

What is needed is the huddle before the scrum, which is the time of assessment and focus.  Thus, I’ve come up with a reevaluation of work and play habits, a retooling of  knowledge, skills and techniques that will enable me to move with a more efficient effective flow for my days and weeks ahead.

I still feel, if only rarely, guilty about taking a midyear huddle.  Something feels like a twinge, when I begin the slow down or mid- year stop. This feeling is brought on by what seems to be less work getting done, as the shift in routine occurs. It can feel as if  I’ve taken my eyes off the ball, thus I must not be working hard enough, even though research and re-evaluation is arduous in itself. This slowdown may seem to be  jeopardizing the goal.

I bring this up, for this is a state of awareness  you may need to be aware of; some call it a state of workaholism. This means the purpose of  why you are doing what you are doing, is lost for the sake of just doing. You need to be aware of the drivers of this state of mind; The illusion of being busy, or for  Praise,  Status, Money (aka your Beast).  What follows then is the Guilt when you are not continually feeding the beasts. The beasts can have a way of taking over your life, when there is no reflection, evaluation and course corrections.  When there is no change of view or alignment, then life is lived out of  balance.

It is a curse of some over-achievers, when they are feeling guilt and shame, because every day they aren’t just killing it – working to smash career goals or earning money.

I have had to look at that reaction within myself to see where that comes from, to reconcile myself to a more focused and balanced practice, rather than trying to keep things in perpetual motion. Through strategic thinking,  I’ve come to conclude that maintaining a Life/Health Balance takes a different focus.

Ask yourself — “Do I feel anxious or guilty when I am not working 12 hour days (being in motion) towards what I think are the job goals?

If your answer is “yes” multiple times in multiple situations, then it’s an early warning sign.

The unexpected breakthrough and release from this dilemma can be through time  spent in reflection of what is the motivation  of  your true goals and desires.  Maybe a  shift in consciousness and vernacular is what is needed. Can what you are doing under the word “work”, be changed to the word “play”? 

Stock photo soccer teammates

What are the things that happen when you play?  Can you  immerse your awareness in a shift from considering “work” only to a  “work/play”  balance. This allows for laughter, friends, fun, and humor.

Review the situations to make them fun in their discovery.

 You may want to try adding the words Play and Fun to your  vocabulary and daily use. Be warned,  the first few times you do it, because you haven’t scheduled it before, could mean you feel guilt or shame because you are not working.

In time, this  obsession will subside because of the new concepts you will come up with about “Play.” It could  become the antidote  for  burnout and anxiety.

You may create a new Vocabulary with  “play” at the center of it.  This allows you to stop taking life so seriously. You may even  announce that your work-colleagues or your friends, are now referred to as your “playmates to success”.

Each of us is responsible for our own life, the expectations we give ourselves and justifications for our workload. It’s our duty that we evaluate, conclude, and move toward an alignment with our authentic self.

The basic idea is that your success and what you want out of your job and career will change over time in direct proportion to your  alignment with truth, and the humor that happens along the way to discovering your authentic self.

I like the words of Christian Morgenstern when he said — “Humor is the contemplation of the finite from the point of view of the infinite.”

See you on the playground

Calvin

Manifesting Your Dreams And Goal by Calvin Harris, H. W., M.

Manifesting Your Dreams and Goals

If you are not manifesting your dreams and goals, it could be because of your weekly ritual or what some call Habits that are not allowing for it.

I would like to call your  attention to two ideas that can change everything about getting results:

1). We want to go beyond your ideas on achievement, to look at the quality of your Actions that are used to bring about your goals and achievements.  

AND

2)  More important than the ‘action’ is having an open, mentally fertile environment with others to allow for creativity and critical thinking to take place.  If you are in a state of mental isolation, your ability to take action can be hampered or killed.

We all, at one time or another, have been hampered, felt overwhelmed and unfocused, or have procrastinated over our best and boldest ideas, letting them fall by the wayside.

If you find yourself in this state,  stop beating yourself up over it and instead, look to the cause and perhaps a solution.

