My Advice

It is my reality and I know it.  I've always joked about it, and have even made it into a card and poster.

I can, and do offer great reams of advice to anyone who is silly enough to invite me to share my opinion.  I rarely do it unsolicited, but heaven help someone if they open a conversation with 'What do you think I should do about ..."  or "How would I .... "  I have no shortage of ideas or tactics that I am willingly and enthusiastically ready to share.

After all, I have lived a pretty long time and gathered up a fair bit of experience within a multitude of general areas.

On occasion, I have heard myself offer someone advice, and thought ... 'Hmmm ... I should actually listen to myself once in awhile.  I could and should be doing that myself.'  It's sort of like raising children - you always know what to do with someone's kids.

On New Years Day I  was engaging in my annual 'End of the Year Reflection/Beginning of the Year Plan', or in other terms  'Where The Heck Did Last Year Go' and ... this is the absolute truth: 'Why Do I Have The Same Exact Things On My Goal List For The Past Quarter Century'.

I was feeling a little discouraged that I actually don't achieve what I want to, a little overwhelmed that I have too many directions to go in, and a little panicky that my time is zipping away and I still have three lifetimes worth of stuff to accomplish.  Another truth is that I seem to be losing my edge a bit. I've definitely re-adjusted my priorities, but there are still things that are very essential to me that are not getting done. Drive is still there, but I seem to have slipped into neutral.

What to do? 
What would I tell someone else to do?

So that's what I did ... pretended that Someone Else had asked me.

I interviewed Me - objectively and honestly.

I took Me to a quiet corner, got out the fresh, happy journal that my GIT Sista gave me for Christmas and wrote out all the questions that I would have asked Someone Else.

They were questions directed to my priorities, my specific needs, my wants, my intentions.

I spent three cups of tea on sifting through a jumble of thoughts that generally tire me out enough that I give up on them and fool around with Someone Else's issues.

After the questions, we worked on the Plan of Attack. We're far from finished, but we got a good start.




We filled up a third of the journal in one sitting.

We dealt with personal and business and wellness.  We worked together - getting excited about it all, instead of overwhelmed. We were energized and keen.

It's not that I haven't done this whole exercise year after year after year. It's all the same stuff. .

And it's not like I don't talk to myself ... I do that all the time. I think the difference is that I am always 'talking' - I wasn't asking the right questions, and I wasn't listening.

I have January Momentum going. The trick will be to take it into February.

The real trick will be to actually TAKE MY OWN ADVICE.