Day 13_Next Step

Hi! Great job hanging in there with this navigation! It's big stuff!

Begin today by stopping. Yes, stop for a moment.

Just get quiet.

Recall a memory that made you feel really good about yourself. If you like, describe it in the space below.

Did you have that talk yet with someone who could suggest personal improvements you could make?

If you had the talk, who was it with?

If not, what stopped you? Can you schedule it in the next week?

If you talked to the person, proceed to step 3.

If you didn't have the talk, then proceed to step 4 and use the steps as a guide for when you do speak to them.

What improvements did they suggest?

Did you thank them for taking time to speak with you, knowing it's as awkward for them as it is for you?

While it's really important for us to reach out in this way to help each other, it still makes us all feel a little vulnerable. People generally don't want to say anything out of line, but they do want to help.

So a thank you or an appreciative gesture is really welcome.

As you think about the conversation, describe the improvement you would most like to make now.

Keep your action to one, small step at a time, one day at a time. Also include what you think will happen as a result of this new change.

Check in with the person you spoke with to let them know you're taking their advice.

Ask them if you can meet, email or text once a week to ensure you are interpreting their direction correctly.

In each conversation, let them know what you are doing and what you believe your progress is.

Will you follow through?

If they give you more guidance, accept it as such. It's guidance. It's not being critical.

You may have to get your own emotional prejudices out of the way when listening to correction. Take it from us, pride is not going to be your friend.

Open your ears, take a deep breath, count to 10, calm down, and listen objectively. Then practice what you have heard with humility.

Humility is having an inner confidence about who you are and what you stand for, so that you don't feel the need to prove it. Kind of the opposite of drama.

How easy has it been for you to be humble enough to listen to advice?

Work your plan.

Now is a great time to shut down the computer, bypass the TV, avoid your cellphone (gulp) and just go for it!

Will you?