08 May E45: Recalibrate: Dramatic U-turns and major pivots

E45: Recalibrate

We use low points and pockets of time to confirm or change the direction of our lives – to recalibrate. 
But why wait?
Can we schedule in regular checkpoints that will allow us to make these pivots earlier in the process?

I found this little piece of audio taped in early January 2020 while doing some digital house-keeping. Its message seems very prescient.

Resets happen when you are at your lowest point

It has only been at the lowest points in my life that I found the big pockets of time to truly ‘take stock’. These moments – nursing a sick family member; weeks & months stuck in a slow job-hunt; not getting into my first choice university – forced me to take a time-out on my regular routine.

Apparently, I am not atypical. Most of us only find the time to check in with ourselves at life-changing moments – a divorce, job loss, a significant illness, or death in the family.

Want to break that cycle? Consider setting a TILT date with you and your future-self. How about on your half birthday? Put it on the calendar and start planning something special.

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The courage to change (Recalibrate 1/5)

What gives us the courage to make significant change in our lives at our darkest times?
Why do we wait until the rug is pulled from under us?
Is it that at this moment we have nothing more to lose?

Do we only find the space to truly evaluate and balance what is most important when we are finally out of the repetitive rhythm of our everyday?  Maybe we need to feel that jolt.
Are we only willing to tolerate alternate options when our routine is so significantly disrupted?

Maybe even consider a passion project?

Dramatic U-turns & Major pivots (Recalibrate 2/5)

Each of my breaks forced me to re-evaluate where I stood against my personal dreams for myself.
The results were dramatic U-turns and major pivots:

• Giving up the security of a job for the time- & family-friendly flexibility of being a solo-preneur.
• Moving to Canada.
• Learning to code.
• Creating a podcast.

Looking back, each of these substantial decisions positioned me where I am now – talking about the #FutureofWork to young adults.

You, too, could wait for such moments in your life to re-calibrate or tilt your life in the direction of your choosing.
You could wait. But why?

Instead, set up a Tilt date with yourself and start exploring your possibilities.
Why talk about re-calibration in January? Because early checkpoints & minute adjustments help us meet our goals.

It has only been at the lowest points in my life that I found the big pockets of time to truly ‘take stock’. These moments – nursing a sick family member; weeks & months stuck in a slow job-hunt; not getting into my first choice university – forced me to take a time-out on my regular routine.

Apparently, I am not atypical. Most of us only find the time to check in with ourselves at life-changing moments – a divorce, job-loss, a significant illness or death in the family.

Want to break that cycle? Consider setting a #TILT date with you and your #futureself. How about your half birthday? Put it on the calendar.

If Fortune 500s can do it (Recalibrate 3/5)

How do corporations like Shell, Ford, Morgan Stanley develop the resilience to survive the various technical, political, societal road bumps that derail other organizations?

One option is using scenario planning as they strategically map the future of their business. They plan a way forward but also consider the things that could improbably come out of left field and force a detour to those best-laid plans.

We are myopic. Our available options are optimistically informed by the technologies and conventions we see before us.

– A while ago diabetes was a death sentence. Then someone invented insulin. And it changed the world.
– Few of us imagined a smartphone before 2007. But someone created it. And it changed the world.
– It seemed implausible that a plane would fly into the World Trade Center. But someone did. And it changed the world.
Did you see these coming? Remember Kodak?

What would the day-after look like?

Can a situation out of left-field possibly flip all your carefully choreographed plans for the rest of your wonderful life?
Can you leverage them?
And what would the day-after look like?

We develop resilience & creativity by entertaining the idea of how we survive & leverage the implausible.
Fortune 500s do it. So can we.
Make it a part of your TILT date.

It’s OK to miss a goal if you replaced it with a different or better opportunity.

Personal Checkpoints (Recalibrate 4/5)

Tactical TILT
– check expiry dates on passport, licenses, professional designations etc.
– book #selfcare appointments: dentist, optician, doctor, blood tests
– Make sure the ones we love get the best of us: factor graduations, landmark birthdays, into your plans

Goal TILT: Did I meet my goals?
Y: Are they still valid for the coming period or have I, my career, my family grown out of them? Should I grow in a new direction?
N: Why?
– Did something better come along?
– Did I pay attention to new #signals, changing direction?
– Did it fall off the list?
If it still belongs what 2 things can I do today to regain traction?

Treat your life like a stock portfolio. Diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

The TILT:
If something came out of left-field (major illness for me or mine, severe weather, job loss, retirement, war) can I handle it financially, emotionally, security-wise, time-wise?
Y – Great planning
N – Create a #contrafund scenario. Plan-in flexibility. Start looking at options: new learning, an expanded network for support, multiple revenue streams, side-hustles, exercise routine?

A date with your futureself. (Recalibrate 5/5)

I pick my half birthday. It’s special to me, and a date I don’t forget even when life gets really busy.
I book a half-day at a cafe of my choice and have a #Tilt date with myself.

You could choose the equinox or solstice.
Quarter-end or month-end.

Or a spa-retreat weekend.

Whichever you choose, #selfcare starts with checking in with yourself. With your present and with your #futureself.

Where do you want to be 5 years from now? A promotion. Different continent or career? In a relationship?

What seeds are you planting: Education, skills, challenges, peers, research?
We do not know how our tomorrow will unroll, but if we don’t have the building blocks in place we cannot respond to an opportunity when it is placed in front of us.