Building the Year: February Foundation

February Foundation (Step 1)

This month we are focusing on the foundation. When I say “foundation”, what comes to mind? Do you think of a house, a building or some kind of structure? Do you think of the bottom or the base of something? All of those images are what I want us to be thinking about for February. Foundation is the base, the bottom or beginning of a structure that we will be building. We will be building this structure, and it all starts with this part. The base. The foundation.

February is not the first month of the year. The first month of the year always gets pinned to the board as our “starting point”, our “new year”. That is great for physically turning the calendar pages and changing the pages hanging on the wall. But that is a very old way of looking at the calendar. Who still has a calendar on the wall? Who is crossing off days with a marker on their paper calendar, turning the pages each month?

In fact, I think that is an old way of looking at the year as a whole. We always talk about the new year. The start of a new year is always supposed to bring something new, something different, something better even. But, what changes between December 31st and January 1st? What is different about the cold dark days of December and the cold dark days of January? Not much, right? So, why do we think that because the calendar flipped, NOW we can change everything?

It doesn’t make sense for a few reasons, but the big reason I want to focus on in February is this:

1.      What did we do last year to prepare for January?

2.      What steps did we take last year to make our January change realistic? (or even possible)

Those are trick questions for most of us. We likely didn’t do anything different, so when January 1st rolled around, we decided what we wanted to do in the new year and just tried to make it work. We’ve all seen the gym crowds that fill the space for the first few weeks before dropping off. We’ve all heard people lament about how they had a good start to the year, but already fell off. What is that is not failure? What if that isn’t weakness or lack of willpower?

That’s why we are separating each month from the year. The year is still a thing, so we are not pretending that this year of life won’t have impact on us, or that last year didn’t also have impact. OR that next year isn’t going to have impact. They are all important. What’s even more important is breaking the year down into smaller pieces. Each month is going to be its own space, with its own goals, with its own plan. Yes, when you put them all together over 12 months, you will have a great year put together. But, we aren’t going to worry about the whole year all at once. We are going to take each month and focus only there. That focus will be what we use to build a single month.

February’s focus is Foundation. Building our foundation starts with a few simple questions:

1.      What are the most important things you need in place to get moving in the right direction? If you are already moving in that direction, think about it in reverse: What are the most important things in place that helped me get to where I am today?

Look at your week ahead and think about what you are trying to fit into it. Take some time to write a few things down. Some of you may, in this moment, be realizing that this act of viewing the week, writing a few things down, observing the routine from the outside, that may be a foundational piece. I know it is for me. And it has been for many people I’ve worked with over the years.

Lay out your plan. Another aspect of that is weighing your options. When you have taken time to look at your routine, the schedule, your goals and how it all fits together, do you find that the plan looks realistic? Which brings us to the second question:

2.      What barriers are you seeing to laying out the plan you want?

As you lay our the “ideal” plan. (only using ideal to mean the thing YOU want to have in place, not to compare to any external idea of a plan), what challenges come to mind. Are you trying to fit more into the week than you have hours? Are you trying to jump from beginner in something to doing it regularly, without any ramp-up? As I write these questions, I realize that we are asking ourselves a lot. We are spending a lot of energy asking, and that can feel counter-productive to doing. I am also realizing the importance of having these conversations. You have to give yourself space to think, to talk, to play out different scenarios.

And that is why my next question is a little on the nose:

3.      Who do you have around you that will help you have these conversations? Who do you have around you that will need to support the plan?

It may be asking time of someone else, alternating pick-up or drop-off, opting into a new schedule all-together. No matter how big or how small changes to your plan are, you will need someone to support you along the way. It doesn’t have to be me. It doesn’t have to be only me. In fact, I would argue that the more people you have around you for support, the more successful you will be. And vice versa. If you don’t have anyone around you, it will be challenging to go alone.

I’m going to take my own advice and stop there. This is a good start to building our foundation. It’s the foundation of our foundation, if you will. Think about it this way: We have some foundational questions we need to ask ourselves. Underneath that, in those conversations, we have some specifics we should look for to answer them in the strongest way: 

1.      What do I want this month to look like?

a.      What do I need in place to make that happen?

b.     What pieces are there now vs. what needs to change?

2.      What barriers do I see to the month looking the way I want it to look?

a.      What are the biggest challenges, first things that come to mind?

b.     Are these challenges concrete, or is there flexibility when I think and talk about them?

c.      What are a few ideas or solutions to the biggest challenges?

3.      Who can I have these conversations with?

a.      Do I have that person I can discuss my goals and challenges with?

b.     Do I have people around me to ensure when I set the plan, they can help support it?

c.      What do I need to share with the people around me to give me what I need?

That’s a good start for now. That’s what building a foundation is all about. Using the building metaphor, we don’t start moving furniture into a house when we are just pouring the concrete for the foundation. We are just getting started. The beauty of this process is that even if you have a good routine going, asking these questions doesn’t slow you down. In fact, it only strengthens the foundation as you ensure that the steps you are taking work for you. If there is a place to make an adjustment, you’ve spotted it, discussed ways to make it real, and now you are off and running.

This is the beginning of the process. On this journey, we will continue to visit, revisit and refine the steps. At the very least, I hope you can confirm that you are already doing the right things to reach your goals. As I’ve learned in my own plan, and with many others in theirs, you can always look to see where something might work differently. Just the examination and the conversation can shed more light on it and help you be as clear as you can be. If we are unclear or uncertain about the foundation, how can we build on it? That’s why this is so important. And that’s why we are going to talk more about it throughout the month.