You see, it may be in your programing, in how you approach a situation, it may be in the way you have always done things in the past;  Projects you just jumped into; projects handled pretty much unconsciously, automatically processing them the same way you have done for decades. This type of action has been called working from your monkey mind, or on automatic pilot, or your habitual way of getting something done.

This is unconscious programming, which repeats within you, and determines how you focus, execute, and achieve projects, goals, and dreams.

If the aim for results do not appear,  and it occurs time and again, this means many of us are wasting time, energy, and money on what we think is our goals but turns out to be busywork that leads us away from our goals or buries us in a “paralysis of analysis”  or the chasing of bright shiny objects.

Then at some point, we must become conscious of our situation and say, “I have had enough.”

You may come to the discovery of needing to be supported and being accountable.

You may begin to seek help. It may be in the form of taking a class;   attending a group; or seeking a Mentor or Life Coach to work with.  Hey, these things can start to turn things around for you.

Working with others can allow you to break the chains of mental isolation.   Consciously tapping into your creative genius that allows you freedom from the cycles of mediocrity, and allows you to love what you are producing.

Yes, it may take a personal trainer, life coach, or mentor to get you the support and accountability you need.

That enables you to become more conscious of your goals and planning; To steer you in the direction you want to go, and to maintain the progress you want to achieve. This happens through regular check-ins, being held accountable, and having the support to keep you focused and on track.

The bottom line is that you want to reconstruct Conscious Intention over Automatic Habit Responses, informing new habits that consistently turn your dreams, ideas, goals into visible concrete results.

Contact me for a discussion about your needs.

Aloha,

Calvin

Masculinity Lived As A Positive Lifestyle by Calvin Harris, H. W., M.

This article is inspired by the thought of New Year’s Resolutions and a blog heading I saw that read - “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Being a Man in the 21st Century.”

New Year’s Resolution? A Gentlemen’s Guide?? Some would say two dubious concepts at best, did you know that only 8% of people who make New Year's resolutions actually succeed in achieving them? Given the small percentage of resolutions accomplished within a year; and given the small percentage of men who are, or consider themselves Gentlemen, begs the question,  is the term Gentleman even used anymore? I have heard men called bitches frequently, but seldom is a man considered a gentleman anymore, which is sad.

A Gentleman should not be separated as something different than a Masculine man; In past decades James Bond, 007, could have once, passed as a Gentleman.  This change of attitude can be attributed to the bad rap Masculinity has been getting in the last decade, and thus to account for the separation and disappearance of Gentleman.

Oh, I’ve gotten ahead of myself, I started with New Year’s Resolution (NYR’s).

The reasons why many New Year’s Resolutions (NYR’s) fail come down to unconscious thinking of life as being broken down into segments and not as continuous living: it is not based on “a  continuous life – using living goals as a strategy.  In other words, It is not set-up in the person’s mind as something they are going to do for life, and thus to follow through on as a permanent life change outcome.

If understood and framed as a “Life change goal’ with defined small steps within a long-term process, not a short-term or once-a-year shot. Then that mindset shift changes from making New Year’s resolutions to creating lasting change throughout your life and will allow for unexpected accomplishments rather than the limited possibilities of a new year’s resolution.

Now as to this idea of Gentleman in the 21st Century, nobody really knows what that is going to look like. So let us address the elephant in the middle of the room, Masculinity in the 21st Century, yes, that is the hot topic at the turn of the 21st Century, and yes like New Year’s Resolutions, it is a decision every man will need to make as to how he will live his Masculinity.

Masculinity, like New Year’s Resolutions, If understood properly, has to be framed as a “Life change goal’ It has to be understood as a long-term process, not a short-term, once-a-year resolution. Masculinity is active, evolving, and changing, and for you to achieve your vision of it, on a personal level, will take small conscious steps to accomplish, and these will not be without challenges, culturally or otherwise.

“The superior man is he who develops, in harmonious proportions, his moral, intellectual and physical nature. This should be the end at which men of all classes should aim, and it is this only which constitutes real greatness.” - Douglas Jerrold.

