What would your inner child 'high-five' you for today?

Today I decided, procrastination was not an option.  I also have a leadership coach who is holding me accountable when I have meetings with him...and he occasionally gives me homework (for the first time since I don't know when that was not homework initiated by me!)   

I have no idea why this makes me nervous- I can hold my own in boardrooms all round the world....yet in my own boardroom one on one with him, I feel oddly uncomfortable some sessions!  He says "We live in the feeling of our thinking".  My job is to now recognise how I am feeling and thinking and take a moment to think about this.




Like anything, the first step is taking action to change.  I have decided that everyday my 'inner child' is going to 'high-five' me for an achievement no matter how small, I will verbalise it to my team each day.  The purpose behind this is to become the leader I want to be. 

You are probably wondering what type of leader that is.  Probably mainly one who is less frustrated with operation issues and who is able to focus on being an 'effortless leader'. 

Recognising your 'inner child' is also important and giving yourself that 'inner high five' is also very satisfying- a mental confidence boost to yourself is sometimes all you need to change your perspective on what is in front of you.  I get a great amount of motivation since I've been 'inner high-fiving' my self over the past 6 months.  Its important  to recognise that although you may not achieve everything you set out to in a day, you must recognise those that you have achieved and celebrate them by this 'inner high-five'.

So here is my list of things I am going to 'high-five' myself for today, not all work related, but personal 'mind clutter' needs to be cleared if we are going to be able to focus on the real tasks ahead, and I have also been told as leaders, we should be strategically 'rising above it' and working on at least 1 strategic thing each day:-

1/ Let me team know about positive news across company for the day
2/ Complete the contractual sign-ups with 2 new partners/ suppliers today (my strategic item for the day)
3/ Touch base with staff on where they are at for completing weekly targets
4/ Submit expenses for the month (month end is approaching!).
5/ Finalise Revenue forecasting for billing and P&L pre-run on Tuesday morning
6/ Put duvet and inner in for dry cleaning (unfortunately the cat has peed on it!)
7/ Print off passport renewal forms so I can do something about leaving the country on a holiday at some point in the near future (an odd feeling of being trapped in side my only country waves over me with passport renewal times which is odd, but real!)
8/ the easy part- the leaving work at 6pm is hard!)
9/ Clear me unread email so I don't have over the 300 unread in my inbox like I currently do.
10/ Find a new supplier for cavity slider doors, my builder brother tells me I'm being ripped off with my current lot of quotes so its back to the drawing board for this one.

I hope your inner child can high-five you today.  Don't forget- share the high-fives with your team too- the mood of the leader can have a direct impact on the mood of the team.

Take a minute to think of your 'inner high-five' item for the day and take a second to visualise you high-fiving yourself......I know you'd feel better and maybe even feel a small smile appear on your face.  Have a great long weekend!