If your answer to that is – “Dream this, lady” – I’ve got the blog for you.
I’m pretty stoked. We’re jumping ahead today and tackling something in the accelerated column of the plan for this year.
If you’re not aware, the goal for the blog this year is to get back to basics. I want to help you move from unhappy, out of control, boxed in, and overworked to happy, engaged, forward-looking, doing right-sized work. Lofty, huh?
There are levels we have to pass through, and I’ll describe those in later posts. To help us make this miraculous change, there are four toolsets, each a little more advanced than the one before. These are short-term relief, awareness, thoughts as objects, and dreams, goals, beliefs.
We’ve been hanging around in the short term relief toolbox for a bit. You need that relief desperately at the beginning. Today though, we’re moving to the far end. Why? Because that’s where we find the excitement and drive to keep us running ahead. Otherwise, we take that short-term relief, start to feel better, and stop there. That would be a shame. The full journey is WAY MORE, WAY BETTER than just ending the pain.
What is a personal dream?
A personal dream is something you want that carries an excitement with it, maybe a little anxiety, perhaps even fear. It feels like getting on a brand-new amusement ride. Get it?
A personal dream is also internally motivated. We can have the same vision – buy a house – for example, and if it’s externally motivated, it feels completely different. It feels like we’ve got a monkey on our back, like if we don’t achieve it, then there’s something wrong with us. If we want that house because of an internal drive, then it feels like – wouldn’t it be amazing if I could get a place of my own? I wonder how I could do it? If we fail, we feel like we’re okay, all good. Just tripped there a bit, I’ll try again soon.
What is a personal dream at work?
Buying a house can be a personal dream you bring to work. It shows up there as several months of steady employment needed for a mortgage, the ability to pay for the house or save for it. A personal dream of home-ownership can motivate you to strive for a promotion or be assigned to a project that creates opportunities for a bonus.
We can also have personal dreams specifically about work, too. It can show up as a desire to have a specific job, or work with a group that you admire, or become something you find exciting. For years, my personal dream is to become an inspiring leader who builds team cohesion and finds terrific opportunities for her staff.
Aligning your PD with your Boss’s goals
Did you all get your goals for the year? Were they inspiring? Got ‘em tacked next to your phone, do you?
Will this year be different? Are you going to really work on them and make sure you hit them all, or are you going to follow marching orders, and if you’re lucky, your boss will have actually assigned them to you?
Are they in a ball under your desk already?
Yeah. I thought so.
If you want help tying a PD to a goal, I’m here.
If you would like a free 25-minute session – click here. It’s free, it’s on zoom, camera on or camera off. It’s my pleasure
What your boss wants is an external goal. External goals often leave us feeling depleted and unmotivated. To ramp up and actually hit those goals, you have to hitch them to a balloon, something that will get them some lift. Tie them to your PD.
When I think of getting better at leadership, I get excited, happy. I think – wouldn’t that be cool? Wouldn’t I be cool if I was really great at that? I want to run around and holler for my car keys; I want to get started.
If I can add that zoom to my boss’s goals, that’s a win for both of us. For example, if she wants me to figure out a process for getting a new type of application out to our users, well, that’s fine. But it’s just a job, a task. She tells me, I try to do it.
When I ask myself – how can getting this new type of application out to our users help me be a better leader? Now I’m getting somewhere. Perhaps I think our team could get to code these new applications. That ties to my desire, my DREAM, of finding terrific opportunities for my staff. Boom. I’m all on board. Now this goal, which started out as a task, is part of my dream. Now, I want to show up at work and get to it. Now, I want to bring it out and talk about it during meetings with my boss. Now, I’m all in.
What if the goals you get can’t be tied to your personal dream?
Well, I got to tell you, there are very few that you can’t tie to your PD. When it does happen, though, you want to tell your boss. Tell him this is a task you’ll absolutely do, but you don’t wish to have more assignments like this. Let him know where you’re headed, see if he can help you align it with your PD. You don’t have to drop your PD like a hot potato, and you don’t have to declare defeat.
And that? Is just good to know.