Achieved Strategies

My dad is fighting cancer.  It’s a battle with many peaks and valleys and going on year three.   Despite his pain, bodily dysfunctions, and the pain’s mental mind tricks my dad’s focus is to enjoy each day.  He’s not about to let his cancer stop him from doing and enjoying the things he loves.

His perspective is refreshing.  We joke together about the pains and problems that come with cancer.  And we also cry when the realities seem too much to mentally handle.  Nothing is considered unmentionable. No emotions are considered “unmanly.” (Well, he still thinks he shouldn’t cry.) We are in the fight against his cancer together as a family.

So here’s the slightly awkward transition from my dad’s experience with cancer to leading change.  The other day while driving to a client meeting I realized there are parallels of my dad’s response to cancer to leading change.  It’s a logical connection, right?  Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

As you read the list below shift the context from my family situation to leading change.  What do you notice?

• Be with your people: My dad turned to our family for strength and support. He is honest with himself and us no matter what he’s going through. The realness of the situation brought our family together. No false pretense. No secrets. Just the raw reality – jagged, shitty, but beautiful.  So much strength comes from truth. So much strength is gained by bringing those close to you closer for real, authentic conversations.

• Focus on what’s important: Each day, every conversation, each doctor visit with my dad is a reminder of what is important.  He’s making a bucket list of the things that he wants to do before he dies. It’s not morbid.  It’s fantastic.  His laser-sharp focus on what’s important and what isn’t has brought all of us so much joy and brought us closer together.  It’s spectacular to be with someone who can “suck the marrow out of life.”  Or less poetically said: get the most joy from life as possible by pursuing happiness. It’s contagious.  It’s uplifting.  It keeps the crap from becoming important – it gives perspective.

• Avoid the drama: This goes along with the second item above, but I feel it’s worth calling out separately.  My dad could easily fall into complaining about the pain in his hip where the doctors withdraw bone marrow.   There’s not much he can do about it.  So he chooses to focus on what he can do.  He chooses to focus on what he can control.  He can control how he responds to the circumstances. And he does it with humor and a few choice words – the four-letter kind.

We have no idea what the future will bring for my dad.  So we spend as much time together today, and cross off items on his bucket list.

As you read the list, what thoughts came to mind? Please share them below.