A reading for the New Year

Happy New Year! And thank you for being with me for the journey in 2014, the year now passed. It was a proving ground for sure!

I’m thrilled that my words here were read in 57 countries last year. When I think how much communication has changed in just my adult lifetime, this amazes me. Early in my career, I was secretary of the local chapter of my professional organization for several years, and I printed, copied, stapled, stamped, and mailed the minutes to the other board members. In those years, having 56 penpals would have been a great way to be read in 57 countries! Now, I can just click Publish. A little miracle right there.

I’m also really pleased that some of my most-read posts last year were also some of those that meant the most to me, about some pretty important things … letting go of judgment, releasing bitterness, and rising above the ego. I’m so glad you found them!

This year I continued my tradition of a SoulCollage card reading for the new year (below). Last year I made a single card on New Year’s Eve, the first one in the reading, to represent my unknown path in the new year. This year, I made two cards for this reading ahead of time to represent two major themes–the heart card and the thoroughbred card.

All my best wishes for a New Year that brings you every change your heart desires!

2014 was a difficult year, but you came through it with flying colors.

Winding was the path, stony the way, but you were guided every step of the way.

That is all.

Your heart will indeed expand, in many ways. It will be beautiful–and enlightening.

That is all.

It is time to go, now–it wasn’t before. You will be even calmer this year. You have plenty of time for all you need to do. Just one way now–forward.

That is all.

This year you will leap over the competition with ease. You will no longer be confined–you will be free. Free to do more of what you like–respected for your abilities.

You will remain pointed in the right direction due to your spiritual path.

You’ll feel the wind in your hair–exhilarating.

That is all.

You will continue to write–what you do best, what you’re meant to do. … Keep your pen sharp–to distinguish between right and wrong.

That is all.

 

There will be love–much love. Much comfort. Much grace.

That is all.

SoulCollage® cards are for personal use, and are not for sale, barter, or trade.

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The most important lesson

As I mentally prepared for an interview this week, I asked myself a practice question I’ve never actually been asked, but that I may ask in interviews myself now that I’ve thought of it–What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in the course of your career?

I knew right away that for me there were two lessons–It doesn’t have to be perfect, and I don’t have to be right. (The second lesson I’ve written about before, so it’s the first one I’m focusing on today.)

This first lesson began fairly early, and benefitted my personal life as well as my professional one.

In the mid-90s I worked for a small public company that made computer hardware components. My priorities could and often did change on a daily basis, depending on the orders that came in.

Most orders couldn’t ship without documentation, which was my responsibility, so booking revenue was directly tied to what I produced. The engineers also revised the hardware frequently, which required me in turn to revise the documentation.

I grew up watching one of my parents conduct endless research before making a move. Deadlines were met rarely to never. I found this tremendously frustrating to watch (especially since there was a clear relationship between deadlines being met and money to put food on the table), but found myself repeating the approach, to a much lesser extent.

This job completely broke me of those bad habits. It was clear to me that time was of the essence, and what I was working toward one day could easily change the next. There was no time to be wasted on hand-wringing, and plenty of inherited problems to solve. What I really needed to do was make tangible progress toward a goal every single day.

I had distinct tendencies toward perfectionism, but I saw that I had multiple opportunities to work on nearly every document. My goal became not to make anything perfect–a clearly unachievable goal given the time constraints–but to make everything accurate, and better and/or more cost-effective than it was before. Incremental improvement rather than perfection.

I’d already noticed, as I made significant strides toward dropping baggage, releasing bitterness, and becoming more positive, that I really picked up speed at work. An early manager had noted that my work could be more “expeditious.” And she was right–I spent a lot of time at that job being upset rather than working.

It turns out that eliminating mental–or audible!–moaning really saves a lot of time. What I do these days is simply dive right in to the work.

Occasionally, various delays and obstructions prevent me from doing that. At those times, the (unbidden!) mental image I have of myself is a racing thoroughbred confined to a paddock. All I want is for the starting gates to open so I can run out onto the track and open it up–flying like the wind, doing what I know how to do.

What would you say is the most important lesson you’ve learned, as it relates to your career?

This post is illustrated with the SoulCollage card I made today, Thoroughbred racer + True north.

SoulCollage® cards are for personal use, and are not for sale, barter, or trade.