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I’ve been off my schedule the last two weeks (an excuse). That’s why I haven’t been writing (an excuse). My schedule has been ridiculously erratic (an excuse).
I was out of town for a few days. That created massive disruption. I returned home midweek. I struggled to get back into a routine. The work that was on the calendar was different than usual. All of these things created a set of reasons for me to not write … too busy, too tired, too unfocused. I had no structure.
I rebel against structure. When I do, I get lost. No matter how free thinking I think I am, my life and my work needs a structure. This is true of most people.
Even a Jackson Pollock painting takes place on a canvas that gets framed. The structure … regardless of what it is … provides the framework to make something happen. It provides a framework for freedom. Whether it’s freedom of expression, freedom to work in your strengths, freedom to produce your best work. I am free within the structure to create and to live vibrantly. Without the structure I get lost without context.
I work best when the structure is in place and I don’t have to think about it. Life doesn’t always work like that though. I am responsible to deliver whether I have structure or not. The structure makes it easier to deliver. I am hiding in an excuse when I blame the lack of structure for not delivering.
My schedule is crazy this week, too. Delivering a leadership course all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ll fit the rest of what would be five days into Thursday and Friday. I better figure out a good structure to keep things all straight. That will make it easier for me to deliver and less likely to provide excuses for why I didn’t at the end of the week …
Workout at 5:15, Training Room by 7, Publish by 1.
The structure I create will set me free.
What structure would help you to be free to make something happen? What will you deliver with your new freedom?
Related articles
- How Good Designers Think (blogs.hbr.org)
- Looking for the right excuse (sethgodin.typepad.com)
