The clock is ticking…are we there yet?

Long time, no see.

I was reading a book about creativity, when the following sentence caught my attention: “We spend much of our lives not being who we really are”. Not a new idea or concept, that’s for sure.

Still, got me thinking that putting aside all the drama and philosophical sense behind it, we really do spend much of our lives not being who we really are. And I don’t mean it in the sense “we all hide behind our own masks”.

I mean we wear from top to bottom the expectations, the dreams, the musts from those around us and the stereotypes and fears which whisper inside our heads. It was discussed before how socialization and expectations can shape us into thinking in a certain way and how hard it is to get out of that model.

Focusing on the professional side and how our standard selves impact our career choices, I am tempted to say that no matter how unsatisfied or bored people are with their work (for what reason it may be), few ones take the risk to reinvent themselves within the same company or reach out for a new path. I strongly believe this mostly happens because we forgot how to be who we are.

I’m not thinking about a revolution or giving up, instead the word should be: standing up. Standing up for what you believe it should be, for your ideas and vision, for ethics and creativity. Real collaboration and contribution instead of nodding the head. Be responsible for you and your actions – not a clone.

One thing is for sure, we cannot drive on creativity and expect to keep up the pace of innovation and technology, if we lack it in ourselves. Organizations evolve the same amount their employees do.

I always remember one frequent expression that made my Top 10 Most horrible expressions I’ve ever heard in my life: “It’s like that, because that’s the way it has always been done”.

We lack energy and time!

Time Management experts discuss that we spend most of our time at work doing what is urgent and not what is important. This reflects how resources and work are organized but also the culture of organizations. Essentially, we usually do everything last minute and we react to problems. If something is for next month…come on! I still have 4 complete weeks to do it, give me a break! And then again, I will do it the day before. Not because I’m lazy, but because we are always running against time. So, what is important stays behind and maybe one day it will be urgent and then I will do it, but I won't give my best…no time, sorry. And the spiral goes on and on. Organizations miss opportunities to revolutionize, we miss opportunities to feel happy and proud about what we do.

We lack energy and time!

Energy to flee from our daily work routines.

Time to get curious and exceed.

I believe it all comes down to one simple question: How do we want to spend our time?

In a way, this could be the story about how this blog hibernated and then came back to life.

…are we there yet?

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

E. E. Cummings