Investing in everything else except yourself?

I have known leaders who are there for their team, their board, their customers, but not for themselves….. They are so focused on investing in everyone else that they forget about themselves! I have to confess that I also know this firsthand because I was that person earlier in my career. I didn’t know what on earth people were talking about when they said I needed to take time for myself… but there's so much to do I thought, there's not enough time, I'm already working really long hours …… So I did what many of us would do. I totally ignored these wise people around me…… but while you can work like this for a while, it's not sustainable, nor is it productive for you or the organisation or business that you're leading. Sooner or later you will run out of steam, become disillusioned and burnt out.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that it wasn’t that I had to work faster, I had to work smarter. I was so caught up in ‘doing’ that I believed I didn’t have time to invest in myself and anyway what on earth did that mean???

Over time I learned that investing myself meant putting myself on the list, making time for me, acknowledging I had needs and that in order to be effective and more successful I had to take time out and get in that metaphorical helicopter and look at what was going on from a totally different perspective. With the help of a great coach, who asked me tough, challenging questions I was able to see things differently, to look at what was really important and take steps to ensure I kept focused on the things that were important for the future and not just the things that were urgent. I was also able to learn about myself and learn strategies to help keep me energised and motivates and inspired so that I was able to fully jump back into what was going on.

So what did this investment require of me? Oh….. one hour, once a fortnight....And what was the return on my investment? ….. Oh it was priceless….. It transformed me and my world. It made me feel like I was in the driving seat and took me from a reactive place to a proactive place!!

My fear had been that if I stopped I'd never be able to catch up, but actually, it was in the stopping (don’t you just love the paradoxical nature of life) that I was able to be more focused, more strategic and more conscious about what was going on around me and who I was in all of that.

What will be the thing that will make you stop and look at how you are doing things?

Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller in their new book Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life say, "Growth is what separates living things from dying things, growth brings energy, vitality, life, and challenge. Without growth, we're just going through the motions."

What are you doing to invest in your growth? Don’t work faster, work smarter by making a commitment to invest in yourself. There is no better time than NOW!