A Conscious Stream of Reality

Reality sucks sometimes. It is a never-ending force to ensure we all face ourselves and the behaviors we exhibit each day. I thought I would share some of my own experiences and the challenges I have encountered recently and how I work through those as a way to both learn for myself and share hoping to help others.I read many articles, both as research for what I write, and for my continuing learning. I write to share my ideas on leadership and I also write to continue my personal development. It becomes a way to think through ideas and challenge myself to understand how I use those same principles in my everyday environment.The most difficult challenge I face is living up to those standards. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I do have to face my fears that the words I write do not always match my actions in real life. That is reality. My writing and continued reading serve as a way to remind myself that my journey is the same as many others - we are striving to get better each day.In my current role, we have a lot going on to begin the year. I mean a lot. I have realized that over the course of the last several weeks it has been more and more of a struggle to stick to typical routines. I have found myself in the office much earlier than I would normally be there (and I am an early starter to begin with) and staying much later. I have not slept as well - I attribute some of that to waking up fearing that I will forget to do something important. I have been more anxious and probably irritable. I have not made as much time for myself or my family as I would like. I knew I had to break the cycle.In the car into the office the other morning I took some time away from my usual podcasts or audiobooks. Instead, I used the time to think about everything I had going on. I realized many people face the same feelings of overwhelm. I had fallen out of my normal planning routines, and I was not sharing as much of the information or workload with capable people around me.As much as I write about the importance of planning, I still find it one of the most difficult tasks to complete. There is the urge to ‘just plow through’ anything and everything in front of me. It never fails to surprise me how relieved I feel when I do take time to write down what needs to get done, review the options I have for completing them and lay out a schedule for when they can be finished.Many times, in those sleepless moments, what allows me to get back to sleep is writing down what is on my mind. I know once captured I can take action on it later. Trusting the system of capture, organize, schedule, and act is an integral part of remaining successful in any leadership role. I have to continue to remind myself that it does work, that it does save me time, and it does help me (and my team) stay on track and ahead of the curve.The other lesson I remind myself of, and believe that it is perhaps the most important of them, is that I am not perfect. No one is. That I will fall down, regardless of how many articles I have read or written. That does not make me (or anyone else) a bad leader; it makes us human. We all have bad days. We all fall off our routines and habits. We all make mistakes in how we handle situations. And, we all have a choice on how we respond. I choose to start the next day fresh, not allow the previous day or mistake to become the new norm.If you question where you are or whether your every action lives up to the standard you have for yourself - make sure you are kind and realistic with the person in the mirror. We can all get back on the right track and begin to make a difference once again.What do you do to get yourself back on course when you find yourself heading in the wrong direction? Share your ideas and stories in the comments section.Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!No spam ever - just leadership goodness.