See below a poem I wrote to guide and enlighten in the face of challenges I was facing at the time. Drawn from advice and accumulated experience, it has served to enable me identify and focus on my opportunities.
As you face into a new year, a line, paragraph or the entirety may resonate and serve to open up those new opportunities you did not know you had.
Singula Incrementum.
Individual growth. A follow on from duty and its aftermath: time
for the mind to mature and settle for whatever comes next.
A mindful and suspended recognition alongside the future: time
and perspective to walk with the horse rather than ride it.
Check into the “felt-sense” daily: be in the here-and-now rather
than the then-and-there.
Initiate conversations with others on what could or might be;
ask – and answer – a question a day. Feed the mind: read, think, imagine.
Refresh stories of your past-self, reflect on how you progressed
to where you are now as a basis for your planned future.
Be with fountains and avoid drains: detach from nay-sayers and the
ignorant. Avoid their maladjustment; life is complicated enough as it is.
Revive old friendships and seek new ones; friends are an enduring
and present constancy in life’s change. It is only through reference to
and with others can we know the world and our place in it.
Keep your plans your own and the source of your contribution:
they can change but only you alone should change them. Regularly
meet with yourself, look to the future (there is less of it than there was).
Anticipate the next day’s endeavours: you can analyse the past but must
design your future.
When you are unsure, go slowly: a person who must rush has neither
a head nor a heart.
Observe and nudge; there is wisdom in the shadows. To counsel
others, to support and initiate too has its merits and will be valued.
Your family depends on your guidance and experience; give time to
it on your terms. Value and strive for the legacy of a healthy family,
independent children and a strong relationship.
Allow your new reality, based on experience, observation and imagination.
It is through original effort alone that we release ourselves from
the bonds and patterns of the past.
Value imagination over knowledge: do not seek, find. Allow the
subconscious: creativity has a pattern which will reveal as you
alone take the necessary steps to find it.
Philip Mackeown
March 2018.
Biography
Philip is a leadership coach and mentor for family business successors. He previously held positions as manager, Head of the Family Council and non-executive Family Director within his family business, over a 25 year period. He founded and ran FBN Ireland (www.fbnireland.ie), a network to support families-in-business transition effectively from one generation to the next. He is currently writing a book on successor talent development within business owning families.
Philip can add value to families-in-business in the following ways:
- As Coach or Mentor to family business successors;
- Advisor on Successor performance and Family Talent development;
- Facilitator for learning of family business management, ownership and leadership development.
For additional information please see his website www.philipmackeown.ie or his profile on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipmackeown/ He can be contacted on email at philip@philipmackeown.ie .