It seems as males, we are plagued by the shifting cultural demands made by societies on Masculinity, and what is worse, we then have to hear the laments of societies, as to was it enough? too much? or too little?  Know that these questions and scenarios have stumped many of my fellow males and at one time myself as to how to behave, what actions to perform, and decisions to make.

The answers to those questions can be vast, confusing, and lead you into some murky depths,  depending on how and/or who you learned to be masculine from. Which is a very different question than what is my identity as a Masculine Male?

The problem — and even more so today — is that the responses wanted or required by culture/society diverges from the previous set of standards of behaviors, some of those standard set as far back as the 1950s. That divergence of masculinity has been widening ever since.  These changes go beyond being taught car maintenance, or love of football, or how and when to fight, or even how to tie a necktie? I wonder, will these even be issues in the 21st and 22nd Centuries?   

Thus, a question comes up what or how were you taught to be a “masculine male,” and now you as an adult, who and what does that mean, look like, or acts like to you?  For many males, those descriptors of the last century that described masculinity, are not the best fit, for how the masculine male wants to feel, be known as, or to operate from today.

It seems we are in unknown waters here, and the persons wanting to be identified as a person of the masculine gender and is looking for role models and masculine image figures, just might find only confusion based on societal norms offer, especially since these masculine roles are in transition.

We live an amalgamation, meaning; perceived character flaws and virtues of past decades of masculinity are sewn together like a patchwork quilt. This is good news for you because this amalgamation is up for evaluation and change.

Perhaps a better question here is what would you want to present to the world as your life and thus how  would your life be lived?

Thus, this conversation probes and dig into a discussion about society and ourselves, as to expectations about what is masculinity? What does that look like in real-time? and Why does it matter?

We want to look at it because we want to identify ourselves rather than having media telling us who we are, through online discussions, oftentimes giving a skewed picture of Masculinity called “toxic masculinity” i.e. pointing to the failures, shortcomings, and flaws of living out today’ version of masculinity. The content of these discussions are recounted stories of  mistreatment, or the scorn suffered at the hands of male lovers, friends, and family members, that when these stories are told, imply that “all” masculinity is “toxic masculinity.” We do not want to infer that the construct masculine is the portrayal, that all masculinity is toxic.

We do not want to confuse the word masculinity with its adjectives, or its’ modifiers… any of those words that follow masculine as being masculinity. What follows that word, only tries to explain a possible aspect of masculinity, not masculinity itself.

Let’s stop here for a moment and maybe reframe our subject matter. The actual issue, here is that no one has a clue as to what masculinity’s actual role will be. We’re able to point to traits, some considered at this time to be deplorable, and say they’re a form of “toxic masculinity,” yet by definition masculinity has to have its own set of characteristics.

Food for example — by definition —  food isn’t toxic. It only becomes so, if it is spoiled, that is infected with bacteria which would render it spoiled. 

If you know the concept food, and it purpose and function, then it does not become difficult to tell the difference between what’s nutritional support and what’s spoiled. If you did not know the concept food, then, every sort of food could be toxic.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the approach we have taken with the term masculinity. and — as stated — no one is talking about the defining traits or attributes of what masculinity is. We see it mostly in context revolving around topics like girls, cars, money, or gym workouts, which is rather silly.

Instead, we should be asking What traits which are timeless and not aged with societal whim and fancy can we use to describe masculinity.

Traits that can be used as a lens to look through for the timeless essence that represents masculinity, that we would want to emulate, masculinity at its best, and that with whom most would agree are the hallmarks of a good man or used to denote that phase “traits of a gentlemen.”

There is much to chew on with this article and to wrap your consciousness around. I would like for you to write out your definition of masculinity for yourself and how you want to out-picture it in your life, and how you would want to change or modify what that looks like?

I am not having you do this exercise from the standpoint of for good or bad but to understand that you are the ability to create, conceive and manifest in your world, because your real identity is wrapped up in the concept of conceiving words as much as the action of the word. that you are consciousness, the ability to think, plan, and execute ideas that will change you and your concept of the world.

Thus, as a male, you can choose how masculinity will be expressed in your world. If you identify as female how that masculinity will be perceived and accepted into your world. Hmm it seems we might be both if an action of stating and then conceiving an idea to come forth. Joking we are talking about states of consciousness, that may be under and back of all of this appearance But that is a discussion for another time.

