Our personal and business lives tend to follow the same patterns. Understanding the dynamic of one often gives us insight into the other and vice versa. It makes sense if you think about it – YOU are the common element in each and how you interact and engage with both entities is a reflection of where you are.
Take the continuum between the initial romance and retirement as an example.
In the beginning, there’s the excitement of the new when everything is rosy and romantic. At the other end of the spectrum, there is the retirement phase when you finally have the opportunity to enjoy what you have spent years working on.
And then there is the middle part, or what I call the ‘trap of the average’. You are neither in an exciting new phase nor an end pinnacle, but a sort of humdrum middle ground. Some would call it contentment, but this sense of comfort quickly becomes complacency, and boredom.
Let’s apply that to both our personal and business lives.
During the romantic stage, you pour your energy into your new relationships and the new business with excitement and enthusiasm. You are happy with your relationship choice, whether it is with a life partner or remaining single and in business; you are in the creative zone!
When you reach retirement, you enjoy a high point, reaping the benefits of all that you have sowed. In your personal live, you may embark on new adventures, perhaps choosing to travel or take up a new hobby. In business, you are at the top of your career, maybe shifting to consulting after selling out of the business or retiring from a career.
In the mid-life crisis phase, you are stuck in the middle, neither benefiting from the creative enthusiasm, nor the quiet confidence that comes with experience and age. Your family is school-aged, shifting your focus to the daily logistics of homework, school lunches and activities.
This shift takes a toll on both your personal relationships and your businesses. The everyday household management tasks you share with your partner have started to weigh on the relationship. Maybe the business is running well, but it has reached a plateau and isn’t experiencing the same growth it did previously.
Wake up! It’s time to shake it up!
When you allow yourself to get stuck in this middle zone and just go with the flow, you disconnect from the right side of our brain – the creative side. It is a slow and subtle progress to tired and just plain lazy! Statistics show that people over 40 are less likely to try anything new, preferring to stick with the comfortable and safe.
This is exactly the reason it is essential that you do seek change. Start a new hobby, try that new restaurant, and get out of those regular patterns! When you embrace change, you access the right side of your brain, improving your creativity and enhancing your physical and mental health.
Change is drives innovation in businesses, and engages and ignites your team! Instead of the same old Monday morning meeting routine, try taking the weekly meeting offsite or making people sit in different places. Use change to break out of the ‘trap of the average’ so you arrive at retirement ready for another round, not ready to start pushing up daisies!
Not sure how to break out of your humdrum, average routine? Need help navigating and incorporating change? Contact me to set up your free consultation!
