What will be your goals for 2013?

One of my favourite Facebook Pages is Leadership Freak Coffee Shop http://www.facebook.com/wendy.moore.923?ref=tn_tnmn#!/LeadershipFreak

Yep it is a strange name for a Facebook page.  I came across it when I was looking at twitter # tags on leadership.  What I like about this particular page is that the author posts the start of a sentence and invites readers to complete the sentence with their own comments. 

The most recent sentence posted was this one:

My goals for 2013 include ________________

When I last visited the page there were 19 comments which included things like, being more organised, spending more time with family, blogging more, focus, growing professionally etc.

I have given this sentence a lot of thought and while all of the above comments are also true for me, I couldn’t help but reflect on the past year and on the experiences that have shaped my life so far.  Sadly for one family, 2013 will start with a funeral.  My dear friends lost a father-in-law/father on Christmas day. Another family I know lost 8 family members throughout 2012. My thoughts are very much with these people and others who have experienced such sadness in their lives.  Tragedies such as these provide opportunities for thoughtful reflection on what is really important.  For me this was truly a wakeup call.  It is not what is important but who is important. I am fortunate to have family, friends and colleagues in my life who provide friendship and insight.   It is my family, friends and colleagues who are important to me.  Now with clarity of thought and a different perspective I am able to complete the above sentence.

My goals for 2013 include

Stress less, enjoy more, carpe diem (Seize the day), be creative and just Be!

 Lifeline 13 11 14

50 Something: Shades of Grey

Surprisingly this is not a commentary on a certain book.  Rather it is a commentary on people’s perceptions and stereotypes.

I ponder my life at 50 something while I look in the mirror at a few more shades of grey appearing in my hair and I can’t help but notice how we as a society have evolved over the years.  We live in an era where medical technology, improved nutrition, access to information on health and fitness have had a profound effect on improving our quality of life enabling us to be active, longer.

In the past perhaps someone with greying hair may be considered as approaching retirement or at least winding down from full time work.  However in an era where 70 may be considered as the new 50, this is not the impression we want to give if in fact we are perfectly happy pursuing our full time careers, hence the propensity to get out the dye bottle and rid ourselves of the grey.

I must admit I have struggled with the concept of going grey for this very reason.  I too was guilty of using hair dye to rid myself of the shades of grey.  Eventually I stopped dying my hair preferring to wear a wig, still not ready to face the world with grey hair.  It was not until I had a break away from work for a brief holiday and after some soul searching, I realised that I was the one with the issue of greying hair.  It was my perception of myself that I was getting too old for the job.   Remarkably spending time with someone who has debilitating health issues put things into perspective for me.  Once I had faced my own demons and changed my own perceptions and stereotypes I was able to change my way of thinking and be content with who I am.   I have now abandoned the wig to reveal my own hair with emerging shades of grey.