Quote Play

By Andrea Goeglein

Link to short message: https://youtu.be/CWBVTYceAUQ 

Quote Play.  Have you ever thought about designing your next career move using all those quotes you like and share on social media?  I am notorious for saving quotes in a file on the off chance I can use them in the right place in a presentation.  I am also notorious for being a bit snarky when I see someone share a quote that I judge to be more reflective of the person they want to be, than the person they are.  I am not saying my judgment is justified, I am just admitting part of my process.

As 2022 began, I drew a line in my career sand and began to dream about what new castles I wanted to build. I have not changed my work; I am just playing full out with how I will evolve my work with others.  That was when I decided to play with a file of quotes I had from 2010 to 2015.  If you are a person who is attracted to quotes, and you are trying to discern a new direction of any kind, I invite you to play along with me.

The Process:

• Gather the quotes you have been saving in one document.
• Let the document “sit” for a few days (or weeks, or months – you decide).
• Create a narrative using the quotes as your titles and subtitles.

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Henri-Louis Bergson, French Philosopher

What would it look like to flourish at any age?  Ageless Flourishing (my current working title) is not about breaking barriers so much as removing self-imposed barriers and limitations we place on ourselves at every stage of our lives, especially from young adulthood forward.  There is no one age that is better or worse than another when it comes to self-imposed limitations to thinking and acting.  Different ages have different degrees and areas they might focus on when imposing the limitations.  “I’m too young looking to be respected” – no 65-year-old has ever said. “I don’t move or think as fast anymore” – is not something I have ever heard from a 25-year-old.   Every age seems to spend a fair amount of time arguing for their limitations.  Removing the barriers to your thinking sets the possibility of continual learning.

And the day will come when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.

Anaïs Nin

Studies have shown that too much choice is not very helpful and causes indecision and inaction.  I am not suggesting you flip-flop from one idea to the next.  What I am suggesting is that you know your mindset setpoint and work with expanding it if necessary.  If you tend toward a fixed mindset or have become more fixed in your mindset as you have aged, take steps to be willing to see things differently.  I am not saying change overnight.  I am saying, learn about your natural mindset and work with the information.  Of course, there is a free survey backed by Carol Dweck’s research to help get you started.

At this point the best advice comes from the renowned philosopher, Dr. Seuss:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

 For now, I want to leave this quote play at that.  This process is not a race, but an unfolding.  Since I last wrote, I got clarity on three areas and began putting plans into place to see if they are in the right direction for now.  If you decided to play with quotes, let me know how it goes for you.  Learning from each other is a cornerstone of how I see my world continuing to expand.