A Year In Review
It’s the time of the year where all the news shows, magazines and online articles do a 2017 year in review segment. We see the year’s most significant events, the best fashions, most-viral YouTube videos, and which famous people passed away throughout the year. It brought me to thinking about how we each frame time and events in our own lives.
One thing I’ve observed over the years is that most of us have a consistent timeframe we use to focus on time and attention. We tend to adjust our view of situations based on the past, the present or the future. I’m pretty convinced this is a hard-wired tendency, so I don’t think there’s a timeframe we are “supposed” to use, but I do think there’s some key things we should be aware of, depending on our natural tendency.
For me, I’m a future person. My decisions are framed by the future. If I do this action now, that impacts this and this and this, and ultimately I have to control for this, so here’s my decision.
Example: if we stay late at a friend’s house on Saturday evening, that will impact kids getting up for church in the morning, it will trigger our daughter’s night owl tendencies which will impact not only Saturday, but Sunday through Tuesday while we get her back on track, and it will mean I may be less likely to get up when I should meaning the Ava dog will miss her walk making her a pest the rest of the day.
Nuts? Yes, a little, but that’s the process my brain goes through in the seconds I have to think about a decision. It’s been that way since I was a kid and my role as a wife, mom, entrepreneur and business owner has only intensified my need to think ahead.
What about you, do you frame your decisions based on:
The past – what may have been different if, or this is what happened before so my guess is this will happen again, I wish we could slow down and reflect to make better decisions.
The present – hey this is good. I like where we are. This is fun. I can only know the moment, so I’m not going to dwell on the past or concern myself with the future. Now is as it is supposed to be.
The future – here’s how it all plays out and the four outcomes, which do I prefer and how do I make that happen?
As you can imagine there are pros and cons for each timeframe mindset. For those of you who filter things through:
The past – you focus on what may have been to shape what tomorrow will be. This strength let’s you bring the best of each scenario to tomorrow. The challenge is you sometimes get caught in the sadness of what could have been and you stop looking forward.
The present – you focus on the moment. It’s the gift of living today for today. The challenge is tomorrow will likely come and while you’ll live in that moment too, you may feel you get no choices in what happens to you. It may leave those around you feeling responsible for all the things of tomorrow because it doesn’t cross your mind to think forward.
The future – you get to dream and see possibilities of what different alternatives. The challenge is you miss reflecting on what you can bring forward from yesterday and you forget to live today.
All of us have been gifted differently, and as with any gift, there are benefits and there are challenges. As we enter the final season of 2017, it’s a good time to combine all of those timeframes to reflect on what has happened and what we want to bring forward into 2018; it’s time to live in the present of the holiday season with family and friends, and it’s time to dream about what we want to do in 2018.
It’s a beautiful time to take advantage of the skills of all three timeframes.
I wish you the most wonderful holiday season and look forward to joining you on your 2018 journey!
Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.
