10 Things You Should Be Doing In 2010

I know it's a classic at this time of the year, but think about it... doesn't it make real sense ? Call it coaching, personnal development, strategy, whatever you name it : we would al  be better off if really applying some of this...
Motivation is like creating a positive energy engine : it starts with small objectives. If you meet those, you fill energy in your engine, which enables you to consider and achieve higher objectives, and if you meet those...etc. the ball is rolling. So let's consider those nice new year resolutions like individual objectives, and see how much energy this will bring into our life !
As far as I'm concerned, I'm convinced for a long time already, so I'm pleased to share with you what are my personnal 10 objectives for this new year. I encourage you to think of your own, and if you can't find 10, maybe you can adapt some of these by simply replacing "me" with "you" !

1. Listen more than Talk : This is typically me : I'm so convinced, and I want to convince the others...loosing lots of opportunities to be enriched by them. I'm under pressure, need to go fast, directly to the point, and looses again opportunity to have another way... I can't promise I will listen more than talk, but my objective is to go for a fair balance.
2. Establish A Budget : I am changing role. In my previous role I used to manage a clear cut budget, knowing exactly what's been agreed in it with my Management. It was such a strength ! Giving me the weapon to say "No" to silly requests. I want to be back in that comfortable position, so I will put things on the table until the budget of the new team is agreed transparently.
3. Make a mid-year review of objectives with my new team : Well... a prerequisite is to have established objectives, which is still on my to-do list. But what's the point of establishing objectives if you do not follow them ? Reviewing at the end of the year does not help much either, as it is too late to correct anyway. Building a new team is just the right time for team objectives, so appointment is taken in June !
4. Balance my life : I know, easy to say and more easy to forget. I spend as much time as I can with my relatives, but do not tell them enough I love them. They are the earth that enable me to grow and be powerful, and they deserve more. Also, live a little bit more healthy, practice sport again. I did very well last year and it was such a good thing, bringing me the body capacity to sustain the pressure until I got injured. Sure this is something I want to start again this year. Also take care of the working pressure, which drives us into doing the same thing all the time, just working, thus preventing us to develop other horizons. How can I be inventive and think out of the box then ?

5. Develop a passion : Have you ever tried to interrogate a colleague about his passion, and see how much energy that simple conversation was providing to him ? Try it if you didn't yet. A passion is an amazing energy source. We all have at least one, and do not dedicate enough time to it. You could think it's not worth the time and does not bring much to you professional efficiency. That's so wrong ! Look at it this way : you are a sawer trying to saw a tree. You put all your energy in it until you are tired and the saw is loosing its sharpness, so the work is less efficient, and you have to put more energy in it... bad loop. Developping a passion is simply like sharpening the saw !
6. Meet key actors and influencers outside of my immediate working sphere: This is were your customers are, the people that judge our results ultimately. I need to meet more of these in my new role, get to know what their real business expectations are. How can I be sure to meet expectations if I do not make the effort of getting them expressed directly to me ?
7. Organize my digital life : I'm on twitter, I received hundreds of e-mail per day on several e-mail accounts both professional and private, my Blackberry is badly synched with my Ipod, my PC desktop environment is a mess, and my project folder resemble a Carnaval day in Rio... We all know this and its counterpart: loosing so much time in retrieving information when needed. I'm a digital and organized person, so no reason why I should not sort this out decently to get a good fresh start in my new role. After all, these tools are supposed to help us being more efficient, not loosing more time!
8. Choose to be positive : I think I am generally, but recently I found out that the pressure was making me more aggressive, or at least taking less time to think about things before shouting. I tried several times, when I felt the steam of an anger growing, to step back asking myself a simple question : "why is he (she) doing that like that". just asking the question forces me to think about his drivers, constraints, to consider his filters, his interests. In one word : understanding. This solved a number of issues even before they became issues, and I want this to become a positive habit.
9. Learn Something and
10. Teach something: Learning make you wealthier in many manner, and this opens your mind and extand your ability to think out of the box, understand other point of view, identify filters, get smarter. I do a lot of reading, but mainly professional reading. I love French History, and want to learn more about this. it's good to learn about past errors and experiences. Teaching is also very rewarding. When teaching to somebody, more than one person is learning something...I come to the fifties now, and I feel like I have something to tell to the youger generation. It's not only about experience sharing, it's also about win-win : it's another source of personal energy !