By LIZ MARCHI
I think in threes. If you can get three points across that folks remember then you are doing well. If you can express your business, your work or your life as three priorities, then you have enough focus to actually accomplish something.
So, August is here. I am evaluating my summer thus far to see if I am meeting my change results for tempo and time. Having been in a hurry to get it done since the day I was born, this tempo change is proving to be harder than I thought.
I have NOT figured out how to get the results I expect and want without moving at the same tempo I have in the past. This clearly means I have to expect less and this cuts into a set of competitive urges and a set of expectations that need to change. I am getting low marks here.
The after 60 imperative to make health a priority is also proving problematic. I am sleeping more. More sleep means less burning the candle at both ends hence less results. Without results I am nuts.
My three girls are pretty spectacular!
So, it’s August. I haven’t completed my major project of the summer because I have not been going about it with the same intensity and tempo I might have a year ago. I have been talking walks, weeding my garden, visiting with my children, which I also did in threes. (I must add that my three girls are pretty spectacular.)
As I age, I truly see the world in longer terms: history matters, urgency is redefined, but I still want to do things that are measurable.
One of the smartest business people I know says that life happens at the intersection of intelligence, opportunity and ambition. What is it we aspire to? For me it was lots of experiences, places, and people, challenges and newness. I actually don’t understand why. I had a wonderful childhood, a terrific family and grew up loved and cared for. My own children call my childhood the velvet cocoon.
So ambition…what does that mean in the last quarter? Well, first of all if you don’t feel good it doesn’t matter. So time to eat well, exercise and sleep has to be allocated. Priorities are clear: family, friends, entrepreneurs, and women. Gratitude: for every day. Ambition: what does it mean in last quarter of life? It hasn’t gone away for me and I thought it might (maybe was hoping it might). So tempo, time and results are not reconciled. August in Montana is a terrible time to reconcile. I think I will live with this ambiguity, enjoy each sunrise, friends at the lake, visitors and my garden harvest and continue to think a lot about what really matters and how to engage in those things.
Liz Marchi
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Liz Marchi lives on a ranch in Polson, Montana with her husband Jon. She is the Fund Coordinator for the Frontier Angel Fund and spends a lot of time thinking and learning about entrepreneurs, the economy and Montana’s unique place in the world. She has three daughters and a stepson and daughter and a grandchild. She graduated from Hollins College and is entering the final quarter of life…unless we go into overtime.