What Are Your Personal Policies?
Bruce Sullivan is a relationship specialist and a proven performer in achieving results through people for over 24 years. His practical, hands on experience is based on working in both the community and business. He is a Father to Hannah and Declan and he currently balances this with being a Director of six private companies. Read more about Bruce on his website.
Little Otter was fortunate to have Bruce speak to its employees and considers Bruce to be a friend and a mentor. We’re sharing a piece in which Bruce provides insightful advice on Personal Policy that is actually an extract from the “Working Guide” in his book “Hannah’s Christmas Gift”.
So directly from Bruce, please enjoy this post:
Personal Policy
I travel a lot. That means learning about and then living with the policies that are put in place by the airlines and hotels. Now, as a customer, I believe that some of these policies are not always considerate of my needs. (Could someone please tell me when the world stopped revolving around me?) Simply, the policies put in place by airlines and hotels are not solely for my needs. (Gasp!!!) They exist because the organisation has needs as well which include the efficient and effective running of their business. Without the policies it would be almost “anything goes” and chaos would be the order of the day. The same can be said for us. What are your policies? What do you have in place to ensure that chaos is not the order of the day? Here are some of my family’s policies:
- When we are having dinner, we don’t answer the phone.
- If my partner or my manager needs to contact me quickly, we use a text message as opposed to a voicemail.
- Our children have a maximum of two extra-curricular activities per child outside the home e.g. gymnastics and music.
- School Holidays are special times for our family and the goal is to line up my work holidays during these times
- When I am in my home town and not presenting at a conference, my office makes sure I have no appointments before 9.30am, so I can drop my children off at school/work.
- No TV on during dinner.
What policies do you have to reduce the chaos and stop the world taking over your life? I have a friend who is a working outside the home Mum as well as working inside the home Mum with three children and she has created a wonderful policy! At 4.30pm every weekday she will pour a glass of wine and sit and enjoy another episode of The Bold and The Beautiful! It’s her time to sit and relax and what’s even better, everyone that knows her knows her policy! Don’t dare ring her during that time! Hotels and airlines use them unashamedly – “That’s not our policy”. Try arguing and for the most part you waste your time and energy trying to get them to change it. People understand the concept of policy. When YOU start telling other people that you have a policy, very few will tell you, “That’s a stupid policy!” Most people, I have found, will be taken aback that you have actually gone to the effort of creating one! And what’s more, they don’t waste their time and energy trying to get you to change it either! Next tiny steps for you …
- Think about whether you currently have any policies that you can clearly articulate that are designed to stop the world from taking over your life.
- Consider what policies you have as a family or a couple that work the same way. How clear are they?
- Decide what new ones you could create. How would you benefit and what could you lose by implementing these policies?
- Make them stick, practice “Will–Won’t– Commit” and enjoy the new order!
If you missed Bruce’s 2014 offering, “Saying No!” please click here. In Hannah’s Christmas Gift,” Bruce expands more on the importance of setting boundaries in support of your goals.
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