Intent

When asked to set aside time for personal growth and reflection, many people's first impulse may be to respond by saying “I’m too busy.”

The activities that we have time for are the activities that we make time for. There are things we all do that are time wasters – social media, binging crime dramas, (insert your time waster here). Identify these things and take time away from them by intentionally scheduling time for your development.

For example, when I first started taking my personal development seriously, I started in a simple manner. I committed to taking time out of my TV time at night after the kids when to bed to read. I started with just 14 minutes a day. Then worked my way up to 30 minutes, 44 minutes, an hour, an hour 14 minutes an ended committing 90 minute a day to reading. I set an alarm on my phone to ring each night at 8pm to hold me accountable.

Learning on a consistent intentional basis is a necessary activity for a leader. To each person this may look different. It could be reading 20 minutes while on an exercise bike, listening to a book during a commute, taking 10-15 minutes during lunch break to listen to a TED talk. It could look like reading a business or industry article each week then sharing it with your team.

Growth doesn't happen by accident. Personal development is purposeful and intentional. The first step in guiding this journey is to set your intent. The first step doesn’t have to be complicated or overly time consuming. It just has to be something you are actually willing to commit to.

Reflection Question – What leadership learning plan am I willing to commit to?

Topic Next Week: Impact