Being Deliberate

Being deliberate. If I asked people who really know you how genuinely passionate you are towards your purpose what might they say?

Would they say you have a real intensity with what you do and a real intent in achieving what you aspire to? Is your year, your month, your week, your day driven and filled with specific intent? Where you are clearly being deliberate about what you want, the choices you’ve made and how you’re going after them?

Or do you just show up? You know, drifting through life or your career because you have to?

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Being Deliberate. What’s True For You?

Are you becoming stale or are you keeping yourself sharp? You know, keeping yourself on top of your game and ahead of the rest? Are you leaping out of bed, and are you curious and enthused about who you’re going to meet and what you’re going to learn today? And what you’re going to be able to contribute today? Eager to make a difference? Inspired by your intent?

What have you done this month about your visibility with those senior stakeholders all over the world in your organisation that are likely to pull you up into the roles you aspire to?

How much intent do you have for networking yourself with those that matter at your level and above? Both within your organisation and external to it in your city and industry? Meeting new people and hearing how they do what they do (and what you do)? Sharing your expertise and learning from theirs?  You know, as in “green and growing or ripe and rotting”? Or are you protective of what you know, afraid others might “use it”?

Have you got specific goals written down that you’ve shared with someone you trust to help hold you accountable? How good are your plans to get you to do each week and month what is required to succeed? Are the sequential and dependent steps mapped out? So you just have to get up and do what they suggest? Instead of worrying what to do next?

A Recent Personal Example Of Being Deliberate

I first became consciously aware of the term being deliberate in a recent coaching session with a high potential African corporate manager wanting to be coached into the next level leadership role he aspired to.

He spoke about being deliberate in his planning and his actions. He hungrily took on board the strategies we developed together for his quest. He implemented them and eagerly practised them and then some. He was driven to succeed. Deliberately. And you know what? Within the 3 months we worked together he landed exactly the Regional role he sought in another city in another country. Goosebumps!

Being Deliberate. So What?

Just think about this: What are the key attributes involved in being deliberate:

1. You have a purpose you are passionate about.
2. You have done your research.
3. You believe it’s worth pursuing.
4. You are comfortable it balances The Price and the Prize.
5. You believe you have what it takes and the confidence to deliver it.
6. You have sought the right input and support and have thought it through with the right plans in place.
7. You have made a commitment to yourself and someone to hold you accountable.
8. You are inspired and energized by the anticipation of the outcome.
9. This is going to happen for you no matter what obstacles you might encounter. You will just keep dancing until it rains.
10. Consider it done.

Of course when all this is said and done, we have to embrace the being deliberate and “just do it”.

LUCK is always spelled W.O.R.K, remember? The more we work with specific intent, as the being deliberate approach above outlines, the greater the chance of invoking the serendipity we want to help us. Remember Gary Player’s mantra: “The harder we practice, the luckier we get”?

Like Goethe said so famously and so long ago: the moment one commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no person could have dreamed would come their way.

I love this term “being deliberate” and am not only embracing it in my life’s work right now, but also leveraging it in my coaching. Why? Well think of how much of a difference it could make in what you’re aspiring to achieve this year.

What if you could?

Questions or comments? Love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at: