Forging Ahead to Fall

by Norman Lanier, Ph.D, Corporate Psychologist & Executive Coach

Autumn, or Fall, is the third of the four seasons in those areas that have four seasons, and is a transitional time (September 24-December 22) from the sunshine, heat and glory of summer to the darkness, cold and bleakness of winter.

Those of us who live or have lived in climates with seasonal changes may like Fall very, very much. When asked why, we are apt to point to the cooling of temperatures and the changing colors of deciduous trees as important components that arouse deeply positive feelings in us.

What do you do in the Fall? We at Parrish Partners encourage you to pause, reflect, and to keep moving forward!

There is some tendency to enter the Fall period with a bit of sadness or nostalgia as the summer draws to a close. School resumes, holidays begin to loom and sometimes, we are tempted to coast. We tell ourselves we have had a reasonably good year, have enjoyed ourselves, and that the end of the year is rapidly approaching. We may be tempted to coast, to lower our levels of effort and intensity, and to put some of our improvement goals on hold, or at least to lower their levels of priority…

We encourage you to coast for a short period of time, but then to regenerate your energy level and renew your level of commitment. Your job, your responsibilities, and those important things around you continue on a twelve-month schedule. The trees may lose their leaves, but they do not die.

In this issue of the News Leader, you will find a couple of articles that should help you stay motivated and maintain your focus. The first, by Michele, continues to address the challenges of identifying and working on That One Thing (TOT) that holds you back, in order to make significant, sustained growth.

The second one is by Norm Lanier, and begins to explore RESISTANCE, a psychological phenomenon that holds us back but is intriguing to explore, and on the surface illogical, and personally challenging to do something about.

So as you enter FALL, enjoy, keep yourself alert and curious, and coast productively!