The Spaces Between: Taking time for your personal development

What if you spent 30 minutes on your personal development every day? Reading. Blogging. Journaling. Drawing. Imagining. Networking. Planning your future. A half hour. Every. Single. Day.

A friend recently told me that in a “How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile” seminar, she learned that we should spend a certain amount of time each day focused on our personal and professional development. Each day? Wow, that sounded like a lot. I mean seriously, how many meaningful moments do you average each day, working on developing your strengths? Or your resume? Or your network?  Pffft, my answer to the question wasn’t all that great, so I decided to try out the concept.

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For one month, I’ve spent 30 minutes each day with focused attention on my personal development. Reading, writing, sharing, listening, and absorbing myself in energy focused on my growth as a professional and as a person. The results are predictably exciting and positive, but not for the reasons I’d expected.

Of course I learned a lot through tuning in to authors and speakers and mentors and idea-makers. But it wasn’t those active learning moments that made the biggest difference. It was the spaces bewteen that yielded a refreshing and unexpected rush of creativity, clarity and focus.

I believe that investing in your personal and professional growth is an iterative process best achieved through small, meaningful steps over time. Just like a great athlete or musician or speaker, it takes sustained and consistent effort to build the muscle memory needed to become fluent in any worthy pursuit. Intentional practice in directional increments is often said to be the secret to reaching a development goal. But I believe that in between those efforts of intention, the silent “pauses” are just as important. A pause can be a time of silent introspection or just a rest from the norm of day-to-day goal pursuit.

The pause is for me is about allowing thoughtful spaces between my rushed and hurried emails, calls, and meetings. It’s about protecting and valuing those spaces, rather than rushing to fill them with urgent-but-not-important matters…Allowing those spaces to be dedicated to developing my strengths and focusing on where I want to be, not just where I am.

English musician Gordon Sumner, better known as The Police’s Sting, once said,

“Paradoxically, I’m coming to believe in the importance of silence in music. The power of silence after a phrase of music for example; the dramatic silence after the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, or the space between the notes of a Miles Davis solo. There is something very specific about a rest in music. You take your foot off the pedal and pay attention. I’m wondering whether, as musicians, the most important thing we do is merely to provide a frame for silence. I’m wondering if silence itself is perhaps the mystery at the heart of music? And is silence the most perfect music of all?”

What are you doing with the “spaces between” in your life?

Solve a real problem – digital trendspotting for the rest of us

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How many new digital trends and tools have you heard about in recent years?

QR codes. Virtual Reality. Google Glass. Geotagging. Alexa. OneNote. SnapChat. GoPro. Instagram. Twitter. Periscope. Home drones. Storyline. PhotoMyne. The mix of new innovations can be dizzying.

So many possibilites bubble up in the cauldron of innovative possibilities…how are we to know which innovations to follow, and which ones to let drift on by?

Here’s an example of a tech trend question we’ve all asked ourselves:

Should I sign up for ________ (insert popular trend of the day, like Periscope, Twitter, Facebook Messenger), or should I stay with ________ (insert your current way of living)?”

In the latest Harvard Business Review technology post, “How to Know Which Digital Trends Are Worth Chasing,” Robert Haslehurst, Chris Randall, Jon Weber, and Charlie Sullivan break down 3 simple ways recognize a true digital differentiator when you see it.  You can read more in the full article about how a real innovation is one that:

  1. Eliminates customer pain points
  2. Elevates customer service
  3. Creates a differentiated, personalized customer experience

All three of these methods are about solving a real problem for other people. So, as you prepare to check out the article, I challenge to you think about a problem that you experienced. It could be a minor annoyance like an extra step in a bureaucratic process or a major pain point in your daily life.

Now, imagine what would it be like if someone came up with a solution for your problem?  It would feel like magic, right?

That’s the power of innovation – the welcomed relief or joy that comes when someone removes a barrier to your living a peaceful, prosperous and happy life.

Now, go check out the HBR article so you can be a real trendspotter and help bring the next great eWidget to the rest of us.

Source: How to Know Which Digital Trends Are Worth Chasing

 

Periscope: A Must-Have for Any Travel Experience!

Periscope app lets you live-cast film yourself

Check out this interesting blog post from global traveler, Chris Hickey, who talks about the value of the Periscope mobile app for live broadcasting yourself while traveling…

Hickey says,

As someone who recently studied abroad I tried to create the most interactive experience for my followers. Creating a blog so people could live vicariously through my travels was extremely important…

Source: Periscope: A Must-Have for Any Travel Experience!

Micro-moments: Putting content at key decision points

So many “micro-moments” in a day…comeinwereawesomesign

I want-to-know moments, I want-to-go moments, I want-to-do moments, and I want-to-buy moments.

These are the decision moments that consumers encounter throughout the day when they experience a want or perceive a need for themselves.

Think with Google writer Sridhar Ramaswamy says,

Today’s battle for hearts, minds, and dollars is won (or lost) in micro-moments—intent-driven moments of decision-making and preference-shaping that occur throughout the entire consumer journey.

For example, you check into your hotel in an unfamiliar town, and you’re hungry. You don’t know what’s available, but you’re looking out the window and you notice a “restaurant open” sign. You wonder what they serve, and if it’s any good. Suddenly, you turn your head and notice that there’s a brochure on your hotel nightstand with that restaurant’s menu, which proudly mentions of its five-star rating on TripAdvisor. You’re a consumer. You’re hungry. And this is a decision moment. Guess what you’re doing for dinner!

These micro-moments can be game changers in the capability-building world, too.

Think about it. Learners are consumers, too. And learners have countless decision moments…I-want-to-understand moments, I-want-to-know-how moments, that drive their choice to engage, or not, with your content.  How can you design and deliver your content so that it’s available at the point of need—the precious micro-moments when your learners are ready and looking?

Read more about micro-moments in the Wall Street Journal and stay up-to-date on the latest insights and research at thinkwithgoogle.com/micromoments.

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YOUR TURN!

Please share comments with your ideas for saving time and energy.

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About Dr. Hendrich

During two decades of leading teams toward extraordinary results in health care, pharmaceutical, arts & cultural, university and military organizations, Susan Hendrich has always been inspired by the stories of people achieving uncommon results through perseverence, positivity and prying opportunity from challenge. Susan’s mantra is “ganbatte kudasai,  which means, “Always try your best.”

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