“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
Think about the last time you were asked to introduce yourself in front of a group and give the typical spiel. Name, what area you work in, where you’re located, number of years you’ve worked in the industry. What catches my attention is the years. I’m always curious when we say a specific number of years, what’s actually in those years of experience.
X years of working experience – how much experience is in these years of work?
Y years of marriage – how much experience is in these years of marriage?
Z years of coaching – how much experience is in these years of coaching?
When we look at the years that go by, sometimes it’s a blur. I can’t tell you how many times I try to think back when something happened, and I can’t pinpoint the year because they so often run together. The years slip by way too fast.
Because they slip away so fast, we need to consider how we engage each day. The routine we find ourselves in at work can lead to stagnation and treat each day the same. In our relationships we may be having the same monotonous conversations that don’t challenge us to know one another deeper. In our health and wellness journey we may think the same routine of running or lifting or walking is the only thing we need to worry about doing.
It’s not that we’re doing anything bad keeping routine at work or exercising. But is there more? Not more in terms of trying to push this idea where more is always better. More in terms of aligning how you engage with the day more with the impact you’re capable of making.
Staying with the same routine at work happens plenty but what if we engaged more? Having more meaningful conversations, raising our hand to speak more in team discussions, helping find more ways to help our peers. More opportunity for an impact and more opportunity to make the most out of our years.
In our health and wellness journey, it’s awesome we’re exercising but when we stay in the same routine, our body gets used to it and we miss an opportunity to challenge ourselves. What can just a little more – running at a faster pace or mixing up lifts – do to make the most of the time exercising? Not worrying so much about the time you spend at the gym, but what your body and mind get out of the experience.
Every once in a while, we need to make sure we’re reflecting on how we engage each day. Years fly by way too fast and to make our authentic impact we have an opportunity to keep evolving how we engage with each day. It’s understanding not just the time we put in but the experiences we’re taking advantage of in this time.
Think about how you want to engage today. Consider a couple of questions when you explore what today looks like:
What’s most important for me today?
Where do I think I can make an impact today?
A couple of simple questions but they help our mind shift from just going through the day to finding opportunity for more fulfillment within our day. The more we engage with the day we’re lucky enough to have, the more opportunity we have to make our unique impact both within and to others.
Take your step: take the next couple of days to ask yourself if you’re engaging with the opportunities throughout the day or going through the motion in cruise control. Reflect on what making the most of your opportunities would look like. Reflect on what your authentic impact could look like and ideas to engage more. It may look like a more meaningful conversation with a friend or family, trying something more difficult while working out, engaging more with a peer or your leader. Whatever it looks like for you and what you prioritize, explore ways to engage further and make the most out of the time.