You're looking at the ritualistic items, talisman's of amazing power, that start every morning of my week. Coffee, breakfast and my MacbookAir. Sometimes they change slightly, like this morning my flat-white coffee was double shot and breakfast was a crispy bacon, egg and red sauce (ketchup) toasted sandwich, however essentially these powerful items, in any format, are my morning icons...A periapt as such, an item worn as a charm. Sure, I don't wear these however they still surround me with power.
I woke up a little dusty this morning, feeling tired, slow to start and with what I feel is the early onset of some sort of cold or flu. Not the best of starts. I had a conference call with a colleague who works in the Group's Operations Centre in Sydney at 6:30am. She is what I call a peer-partner, someone who I can lean on, (and vice versa) for pure and unadulterated honesty, support and a willing ear to listen to the challenges, success and failure of my week gone, and ahead. We do it every Tuesday and we both get a lot out of it. The conversations always provide great value and I always seem to feel uplifted, more switched on and ready and more accurately pointed at the goals of the day and week.
We don't always talk about work although it's mainly that. Having said so, a lot of what we do at work affects us personally and it goes the other way too. Today my friend (who operates at a very high corporate level) spent most of the conversation talking about my cats and what I'm doing on the weekend, some health problems she's facing and various other personal things, her's or mine.. We didn't mention work other than to briefly outline what productivity we both have planned for the day. It was the refreshing conversation I needed this morning...
It reminded me of why I get up every morning and aim to start my day with the end in mind. I don't mean I wish the day away, I mean I start my day thinking about the goals I aim to achieve for the day, the end-goal. She reminded me of the WHY I do what I do, in professional and personal life both. My reason.
We spoke for about 45 minutes and then we went off to shower and get ready for work like we would on a normal morning. Although we moved on having the additional focus on the week and what goals we have set to achieve. It's a valuable conversation. On other occasions the conversation may be very work-centred, right down to specific situations and opportunities and other's may be a simple discussion around what goals we've set and what commitments we have made to achieve them...It's all very positive and it forms a large part of my morning ritual each week.
I wonder if other people have rituals they perform to snap them to attention or remind them why they deploy each morning with the intention to operate like a boss. What triggers people to keep grinding it? I have many concepts I employ to keep me focused and arrow straight on the goal. Well, arrow straight is not quite true I guess. I'm like most others in that I waver and head off the tracks sometimes...It's the concepts I speak of above that nudge me back towards the ultimate goal and so my path is more of a gently wavering line headed more or less at the target. It lands me on the target most times. Much more often than those who head on a tangent away from their goal with no check-measure to bring them back on-mission.