Super Heroes

Super Heroes by Cyara

Superheroes are just awesome. They race around looking after everyone and the world. They do all that is expected of them and then race back to their 9 to 5. You will seldom hear them brag about what they have achieved and how great they are. They never complain about how they have too much work and how stress is to blame for their grumpy behaviour.

Yeah, you guessed it — I’m no Wonder Woman. The closest I’ll ever get to Wonder Woman is wearing a Halloween costume (Mental note: Organize Halloween costume for next year).

Before the New Year comes and we all go crazy with our resolutions and goals, it’s a good idea to take some quiet time and take a look at the year gone by. Acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and spend some time thinking about the things that didn’t go so well so that you can better understand the reasons why. This retrospective thinking can help us learn and grow — and ensure we don’t make the same mistakes again. My lesson to learn this year is that I’m not Wonder Woman and that no matter how I try I can’t achieve a workload like her.

“You can do anything but not everything” - David Allen

So if you, too, are guilty of catching the “superhero bug”, here are some reasons why we shouldn’t aspire to be super heroes in 2012:

1. Super Heroes are not real.

Reality bites, I know, but those costume clad heroes aren’t real and neither is it realistic to achieve all the tasks they aspire to achieve in one day. Realizing what is possible and what is asking too much of yourself is an acquired skill that one learns with experience. There is only so much one person can do without asking for help or burning out…and we definitely don’t want the latter.

2. I can’t be all things to all people.

I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a blogger, a business person and a writer, (I’m also a Muppet fan, but I digress). There are times in my life where I have difficulties fitting it all in. There are times when things suffer because of my choices, but life requires us to make daily choices on how we spend our time. Having a personal vision can help to gain clarity about priorities and values. Having this as a guideline can help while making these choices.

3. I need time for me.

Superman flies off to Krypton every now and again to get away from it all; to have some time alone to rest and rejuvenate. We all need it.

Stephen Covey calls it “sharpening the saw”. Without this time we can’t possibly keep going and giving our best. We all need to de-stress and unwind to be able to perform at our best.

4. I don’t need to conquer the world (not today anyhow).

You don’t have to do everything now.

I am always guilty of wanting to do it all and wanting to do it now. I’m impatient and have a tendency to push myself too hard. But I have learned that some things can wait. The great plans in my head don’t have to be shared with everyone today. Little by little, it will all get done. The Japanese call it Kaizen — continuous improvement. Robin Sharma tells us:

“Small daily improvements lead to stunning results.”

With a bit of clever planning and persistence, it will all get done.

5. But I look good in tights!

Even if you look good in tights you don’t have to strive to be somebody else — or try and achieve all that others have achieved. Make your own plans and reach your own heights. We know we can’t do the impossible, but we can achieve great things if we plan and believe.

So for 2012, set your goals and believe that great things will happen. Plan, pace yourself, look after your body. Do that and 2012 can not only be a super one — it can be out of this world.