A client recently said this: “I just have to make sure I don’t take on anything else.” The way she phrased this clued me in to the fact that maybe, just maybe, she has a history of overcommitting. I asked if she had a tendency to take on a lot of projects, and she said yes, overcommitting is standard operating procedure for her.
She said that she wants to be able to say yes to new opportunities that come along that interest her, but also that she needs to be able to take the current projects across the finish line.
I suggested she create a “message in a bottle,” a little note from her current self to her future self. This message would be “activated” in the event that she found herself in a circumstance where she might say yes to one too many things.
The message is simple. It boils down to one question: “How will I feel in the future if I say yes to this now?” Excited? Resentful? Overwhelmed? Fulfilled?
If you can honestly answer the question posed by your message in a bottle, you can set the future version of yourself up for success.
