Back by Popular Demand: Complacency

After locating the dusty fondue pot and finding Ina Garten's chocolate fondue recipe on my device, a curious email popped up. It was a recap from Wordpress regarding my 2015 blog highlights. Given I didn't write any blog posts this year (well, now I am), I wasn't expecting any sudden spikes in followers or readership. But, interestingly -- and with clearly no work on my part -- one particular post far and away continues to have the highest readership: "5 Steps to Breaking Through Complacency."

Like the perfect recipe for a successful blog post, that post was inspired by a reader's comment to previous post, "A Foolproof Process for Acting Courageously." I guess a lot of people struggle with this, including myself, so here it goes: Complacency Part III. Hope you enjoy, and at least you won't have to read more tips about how to have a great 2016. Of course, you could create a goal to be less complacent. Anyway...

If you wish to change complacency in others, look inward first.

Let's begin with my own journey since writing those posts. This year brought a new career opportunity and many changes. I continue to struggle with the balance thing, which is where my own complacency shows up. And this is why.

From a personality perspective, I devote a lot of energy to trying to make things better. Problem solving/process improvement is a top StrengthsFinder strength and I consistently receive feedback about being a builder or improver. All my life really, I've been very curious and trying to fix things. So, when faced with a new opportunity, I immediately see possibilities, but have learned to shove down these initial voices and figure out how to, "honor the past, but present the future." Unfortunately, that has a time limit. If I'm anything, I may as well be humble here. They created the "Anger" character from the popular Inside Out movie for a reason. While fire doesn't literally shoot out from the top of my head when others continue staying put, I am positive I begin to resemble Anger's voice -- comedian, Lewis Black -- after months and months of time trying to "honor the past, while presenting the future," and no future continues to happen!

The point is you need that frustration, Lewis Black voice, whatever way the desire for change manifests in you. Because complacency is when it's gone. Vacant, nodding heads punching the clock, doing what they're told, not asking and not trying.

People don't start complacent, they become complacent.

With so much energy devoted to these things that could be better, and not much changing (that's not exactly true, change is usually slow and that irks me, too), I have meantime remained going nowhere in other areas. I have become complacent in the one area I had so much hope and ability to affect and also in the areas that I should actually be focused on. Sigh, what to do?

In my own example, clearly energy has limits. When most of your energy is being sucked into something with minimal result, you've grown weary and want to give up, it's time to put that energy aside and shift to your own complacency. I'm writing this blog post, carving out time to see a friend, doing 10-15 minutes a day stretching and lifting weights, reaching out to my network and other actions to address my own woefully complacent ways.

By doing this self-reflection, I can see that people got to complacency the same way I did: over time, in a gradual, chipping away sort of way. If I want to guide the undoing of complacency in others, I need to practice on myself first. Just view it as your own personal pilot program.

Write it down!

I really tried to avoid this, but I just have to finish with a New Year's reference! Once you identify and gently, realistically tackle your own dark closets of complacency, write down the top three things you will tackle in that area you’re trying to change outside yourself -- those three "keystone" actions that will have the most impact -- and keep looking at them throughout 2016, lest you get bogged down in less important energy wasters.

Here's a hint: as stated in the first Courage post, start with things that formerly or currently cause the most reaction in you, another very effective "pilot project." For myself, I already have a few things in mind that became clearer by putting it aside and focusing on my closet complacency.

Happy New Year, and I wish for you much success in unwinding that pesky complacency.