If anything stays in one place too long in my house … it becomes almost invisible to me. For example, I often post meaningful quotes or passages on the front of my refrigerator, but after a while, if I don’t change them, I don’t even “see” them anymore.
Early one morning last week while searching for a coffee scoop in one of my kitchen drawers, I ran across the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which I had kept for years on the front of my fridge:
“(Every morning begins) with infinite promise. Any book may be read, any action taken. Anything that has ever been possible to human beings is possible to most of us every time the clock says six in the morning. On a day no different from the one now breaking, Shakespeare sat down to begin Hamlet.”
I had obviously recycled it into the drawer at some point, replacing it on my fridge with another one. When I re-read it, the timing seemed perfect because as my travel and client visits slow down for the holidays, I’ve committed to taking a couple of days to reconnect with my own business vision for the next few years and to rethink and re-tool my business strategies as necessary.
As I poured my coffee and contemplated the quote, I was reminded that every day (and every year) does begin with infinite promise. No matter what yesterday (or last year) was, there is always the potential to reboot, to begin again, to paint our masterpiece of a life, to map and re-map our short trip through this world, maximizing the number of days we feel happy, whole, healthy, actualized, at peace and in joy.
One of my favorite exercises is the wheel of life. Draw a circle with a dot in the center and then create a “pie” by drawing lines and creating six equal “slices.” Write the words: Professional, Financial, Relationships, Spirituality, Health/Fitness, and Personal in the slices. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being very satisfied, 1 being least satisfied) plot on the lines your level of satisfaction in each category. If you are like most people you will not end up with a perfectly “round” wheel when you connect the dots.
When you sit down to consider your business vision, keep in mind it is only one spoke in this wheel of your life. It supports, and is supported by, the other 5 areas. And the lines between them merge the closer you get to that center of “10” or maximum happiness in all areas… they actually become inseparable: money, personal joy, work, relationships, spirituality, health. So it is impossible to find clarity in the vision for your professional life without also getting clarity in the other areas as well. It really is a life vision we are creating at all times.
The beauty of this quote is the reminder that every day we have experiences which help us decipher what we like and don’t like, what makes us happy or not, what we have natural talents and affinities for, etc. It makes sense that as these are constantly revealed to us, we should be mindful of how the vision of our future is being constantly reshaped. So for me, it was a freeing thought to imagine the writing of my business vision as more of a constant massaging of my life vision, with my work and business as one of the important cogs in the wheel. It’s equally freeing to let go of the old versions of my vision and to embrace a more current, fluid conversation with myself about how to continue to create a life I love, given what I now know… this morning… today.
And then… you walk. You walk and experience and learn. You walk until this path no longer brings you joy and fulfillment … and then take what you’ve learned and adjust again. I believe this is our personal and professional prerogative, and our responsibility, to our loved ones, co-workers and employees, our communities and, most importantly, if we are the architects of and ultimately responsible for the quality of our own lives… to ourselves.
So what infinite promise does today hold for you? Hamlet, Part Two?
“(Every morning begins) with infinite promise. Any book may be read, any action taken. Anything that has ever been possible to human beings is possible to most of us every time the clock says six in the morning. On a day no different from the one now breaking, Shakespeare sat down to begin Hamlet.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson