Tag: milestones

Memories, Milestones, and Emotions, Oh My

Posted on by Carl Weber

Memories, especially tied to significant events or Milestones in our lives are strong.

Our Emotions, and even our bodies are aware of this invisible timeline.

The corresponding Emotions can arise as these Memories or Milestones approach.

Joy, Sadness, Pride, Outrage, Excitement, Embarrassment, Humility, Despair, Love, Loss.

These Emotions are reminders that something significant happened. Happened to us, for us, with us, because of us, or around us.

Little monuments of events that build us.

These Memories, Milestones, and Emotions can be wonderful.

Love, friend, child, pet, job, relationship, adventure, home, career…

These same Memories, Milestones, and Emotions can be challenging.

Love, friend, child, pet, job, relationship, adventure, home, career…

Some of the Emotions feel like gains.

Some of the Emotions feel like losses.

Either way, these Emotions are requesting something.

To be acknowledged, to be heard, to be remembered?

In the past, Resistance and Distraction was my strategy for the losses.

With the gains, it was mostly Reduction and Discounting.

(I am realizing how sad it is that we tend to amplify the negative, while reducing the positive.)

I am beginning to see these Memories, Milestones, and Emotions as less of a nuisance and more of a Guide.

I am still periodically surprised when they arrive, and I don’t always see them coming.

Once these Guides arrive, I am learning to welcome them and ask how they are here to help.

Walking through these Memories, Milestones, and Emotions appears to be a path forward.

A path towards continued growth.

Oh, My!

45, 1/2, and 104

Posted on by Carl Weber

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(Image Courtesy of poetsandquantsforexecs.com)

45.

This year marked a pretty significant milestone for me. Forty-Five years I have been roaming around on this planet. I couldn’t help but remember an interview I watched with Will Smith about turning 45.

“I’m 45 right now. Right? And with the state of modern medicine—90, we’re all probably gonna hit 90,” he said. “90’s like a real thing now…So, I was thinking ‘This is halftime.’ Right? So, when you come out for the third quarter, in any sporting event the third quarter’s an important quarter. That’s not the time when you start relaxing and you start chilling. You gotta go get it in the third quarter.” Will Smith

1/2.

Halftime. That means that there is still half of this game left to play. And when you think about the first decade or two in our lives, most of us didn’t really accomplish that much.

That gives us four and a half more decades to accomplish things, finish projects, ship, and make a difference.

I got to hear Jim Collins speak a few years back. He was asked to say a few words at Peter Drucker’s memorial service after he passed away. On one of the tables, all of Mr. Drucker’s books were laid end to end. Jim asked a simple question.

“Show me where in this timeline of books, Peter was 65.”

The answer was simple: 1/3rd through all of his books.

Can you imagine accomplishing 2/3rds of your work after age 65?

104. 

As I finished a long-run with my team yesterday, my running app recorded 104 miles in November. It seemed important that this month, this milestone, and this accomplishment came in the month I turned 45 at the 1/2.

What numbers have made you record and reflect?

I have been thinking a lot about how to finish well in life. Maybe that is what part of the aging process. In the process of reclaiming our lives, and running into our 80’s, it seemed important to record and reflect about these numbers, and get working on the second half.

Imagine what your second half can bring.