Top Lessons from Using Personal Agility

There was a whole new depth of Agile for me to get. I can now say that, because of my experience using Personal Agility, I get so many of the lessons of Agile bone deep now, because I have had a direct, lived experience of them. They are not only concepts, they are visceral learnings.

I keep a weekly log of what I learn through my practice of Personal Agility and there are many, many lessons learned. Here are my top five:

PERSONAL WIP

Yes, I have a personal WIP limit and ignoring it just makes me feel bad about myself for no good reason.

It can’t be avoided but for so long. Personal Agility makes it clear, week after week, that I have a personal work-in-progress limit and ignoring that only results in me feeling bad that I did not get “it all” done, even though there was no evidence-based expectation that I could.

 DISTRACTIBILITY

I am a champ at distracting myself from what I say really matters. Distractions are always available…Focus is a skill.

I have many opportunities to distract myself from what I said matters most and escape into mind- and emotion-numbing activities. At the end of the week, when I did not get done what I said I would, I ask myself, “Is that task still aligned with what matters most and is it still important to do? If so, why didn’t I do it?” Sometimes the answer is as simple as, “I don’t know why I didn’t do it. I just got distracted.” Good to notice. In the pandemic era, many of these distractions and escapes are not available to me, so I am more keenly aware of how they throw me off course.

INABILITY TO CELEBRATE

I am ridiculously hard on myself and often don’t even recognize the things that I did toward what really matters.

At the end of the week, I am often surprised by how much I actually got done towards what matters most. Having the Celebrate and Choose event so aptly named reminds me to stop and Cel-e-brate good times, c’mon! I can be so hard on myself, moving from one accomplishment to the next without even taking a breath in between to notice the good that just happened. Personal Agility helps me interrupt that harmful pattern.

 SUSTAINABLE PACE

I think I’m finally approaching sustainable pace and it has far less work in it than I typically drive myself to do.

I have not yet found sustainable pace, but I’m getting closer. As I consciously work less often but on more impactful endeavors, I have found peaks and valleys. In the peaks, I have too many of those endeavors converging on the calendar. It gets too busy – too many clients are in my head and heart at once. In the valleys, I have not yet learned how to give myself permission to enjoy life but I am getting better at it. I believe the transparency Personal Agility gives me will help me smooth this out so that there are fewer peaks and valleys and more enjoyment in the pace.

ALIGNMENT

Saying yes and no with context and clarity helps me stay in relationship with the people who ask for my time, especially when I say “no”.

Being clear on what matters most makes it easier for me to say “no, thank you” to the things that don’t match. The pull to say “yes” is still there because I want to please as many people as possible. I want them to like me and include me in the future. Having the ready explanation of “I’m saying no, thank you, this time because I am focusing on…” completes the communication and creates alignment between me and the person asking.

Curious about the impact Personal Agility would have on your life and work? Take the Personal Agility Challenge to find out how “agile” you already are. Or, visit the Personal Agility Institute to read people’s experiences using the Personal Agility System.