The Shift

“WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE”….

We go through life on autopilot; working, getting the kids ready for school, practices, games, dinner, projects to complete, tasks to do… day in and day out…

“We interrupt this program to bring you a very important message”

• We get a phone call that someone we love is in the hospital or has passed away
• Breaking news…. Some sort of tragedy in our community, country, world
• Social media – we see a post of someone we know or someone they love who is experiencing disease, tragedy, death, etc.

And we WAKE UP from our routines, we are on high alert and the emotions flow. The “programming” shifts. We stop what we are doing and the “thing” that was so important fades away… everything changes in an instant.

• We take off from work (a day, a week, a month)
• We book that flight to be with family and loved ones
• We put aside disagreements, forgive, have conversations
• We set aside the “I” focus and connect, reach out, support, give to another person/community

We shift… we shift in a moment. But for how long? In the midst of the “Interruption” we are at a crossroads. We can use it as an “interruption” and then go back to what we’ve always done, or we can use it to propel us into “The Shift”.

9/11… the day the world stood still. Those of us who were old enough to remember that day, we had an “Interruption”. I remember going to work and no one was working. We all went outside and talked to strangers, crying, hugging, heavy hearts, fear. We had conversations with our loved ones, held our children as we tried to make sense of what was happening to our country. We supported our troops as they went off to war to protect and defend our country. We were on high alert. 18-1/2 years later… are we still pausing, talking to strangers, supporting our country, holding our children, having conversations? Or did we go back on autopilot?

My dad recently passed away. Even though we knew it would happen, we didn’t know when. When I received the call that his health was rapidly declining, I stopped everything to be with him the two days before he passed. After he left us, I didn’t work for three weeks. I canceled appointments, put an out of office reply on my email, didn’t check social media for days. My siblings and I sat around my kitchen table multiple times over four days as we talked, shared, reminisced, forgave, let go, connected, laughed and cried.

When we were younger our sibling relationships were so tight, strong. The older we became, life got in the way, we had our own children, all except one sibling moved out of state. And we stopped connecting… we stopped taking the time to “slow down” and make time for each other. In dad’s passing, we received an amazing gift of life. The chance to be together, to love, to reconnect.

We all have things that have impacted us. It’s in these moments of “We Interrupt This Program to Bring You a Very Important Message” that we have the opportunity to really shift. In these moments we are at a crossroads. We can “momentarily shift” – pause, slow down, or create a “lasting shift”. This requires us to reassess where we are, what we want, and do the work to create the results we want. This means we get to change our habits and patterns. This takes work.

• Are you going through life on autopilot?
• Are you going through work on autopilot?
• Are your relationships on autopilot?
• Are you numb to growth, stretching, learning, to being uncomfortable?
• Do you find yourself checked out, disengaged, complaining, bored, frustrated?
• Are you settling for the status quo?

What do you really want? Are you happy with where you are in your professional life, in your personal life, with your health, your spiritual life? According to Gallup’s World Poll, only 15% of the worlds’ one billion full-time workers are engaged at work. In the U.S. around 30% are engaged, but this means about 70% of American workers aren’t engaged.

I believe a lot of disengaged people are numb… they’re on autopilot. Just going through the motions, checking the box, going to sleep and getting up in the morning just to do it all over again…

There’s a saying that “If nothing changes, nothing changes”. In order to change; you first need to be aware of where you are, get real with where you want to be before you can ever do the work to make it a reality.

Today, if you received the “We Interrupt This Program to Bring You a Very Important Message”, would you use it to make a lasting change? Where are you on autopilot – just going through the motions?

If you were to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 (1 it sucks, to 10 it can’t get any better), where would you be in these areas?

• Professional life ___________
• Personal life (growth, attitude, mindset) ____________
• Relationships with your significant other/kids/parents/siblings __________
• Relationships with friends/teammates ______________
• Health _____________
• Spiritual (giving back, faith, etc.) _______________

Do you want something different? Do you want a shift? Where do you want to make “The Shift”?

Here’s a process to help you focus on creating a shift and taking an area in your life to the next level. Write the area you want to shift in the box (i.e. health, relationships, etc.). Next make a list of all of the actions that will help you achieve success and a list of all of the choices that will take you off your focus.

What is the area of focus that I want to shift – to take to me to my next level?