An Integrity Check For The End Of Your Day
I have often shared the great advice one of my business coaches gave me when I was working through a change in leadership, a change in corporate vision and a change in the focus of my role. Her words inspired me time and time again as I worked to adjust after a merger/acquisition several years ago.
At the end of the day, look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Did I do the right things today? For my team? The customer? The company?” If you can say yes to all three, carry on; you are standing in your integrity. If you can’t readily say yes to all three, stop and reflect on why. Then you have to decide; do you continue or do you make a change?
That proved to be a useful way to end the day and gave me both calm and inspiration to carry on as well as confidence in knowing when it was time to make a change.
What About The Beginning of Your Day?
Last week I saw a quote that provides a meaningful way to start the day. As you pull up your calendar and look over your work schedule, review it with this thought in mind:
If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today? – Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was certainly someone who died far too young. We can all learn a great lesson from him about the value of our time and using it to do important things.
These two quotes tie together very well. If the tasks you see on your work calendar in the morning do not support your efforts to do the right thing for your team, customer and company, why are they there? Are they really that important? Do they really need to get done?
Start and end your day with the above two questions. They will make a significant difference in how you manage your time, prioritize your tasks and fulfill your professional calling.
