Structure Your FREEDOM!
Perhaps “Major Gift Officer” and “Freedom” feels mutually exclusive! Our long days, bustling from donor visits to internal meetings, attending events, writing compelling correspondence, and struggling to meet metrics and dollar goals hardly feels “open” or “flexible.” And, oh yeah, where’s our family or workouts in all of this?
But in reality, most of us really do have a great deal of personal freedom.
Consider….
Is it freedom to do or be? Or freedom from?
Is it a feeling of space? In your days? Your calendar?
Is it relief from a never-ending in-box of work and To do lists?
Is it peace of mind? And what is that?
Is it dinner together as a family? A daily walk?
I remember each and every time I sincerely felt free…and long stretches of time I felt weighted down.
Here are five words that have a major impact on my own sense of personal freedom.
1 – Re-View
Take a look. How are you feeling? Overwhelmed? Tired? Behind? Frazzled? Out-of-balance? Guilty? Powerful? In Control? Happy? Energized? Calm? Productive? Successful? Rested? Competent? Organized?
You’ve got to stop to re-view. I still struggle with giving “planning and reflecting” equal billing with “doing and achieving.” Managing a team of major gift officers, working my own 400+ major gift portfolio, orchestrating the $1.8 billion Create the Future Campaign in the Pacific Northwest, performing with my dance band to boot….and did I mention 3 active kids? I experienced all of the feelings above. Make your own list of words describing the spectrum for you. For two weeks circle the words at the beginning and end of the day that capture your primary feelings. What’s circled the most?
Everything begins with a clear picture of where you are now and your clear intention and definition of what freedom looks like and feels like for you. Define it.
Remember you need to believe that it is possible. “Nothing’s gonna change.” will assure that nothing will. It is your choice. Be fully excited about your definition of freedom.
2 – Re-Focus
Once you have defined personal freedom – then take stock of what holds you back or ties you down.
Is your desk piled high with papers shouting for your attention? Does EVERY prospective giver REALLY have the same urgency? Are you focusing on your “A’s?” Must you bring homemade t o the potluck? Are you multitasking? (a known freedom-squelcher.) Talking on your cell phone when you are with your kids? Is your house bursting with stuff? Do you create an agenda, or at least a list of topics for every meeting? Do you stick to it? Do you believe only you can do it? Write it all down.
Don’t criticize yourself. Just know that this is the stuff that’s in the way! What you focus on grows.
Draining people, unwanted obligations, time-grabbing commitments, the weight of clutter, the overwhelm of too much. Make a decision to release something that holds you back or pulls you down. You’d be amazed at how much freedom this will deliver.
Big changes start with little steps. Start with the “freedom from” list.
This summer I made a commitment to dig out from under the clutter – in my office and our home. Working through mounds of paper with Brooke led to new processes to assure we took action. I wanted request to be handled personally, but I needed systems to guarantee that each one got the proper attention. Now a new dry-erase board posted right in front of me pulls my focus to what is most important each day. No more than 6 things on my GET To Do Today list – personal and professional. We have a weekly visit – yes VISIT – about how it is going – celebrating all we have accomplished.
In 2006, we had a crazy move in to our new home leaving kids stuff, band stuff, inherited-from-my-parents stuff, my-own-childhood stuff, broken stuff, and more in the attic and the basement. (Can you relate?) It was emotional to see toys the boys grew past as they lay in unpacked boxes. So…we played with them, kept some, had a huge garage sale and took a truck load to charity. We only got to the attic, but what a joy to see the space and the items already boxed for the basement sale next spring!
4 – Re-Structure
Now I cringe at the word “structure.” It feels regimented and filled with words like “discipline” and “schedule” and “systems.” But structure paves the path to freedom. According to Christine Kane,
“Discipline means you TAKE ACTION based on YOUR DEFINITION of true freedom. Your actions become “disciples” of your intentions.”
Most people aren’t free because they take action based on their emotional reaction in the moment. Structure means you make the plan, then WORK the plan. The weight on the clutter is gone and I have committed to a weekly clean-up to keep the piles at bay. There is an amazing feeling of freedom from structuring the time to do it.
When I lead workshops in creating “RAPS” (relationship action plans), there’s a great deal of push back….”Who has time for this?” RAPS are WRITTEN plans that involve others and outline the steps and a dollar goal for all of your top major donors. They turn into action steps and fundraising success. Do you have these and are you working your plans?
5 – Re-Engage
“Screw it. Let’s watch a movie, or catch a drink, or get on Facebook… or just do nothing. That’s freedom.”
While we all need play, freedom is not shutting down….glazing over…comatose in front of the screen. It may look like freedom to someone who has been engaging with too much that drains her: negative relationships, poor planning, too many projects, clutter. “Who cares anyway?” is not freedom. If we check out of our lives so much that we can’t create the solutions to what’s dragging us down, we’re already disengaged.
Freedom is about STEPPING UP, taking responsibility, committing to results, honoring your plans – personal and professional.
Freedom. Not to do as we please, but to do as we CHOOSE! It is the structure… systematically accomplishing what is most important, that reassures us that both our personal and professional lives are under control. Thus… real freedom, peace.
As the seasons change, embrace a new order. Re-view, re-focus, re-organize, re-structure and re-engage. Commit to the bite-sized, repeatable actions that will give you the freedom to enjoy and celebrate your successful year-end.
Invest in Joy!