To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings. -- Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor, Harvard Business School
This week I have definitely been in "waiting mode" -- waiting for a promised book project to finally materialize, waiting to see whether a particular bill will pass in the Senate because the outcome of the vote will affect my husband and me, waiting for a friend to have a free afternoon in her jam-packed schedule so that we can get together and schmooze a bit.
But...while I'm waiting, I'm also planning for the future. I'm taking positive steps to market my editing and writing services to a wider audience, I'm thinking hard about specific cost-cutting measures we can make in our budget to get us through this "lean period," and I'm making appointments with other friends I enjoy.
Joseph Campbell, the renowned author, teacher, and mythologist, had this take on planning and waiting: We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned so as to have the life that's waiting for us.
In other words, if you jettison a rigidly over-planned idea of "the way things should be," and remain open to "whatever might be waiting in the wings" for you -- unscheduled events and people and emotions might turn out to be a huge delight and a great surprise, better than anything you ever imagined!
My advice...step confidently out onto center stage and give your current role everything you've got, but at the same time, realize that an even better chance for you to star might be "waiting in the wings"!
Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
Click here for more of Linda's posts.
Comments