Finding the tempo for your life is more important today than ever before.  Micheal Lane’s article is near and dear to my heart because he uses music to illustrate how to stay focused on what is important.

Micheal Lane is the author of the award-winning book The Wisdom of Yawdy Rum.  He is the principal of a speaking and consulting practice in Minneapolis, MN that specializes in helping others harness the power of paying attention.  He can be reached at 612-747-2560 or www.LaneSpeaks.com.
 

Enjoy!

 
Dynamics & Tempo: Directions for Life
  
A conductor steps up to the platform and makes eye contact with the members of the orchestra.  A few quick taps on the music stand brings the musicians to focus.  He begins a silent count, merely mouthing the numbers while flexing the slender baton in mid-air, or his count may be at a soft, barely audible tone–just enough to break the silence. One, two, three, four–he sets the tempo for the arrangement, the orchestra picks up the beat and music fills the air. 

 
Every musician knows his or her part.  They have practiced the piece for months.  It’s now a matter of following the conductor, stepping in time, and contributing to the cacophony of sound.  The dynamics and tempo of facial expression, a snapping white baton blurring against brilliant overhead stage lights, and physical movement of the maestro leading the arrangement from coda to al fine.
But what happens when there is no conductor?  What happens when we look around and we are the only musician on stage and everyone is watching us? What happens when we are in the business environment, leading an initiative, and we find ourselves exposed and alone?  Where does the inspiration come from?  Where does our sense of timing and movement begin?  How can we find our pace, our voice and our sense of understanding?  How do we find the guidance to move forward with confidence knowing we have a sense of the timing that’s needed to make meaningful progress?  Where do we find the passion needed to move towards a goal, change directions, motivate others to follow, motivate others to lead, motivate others to make a difference?  Or maybe, we are trying to make sense of a personal issue–something infinitely more internal and life-changing than anything that happens to us in our professional roles.
The guidance we need can come from deep within us.  While a musical arrangement will have specific instructions in the form of dynamics and tempo to provide direction as to how loud or soft a particular piece is to be played, or the proper rate at which the song is to be performed, a significant degree of interpretation is given to the musician.  Dynamics and tempo are the signposts in sheet music that tell us to play louder, softer, faster, or slower.  Dynamics and tempo are like our five senses.  Our senses act as signposts in our lives, but we have to listen them.  We have to be paying attention. What are our senses telling us? Where’s the harmony and the disharmony?  Paying attention to our senses and listening to what they are saying to us is critical.
Sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, and sometimes something more.  A feeling we get about how we’re doing, whether we’re making any progress or not.  We receive all the information we need to be successful if we will only pay attention to the dynamics and tempo of our lives.  Each one of the relationships in our lives has its own dynamics and tempo as well.  To be successful, we have to pay attention to the information coming at us.
If we were to try to play “When the Saints Go Marching In” and we gave no attention to the dynamics and tempo, there certainly wouldn’t be any marching going on.  If we want to be successful, if we want to be happy, if we want to live in harmony with others, we have to learn to listen to our senses: ignore them, and we’ll suffer the consequences.  When we connect with the dynamics and tempo of our lives and sense the movement that comes from within our collective wisdom, we’ve found a constant well of inspiration ever ready to give us a sense of how loud or soft to play, how forceful or subtle to be in our actions, how quickly we should move and react or how slowly and thoughtfully we should contemplate the opportunities that intersect with our lives.  And, when we find ourselves without a conductor to set the pace and direction for our lives, we can do it successfully ourselves by learning to rely on our own dynamics and tempo.

 
 
Next Issue
  
In 2 weeks we will hear from Laura Francis on the topic of Mentoring for the 21st Century.  Laura is the Director of Triple Creek Associates, an organization that builds cultures of learning and development through web-based mentoring programs.

For the past 6 weeks, I have not sent out any newsletters, blogs or videos intentionally, so I could focus on my next reinvention. I also decided to reflect more on my reconnection with my father whom I had not seen for 40 years. Change is a good thing, and you can control your own changes.

I will return to my expert series next week, but I want to inject what I believe will be the most important message I can share with my audience at this time: Reinvent Yourself.
 

Reinvent Yourself!
  
 
Our economic challenges present a ripe oasis to create new opportunities for ourselves. You have to decide what is truly important and what you want to accomplish.

 
What is truly important these days is family. Once you learn this, then you need to figure out your own personal quest of what you want to accomplish while you’re on this earth. Now is the best time to take control and determine if what you are doing is what you truly want to do. You should have a clear understanding of this before someone or something else comes along and forces you to make a change.

 
Organizations today cannot afford to have slackers. The stakes are too high. If you work for an organization, you should think about your role and how valuable it is to the business. If you’re not enthusiastic about your job, you need to take a moment to figure out what type of work will get you excited. Value is everything, and it’s a two way street. You have to demonstrate your value to the organization, and you need to feel valuable to yourself.

 
Control your Transition

Don’t be afraid to transition–just stay cool and keep your mind on the prize. The best ideas, concepts and trends often develop during challenging times.

 
Difficulty can also bring people closer together. If you think your job is at risk, start networking now with individuals who are doing what you want to do.  Unleash your creativity–you might be able to transition your creative skills into an income. If you know your job is on the line, make sure you can specifically quantify your value and worth in writing…because you may have to. Demonstrate how you help your company grow through the resources, skills and experience you provide.

 
Everybody is Selling

I thoroughly believe that everyone needs to look at him or herself as a commission-based sales person.  If you’ve ever been on commission or owned a business, you know that if you don’t sell, you don’t eat.  Confidence in selling your value will come in your ability to communicate your worth, and if you transition to a new career, you need to keep that sales attitude at all times. In challenging times, CEO, Directors and Managers must sell themselves and their organization to grow business. The bottom line is that if you want to be successful in today’s down market you need to demonstrate your commitment and accountability.
Take the Leap

If you’ve ever had the itch to go into business for yourself, now’s the time do it. There are multiple ways to earn an income from home with little investment. If you have the discipline and drive you can make it. Opportunity is everywhere. Just be sure you do your research in advance. There are innumerable work-at-home scammers that are waiting to take money from the naive and uninformed. Know the risks, research any opportunities thoroughly, prepare a plan and then go for it. (Some good places to research are www.ripoffreport.com, www.ftc.gov, www.ic3.gov plus your local BBB, and it’s always a good idea to research company names on Google).

 
Keep the Faith

No matter what happens, don’t digress into a fear-based mode. Stay tuned up and ready to receive any new opportunities that come your way. Remember attitude is everything and your music is playing every day. It’s your life’s song, and now could be the time to change your music.
 

Next Week
  
Next week Micheal Lane, author of the award-winning book, The Wisdom of Yawdy Rum, provides insight that is near and dear to my heart: “Dynamics and Tempo – Directions for Life.”