It will be interesting what you come up with and the conclusion you come to about yourself. I would be interested in hearing about it

Aloha

Calvin.

Circumventing Your Logjams by Calvin Harris H. W.,M

Circumventing Your Logjam’s

The other day, in a phone conversation, I heard myself say: “I am about to get myself into a Log Jam.” Which meant to me, I could come to a standstill in my work because of the number of projects I had open at the time.

Having too much to do can paralyze you. I had to stop, reassess what was happening, and I needed to get things moving again.

I thought about the word ‘logjam’, and the folks in the lumber industry, as well as  movie plots where the plot of the film was people’s financial livelihood being dependent on navigating  the river, to float logs to sawmills, to be turned into lumber. What would happen when a log could get caught in a part of the river and block the others from floating downstream. The blocked logs would block others, and eventually the flow would stop. A literal jamming of logs and the possibility that a person’s  livelihood could be lost.

One of the  menaces  of our own business/social  life is that sometimes we have too much idle time on our hands, while at other times we’re too busy. Idleness in our time can sometimes lead to overcommitment. An ideal goal is for us to strike a balance between idleness and overcommitment, which is a challenge. Nobody sets out to overcommit. Sometimes we agree to take on a project, and when we get around to starting that project, we find the date has either pushed back or moved forward until now it is coinciding with another commitment. Sometimes we just lose track of the commitment and agree to something else that conflicts with it. Often, we can simply underestimate how long things will take.

Overcommitment is usually the culprit, that causes backup. A type of cognitive logjam. You are suddenly overwhelmed by the enormity of the tasks ahead. You find yourself paralyzed, or unable to make progress with any of the tasks that need doing. Tasks are intensified by other commitments, which then have started piling up, and before you know it, you’re in that cognitive logjam.

So, if you find yourself in the jam, here are some steps that may get things flowing again:

·        Make a list of all projects/commitments, that you can prioritize based on urgency, it’s importance, and their time demands. (I’ll often work with pen and paper for this.)

·        Re-negotiate some of the less-urgent items on the list. In reviewing these items, often I find the pressure I’m feeling is self-imposed; contacting those involved and, with empathy for their timeline, asking them for more time can work.

·        Then focus on one thing at a time. Set aside time, to make a cognitive space where you allow no distractions or reminders of the other things you have pending.

·        Get organized: have your task filtered by project, context, timeline, etc. I have friends that use to-do-list management apps on their computers.

·        keep reference materials for each project separate but easily accessible.

·        Environment can be a game changer in these situations. Change-up the visual context you’re working in. Get out of the home/office and go work in a coffee shop or Library. This change may not let you execute the whole project, but will allow you to plan, or at least to get your emails, outlines etc. done.

·        Look around you for talent, for your support team, people etc., that you could delegate things to. We are all burdening ourselves with things that could be more easily/better accomplished by somebody else.

In your quest to be proactive, there are some things I would advise against when finding yourself facing a logjam:

·        Don’t go back on your commitments. (as stated before, re-negotiating is a better option.)

·        Don’t leave people hanging. (communicate, communicate, communicate.)

·         Don’t get caught in the cycle of procrastination. I interpret procrastination as the mind’s natural reaction to being overwhelmed. Procrastination/ Then Guilt. This cycle only makes things worse. Instead,  be pro-active,  making progress with fly efforts. Baby steps of minor/easy commitments, just to get a sense of  things flowing again.

·         Avoid taking on more commitments until you feel you can be in more control over your schedule.

Above all, learn from the situation. Make note of what works and what doesn’t. In particular, be mindful of your time cycles - in your days, months, and years to identify, when you find yourself being too busy or idle. How did  this situation occur? What concrete steps can you take to avoid or balance out being in such a situation in the future? These will give you your takeaways from this situation.

Being conscious of your action or inaction, allows you to manage your time better. It also allows you to enjoy yourself guilt-free in times when you’re less busy, with the knowledge that it won’t be long before you’ve got more to do than time to do it, but with less concern over being caught in  logjams.