Paul Lozaw is a marketing specialist at Impact US
2024 is a special year.
Not just because it marks an election year for more than 50 countries, or the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac, but because it’s a leap year. First introduced in 46 BCE by Julius Caesar, 29th February is an extra day to do with what you will, which begs the question – what will you do with a leap day?
Before diving in, let’s talk about NDA. Not a non-disclosure agreement, but a leadership framework that we use called Notice, Decide, Act. First, we must notice when action is necessary. Second, we must decide whether to take action – trust your gut. Third, we must act – make that decision happen. While the framework was designed for use in leadership scenarios, it can be useful in your personal life, as taking charge of yourself is also a form of leadership.
Notice
Take time to notice and reflect. But why reflect? It’s a big part of experiential learning. Only then can you make positive change toward liberating your potential. Reflection increases self-knowledge and helps you notice patterns of behaviour and feelings that may be getting in your way.
Some great ways to get the ball rolling on introspection are to journal about your day, week, month, your life in general, or even to go for a walk. Many advocate for journaling as a daily practice, and walking is great in its own right. Not only does a nice stroll provide a change of scenery, it’s been scientifically proven to reduce stress and increase creativity.
You can choose to walk with friends, building human connection through dialogue, or alone, appreciating our natural spaces.
Most importantly – at least in this context – walking is a great way to take yourself out of your day-to-day and create clarity to reflect and notice things that you might otherwise be too distracted to recognise. Walking unlocks a different way of thinking that’s difficult to access while sitting inside staring at a computer screen. Business magnates like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are known for taking walking meetings, for example, thanks to the profundity of ideas that walking and talking can produce.
Decide
So you’ve gone for your walk, you’ve sat down and journaled, and done your noticing. It’s a great time to decide what to do based on what you noticed about yourself.
Perhaps you need more value, a sense of belonging. Or maybe it’s structure that you need, so you decide to organise a small space. It could be your desk, your email inbox, or your medicine cabinet. Maybe you’ve decided you need a greater sense of meaning or purpose – you could try volunteering at that animal shelter that you’ve been contemplating or planting native trees to help with reforestation. Whatever it is you decide to do, be sure that it addresses what you noticed before.
Act
Knowledge is useless if you don’t do anything with it. Similarly, the reflecting and deciding will not serve a purpose unless they, in turn, are acted upon. The final exercise, equally as important as the others, is to act on what you’ve decided to do. Make it happen! It doesn’t have to be anything drastic, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. The important thing is that you give it a try.
What will you decide to do with your leap day?
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