What actually happens to the projects we’ve always wanted to do? What happens to the business idea that has accompanied us for so many years but has never been implemented? You know the answer: probably nothing. But then, other people just put it into practice. That is why I like the motto “Doing is stronger than wanting to do”.
However, there is no need to always take big steps – those that turn your entire life upside down. It is enough to train your skills of improvisation. For improvisation has a lot in common with “Just do it!”. Both call for knowledge, skills, competencies, confidence, and courage. The bigger our toolbox, the easier it is for us to start working. What, then, should we do to “Just do it!” ever more often?
People who proactively embrace change, deal with it, and make the best of it are those who develop something new. This always reminds me of the recent German past: the fall of the wall. It was an incredibly special time full of surprises. Life was turned upside down; there was a spirit of optimism, and Berlin, at least, experienced a kind of anarchy. An enormous amount of creativity was unleashed during this time. People had an almost unbridled desire to try something new. In line with the motto “Just do it!”, they created projects, companies, and ideas.
Half your life is improvisation
No matter how well we prepare and examine our own thoughts and feelings, life always gets in the way somehow. However, you still need to decide how to put the different pieces of your life puzzle together and what kind of signature to develop in the process. This is where improvisation comes in: a fine art based on sound knowledge, expertise, and experience. Catching the right moment, improvising if necessary, and giving space to the new and unforeseen also has to do with trusting the world – a concept that is relevant in existential analysis and logotherapy (as promoted by Viktor Frankl, Alfried Längle, and Christoph Kolbe).
Personally, I associate trust in the world – also known as basic trust – with being able to let things flow and giving time and space for new things to emerge. For new space, I must be able to let go of old things, including existing texts, ideas, and thoughts. Only when you leave something behind is there room for something new. I call this “cleaning up the hard drive”.
I take what I need from my various training programmes and methods and “garnish” it with something new. This can perhaps best be compared to developing your own culinary creations from existing recipes by varying the ingredients. The most important spices for me are curiosity and a thirst for knowledge as well as a willingness to continue learning – in short, a certain fundamental openness to everything that life has to offer. This, then, goes hand in hand with recognising the right moment: when to use which spice, or, in my case, which method to employ at what time.
The “Just do it!” approach has helped me in developing my freelance career and as a manager in multinational companies. After all, work life is always “just” about contributing ideas and trying them out, convincing people and supporting them in their further development. Here we go, then: Just do it!
Do you need support with defining your vision or honing a new idea? Or are you looking for a sparring partner when it comes to implementing your idea? Please, write to me!
Photo © Pexels-itsmicheal
Some changes come so unexpectedly that they cause reactions similar to those that occur after a severe shock. Yet, after a time of paralysis, anger or grief, they can trigger processes never conceived before.
These are crazy times, many say. Others would call them stultifying. And still others are already looking for ways to fill with meaning the slowdown that the coronavirus restrictions have brought about. The inventor and entrepreneur Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) once wrote: “When one door closes, another opens.” With this attitude, he succeeded in developing a commercially practical telephone.
Even though every crisis presents itself differently, it is evident that constructive people think outside the box in exceptional situations and develop particularly creative solutions. Some even tread new paths that are better than the old ones.
Leaders participating in my coaching sessions often ask similar questions. Do I have to reposition myself? Are there alternatives to how we are currently working? Can we change the path we have chosen? How can products be repositioned? Times of crisis such as these often generate new business ideas. People make a virtue out of necessity, developing innovative concepts and trying them out.
However, it is not only with regard to products and structures that change can be seen as an opportunity. This very special time deserves to be put to good use. And so, many people discover further education. What training course or seminar might help me now? How can I prepare myself and my employees for the time after? How do I become the architect of my future and how do I benefit from this for the present?
Such questions can be perfectly tackled and discussed in a coaching session. Engaging in a dialogue, we will question existing ways of thinking, change perspectives, create new visions, and develop ideas. I am happy to offer such dialogue and lateral thinking units also as online coaching sessions.
And how are you getting on with the current situation?
