5 Bold (Personal) Moves for Your Summer Reboot

Our tips for how to rethink what the meaning of self-service can mean to you personally.

Last month we started with cleaning up our target garden. We emphasized that July / August is a perfect time (if you haven't already iterate) to take time to reflect, review and re iterate the plan you created at the start of the year. June's focus highlights bringing the team together. For July, let's make sure the individuals are ready too.

In the US, many are in summer mode, in August, most Europeans will then be on summer holiday. It is time for a reboot. It is perfect time to talk about our own batteries. What we need to do to reenergize and refuel. Some might categorize this under work-life balance, how to avoid burn out, mental health, resilience, self care, and so forth. Inspired by a recent 'Lyrics of Living' newsletter from Matthew McConaughey's - we can call it self-service.

(1) You need 'service' just like your car does. When that dang check engine light goes on, are you really postponing that next service appointment by weeks or months? If you car is low on battery or fuel, do you just hope tomorrow there is more?

We often are more aware of those consequences - if you ignore the low fuel signal or the check engine light. We also take car that we warm the car up in the winter and make sure we don't over heat in the summer. Then why not put the same mindset and awareness to your own self, capacity, well being, state of mind etc. Let's be honest, a car can be replaced, you cannot.

(2) Let's look at the language we use to our efforts and productivity. Remove words like 120%, perfect and above and beyond from your mindset and practices. We are setting unrealistic and unhealthy habits for ourselves and our teams. Instead think about words like downtime, refuelling, re-energizing, and finding purpose.

(3) Change your self-talk. To unleash your own potential, there must be capacity to do so. But let's take a few seconds first to think how we define capacity. A synonym for capacity is burden and fullness and sadly the Merriam-Webster states Antonyms or new antonyms are unemployment, avocation and joblessness.

Think about your capacity as your battery or your tank, overfilling doesn't get you anywhere faster. Being too low, gets you no where.

(4) Are you a Yes person? Does just looking at your calendar or to do list overwhelm you? Be brave and say No. Decline meetings without agenda's or clear purposes. Start prioritizing your top items on your list and saying no (or at least not yet) to the others. Self care is not saying yes to everything. And when you need to say yes to something new, say 'Yes, and/but....'

(5) And finally, give yourself permission to ______________. What have you been putting off? What is a pitfall you are hard on yourself about? Now is your time to give your self a break and permission. Permission to try, to be curious, to take a break, to put that out of office on guilt-free.