Align decisions with your own North Star
Decisions are difficult when there is a lack of clarity about where the journey should take us. The great nirvana is the consequence:Why say yes, why say no? We don’t know where we want to go and say ‘yes’ to things that feel like ‘no’. Conversely, we may have to say ‘no’ to activities or appointments that we would really like to do. What gives us orientation when making decisions is clarity about our personal North Star.
Too little time? When the warning signals are flashing
Without guidance from our North Star, we take on too much or even – for us – the ‘wrong’ things. The to-do list seems to be a bottomless pit, we pour energy into it and yet we never get everything done. When we look at our diary, nausea sets in. ‘I have to…’, “There’s no time for what’s important to me…”, “Nobody else can do it” are typical statements. These statements are flashing warning signals that we have lost sight of our North Star and are making disorientated decisions. But how can you find your personal North Star and align your decisions with it?
Decision management with the help of my North Star
As a manager in particular, the quality of the decisions made determines how effectively time resources are allocated. Do I base my decisions on gaining recognition and prestige – to feel important or to appear important? Or do I orientate myself towards my true North Star? The North Star is a synonym for our compass of personal values, goals, desires for fulfilment and growth, both as a manager and as an individual. Knowing where we want to go and what we want to achieve gives us a direction. A direction as to how we want and need to spend our time in order to realise our goals. Because that’s the big problem: we always seem to have too little time.
Why we are not in a race against time
We have 24 hours a day at our disposal. ‘I don’t have time for this’ is therefore deceptive, because we all have exactly the same 1,440 minutes that we can spend on our daily tasks. So let’s forget passive thoughts that make us think we are in a race against time. We don’t need to race against time to achieve everything we set out to do if we use time FOR ourselves.
Questions we need to ask ourselves
If you want to find your own North Star, you can start by answering questions that point the way ahead: Where do I want to go as an individual? What do I want to have achieved in 5 years? What do I want to achieve as a manager today and in the future? What purpose do I dedicate my actions and being to? How should I therefore invest my time – in which projects, in which activities do I invest this time? What do I prioritise and what do I see as unimportant?
If you answer these questions for yourself, you will realise: It’s not that easy. And yet: it becomes really difficult when we make disorientated decisions and are unclear about what we REALLY want to achieve and who we want to be.
Why say yes, why say no? We don’t know where we want to go and say ‘yes’ to things that feel like ‘no’. Conversely, we may have to say ‘no’ to activities or appointments that we would really like to do. What gives us orientation when making decisions is clarity about our personal North Star.
Too little time? When the warning signals are flashing
Without guidance from our North Star, we take on too much or even – for us – the ‘wrong’ things. The to-do list seems to be a bottomless pit, we pour energy into it and yet we never get everything done. When we look at our diary, nausea sets in. ‘I have to…’, “There’s no time for what’s important to me…”, “Nobody else can do it” are typical statements. These statements are flashing warning signals that we have lost sight of our North Star and are making disorientated decisions. But how can you find your personal North Star and align your decisions with it?
Decision management with the help of my North Star
As a manager in particular, the quality of the decisions made determines how effectively time resources are allocated. Do I base my decisions on gaining recognition and prestige – to feel important or to appear important? Or do I orientate myself towards my true North Star? The North Star is a synonym for our compass of personal values, goals, desires for fulfilment and growth, both as a manager and as an individual. Knowing where we want to go and what we want to achieve gives us a direction. A direction as to how we want and need to spend our time in order to realise our goals. Because that’s the big problem: we always seem to have too little time.
Why we are not in a race against time
We have 24 hours a day at our disposal. ‘I don’t have time for this’ is therefore deceptive, because we all have exactly the same 1,440 minutes that we can spend on our daily tasks. So let’s forget passive thoughts that make us think we are in a race against time. We don’t need to race against time to achieve everything we set out to do if we use time FOR ourselves.
Questions we need to ask ourselves
If you want to find your own North Star, you can start by answering questions that point the way ahead: Where do I want to go as an individual? What do I want to have achieved in 5 years? What do I want to achieve as a manager today and in the future? What purpose do I dedicate my actions and being to? How should I therefore invest my time – in which projects, in which activities do I invest this time? What do I prioritise and what do I see as unimportant?
If you answer these questions for yourself, you will realise: It’s not that easy. And yet: it becomes really difficult when we make disorientated decisions and are unclear about what we REALLY want to achieve and who we want to be.
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