Seasons

I recently saw something about seasons and productivity, which led me down a virtual rabbit hole of articles, blogs, YouTube videos etc. (obviously). There are a few schools of thought on what this means or how it works.  The two that resonated most are related to time and focus. 

The school of thought related to focus suggests you can only focus on one extraordinary thing at a time, so it consumes your energy for the duration of whatever period of time is required.  It’s an interesting thought … Maybe not always practical, but the idea that you invest time and energy into something until you become good at it, is supposed to shorten the length of time it takes to get where you want to get with whatever the thing is.  This resonates with my “all in” mentality or my playing in extremes.  It aligns with my natural tendencies towards imbalance. 

The time based school of thought leverages seasons in a truer sense.  It assumes we, as people, are always shifting between seasons.  This is regardless of where we live or what the ‘actual’ season is.  As an individual I could be in winter even though it’s summer etc.  Being in a season of winter suggests I’m internally focussed, I’m learning new skills, determining next steps … basically a period of introspection.  Just like the seasons, we, as individuals follow the pattern and would move from Winter to Spring to Summer to Fall.  Spring, while still being internal in focus, sees a shift, meeting new people, taking on new responsibilities … essentially planting seeds for whatever endeavor I’m choosing to focus on.  Summer is high energy and externally focussed.  You are executing against predetermined priorities and are outcome focussed etc.  Lastly, Fall.  This is the season where you begin to reap the rewards of the work done in Spring and Summer, or where you enjoy the fruits of your labour.  Fall shifts to Winter and the cycle begins anew.  

I think these concepts resonate with me as I have this idea of building blocks or foundations as it relates to my goals … Realizing one set of goals sets the foundation for the next set etc.  I also feel a little like I’m switching seasons … moving from Winter to Spring … still internally focussed, but starting to come out of my shell … test ideas … planting seeds … Another thing I like about the concept of seasons, it allows for a pause.  Admittedly, that has been difficult for me to adjust to, still feeling productive while not being busy for the sake of being busy.  Feeling like I’m catching my breath and not stuck.  I’m still wrapping my head around this … clearly.  

I’m not going to lie, being laser focussed on something is appealing … It feels productive.  I see progress - quickly - if not, I adapt, adjust, get back on course.  Too much time and I lose motivation, focus … things just don’t get done.  It could be argued I enjoy urgency, the adrenaline from time sensitive tasks … could be.  It could just be I’m impatient and want to see forward movement.  I’m ok with slow and steady … I just like movement.  

Point of clarification: I am not afraid of the work.  I like working.  I like feedback - is the work producing meaningful results?  Are there incremental gains? Is something blocking progress?  How do I solve for that?  I enjoy problem solving.  

The idea that I could focus on one goal, aligns with all the extremes of how I think.  The idea of expediting progress in key areas by going all in … what’s not to love about that?  The tricky part … I still need balance … I have a job, a life, health goals etc. etc. etc. 

Rabbit hole: I honestly believe I would make an excellent wealthy person.  I could focus on key areas … drive crazy personal growth, be good at making more money, fund passion projects, volunteer my time in areas that resonate with my soul but aren’t day job material.  

So, what do I do with these theories?  If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure.  I need to play with them a little, figure out how to utilize the concepts in a way that suits me, my goals and my life.  At the moment, they are just theories I’ve been trying to better understand.  Incorporating them into practice … that's the next step.  

The idea of seasons, that’s also a little scary.  The pause or winter, the introspection, it’s easy to want to stay there, it’s safe.  The movement, the shift, the action, that requires courage.  There are a lot of unknowns.  Putting myself back out there, that’s scary.  That’s the funny thing about my brain, it knows I’m special, I was meant for something big but the knowing is also the frightening part.  What if I figure out what that something is … what if I get it … all of it?  How could having the life you want be scary?  Laughs … makes no sense and yet there it is.  

I’m moving away from that fear … those narratives.  I am letting go of old, outdated beliefs and updating my minimum standards and raising the level of possible up a notch or two … aligning with current goals to better enable my success and support new habits.  This is where how I think, works to my advantage.  What others believe is impossible, I believe is possible.  It doesn’t occur to me that time isn’t malleable or that I can’t drive life changing changes in short periods of time.  It doesn’t occur to me that magic doesn’t exist.  

So … what’s my Summer?  Well … I’m still in my Spring, working on how my Summer will play out, working on how to combine both schools of thought to support achieving my current goals.  It’s fair to say, Summer is still in development, moving towards … progress.