By Leigh DeBord
When I reflect on my own military career, especially my time as a company commander, I remember how much time I dedicated to my duties as a military officer. Not only was I responsible for running my company, but I had additional duties for the battalion, the responsibility to deal with soldier issues and my family readiness group, staff duty obligations, and taskings for the unit. It was a lifestyle that required me to be available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Whenever I received the call to serve or help someone, I said yes.
However, when I transitioned out of the military, I was no longer obligated to be available to work beyond my normal hours. Somehow though, I still found myself working when I wasn’t at work. I would check emails, answer phone calls, and plan for work when I wasn’t at work. I would do things at work to help others even though it wasn’t part of my specific job description. I realized that even though I left the military, I didn’t leave the habits of the military behind.
Everyday, we consciously or subconsciously make decisions about what and who is important to us. We decide whether to pick up the phone or let someone leave a voicemail when we look down at our caller ID. If we overbook ourselves, as many of us so often do, we rearrange our schedules to please everyone. We might answer a work phone call or log on to our email while we are at home with our family. We may choose to go to a social event or play a round of golf with our friends instead of spending a Friday night or Saturday morning with our spouse or children. We might spend time scrolling through our phones in the presence of our family members or friends. When we make decisions about how to spend our time, whether we recognize it or not, those choices are indicative of what our priorities are and what really matters to us.
The upcoming Command Purpose Foundation Series Event on Intention Setting is a few hours of protected time on a Sunday afternoon for you to reflect and conduct introspection on what is really important to you. What do you want to accomplish this year?
During the event, Command Purpose will provide a space where a trusted community will help you brainstorm and articulate your priorities and give you a few tools to help you stay focused on what you feel is most important to achieve. This event is designed to assist you with prioritizing your life, protecting your time, and achieving your goals.
Participants will be introduced to a proven technique for more effective goal setting called “WOOP”. This strategy is a four step process of setting goals to help eliminate negative self-talk, manage expectations, and reframe positive thinking. WOOP helps you answer the question, “What is holding you back from fulfilling your wish?” Studies have proven that the WOOP method strengthens mental associations, increases energy, and leads to better performance.
Military service played an important role in our lives and shaped us into who we are today. However, we must remember that the military operates under a different set of social norms because of the nature of its mission. Now that we are civilians, we have autonomy and control of our lives. We now have a personal life separate from our professional life. While it may be foreign to us, we owe it to ourselves to take back that control and make ourselves, our families, and our personal and professional goals a priority. We must clearly define what is important to us and create tools that keep us focused on what matters.
We look forward to seeing you and hope that you leave this event feeling energized, empowered, and ready to tackle obstacles in the year ahead.