Potentially, I am over half way through my life. So, I thought that it may be prudent to check my progress against the project plan and review my lessons learnt to date. My plan is made up of a number of work-streams. I have allocated a status to each work-stream depending on whether they have a) achieved the original objectives b) stayed within scope and c) delivered against planned time-scales. The results of this analysis are below:
- Career: Amber based on the fact that phase 1 went well but there has been a delay in launching phase 2 and whilst it is underway, I’ve got some time to make up
- Love Life: Green based on finding a soul mate even though he remains on a performance improvement plan when it comes to the domestic front
- Family: Amber based on having 3 gorgeous children and a fairly fit and healthy extended family but the death of my brother-in-law and father were way out of scope and never part of the plan
- Friends: Green based on getting older, wiser and better at avoiding superficial people whilst finding true, authentic friends
- Finance: Red, it was never going to be any other, nobody can shop like me, it’s an art form
- Health: Green based on my nearest and dearest including myself being healthy, happy and ever so slightly mad
And then we come to lessons learnt thus far……..
- Learn to be yourself and no one else. There is really no point buying a size 8 dress which you adore but can never wear as you are a size 16. You will end up looking at it with sadness not joy. It only represents who you are not. If you are with people who make you feel uncomfortable about being you, get out of there and quick
- Stop swimming against the tide and go with it. You are just going to drown in life’s disappointments and frustrations if you don’t. Life is so much bigger than each one of us, we simply have a part to play. Turn up, play the part well and make the best of the opportunities that come your way
- Don’t let black holes engulf you. You cannot always ignore or avoid black holes, they are a fact of life, but you can hang onto the side of them rather than allowing yourself to fall into them. Hanging on is hard, it is exhausting and it hurts but eventually, you will be able to climb out – stronger and wiser
- There is only one competitor in the race and that’s you. It doesn’t matter whether you are first, second or last. Your achievements are relative to your goals and your aspirations, and no-one else. As long as you have tried your best and pushed your own boundaries, you’ve won the race
- Ditch the ego, she pretends to be a friend but she’s not. In fact, she is a predator eating away at your self-esteem, driving you to make the wrong decisions and generally making you act like a dick
- There’s more than one boat. If you miss the boat the first time round there is always another one, it’s just a matter of patience and being aware that your time will come again
- And finally, there is no completion date. We are always a work in progress and some bits need to be re-done more than once. That’s ok, stop looking for the end and enjoy today.
