“Are you ready?” Terrifying question sometimes! Leap to say yes, cringe to say no, a fact vs feeling web trapping us in to commitment...what are we really saying?
Change happens one person at a time, and each person has their own experience getting (and staying) ready for it.
Here are eight statements to give yourself (and others) the space and grace to be specific on personal readiness, so you honor what’s needed to commit and take the next step.
Vision
I have a clear vision. It’s a place to start, not a prerequisite, but how true on a scale of 1-5 does this feel? On this thing, this next step or next pivot, how strongly do I agree that I have a clear vision of what success looks like?
I know what my vision requires. Can I visualize that cartoon assembly line of what this is going to take to get to “done”? People, activities, steps, or milestones, broad strokes or detailed requirements, how true is it to say I know what my vision requires to become real?
Inputs
I have the resources I need. Sometimes we need to say it out loud to hear the truth, that we have the inputs to make this go. Other times, articulating an unmet need is the unlock! Where am I right now?
I have the connections I need. Click-click, does it snap together or are there gaps? Great relationships and networks, well-utilized tools, a smooth operating flow, 5 strongly agree to 1 strongly disagree, I’m capturing my truth today.
Timing
I know my vision’s timeline. Instinctive or details, can I see the long game? This may be the true north, setting a time target and working backward, or this could be a near term start to an evolving idea. How strongly do I agree that I know my vision’s timeline?
I know my immediate next steps. Can I break through any inertia with calls to action and opportunities to move? Can I visualize doing something on this today that adds value and inspires me?
Support
I have the support I need. Beyond mechanics, I have the personal go-juice of optimism, health, encouragement, motivation, whatever it is that fuels my engine to show up. Testing agreement with this one versus connections and resources gets specific about what parts of “ready” I’m working on.
I feel ready to do this. Now I’m bringing it all together, having gotten specific about vision, requirements, resources, connections, timeline, next steps, and support. Having considered all that, where am I at?
Getting real with it:
When I face my sense of “ready” right now, in the thick of so many exciting and challenging activities to fully launch two businesses and make the connections and contributions we’ve been planning since before the pandemic, I have been using the readiness map to be honest with myself.
This day, this month, this year, I need the grace and space to admit to myself that I’m a 3 or maybe even a 2 on “I feel ready to do this”, even though I have 4s and 5s across the board on everything else, because that’s my heart talking, speaking to how I’m processing our here and now..
Fatigue, emotions, reactions to things outside the scope of focus, I’m feeling the impact on my optimism, my openness, and my ability to forgive. All of those things are part of being ready to face the unknown, so I can recognize that I don’t feel fully ready to do this, not today and see it as not necessarily a function of practical planning, but a function of the fuel of the day.
The readiness map is a start of a conversation to help clarify feelings and perceptions. We may not have all the choices, like waiting for a perfect state of ready-steady-go. The choices we do have we can make with space and grace in mind, working the specifics of readiness with personal statements of truth, and then take those next steps together.
