Hitting it extra hard at
the 9 to 5 this week. It’s the time of
year when department heads where I work (including me) prepare our budgets for
the coming year. I will admit that I am by no means a “numbers”
person. In fact, long ago (and far
away), I would have termed myself somewhat “numbers phobic.”
With scads of
practice, though, I’ve developed a decent level of comfort in working with numbers,
budgets, statistics, etc. You see,
that’s the whole point. The more I
engage in budgeting, formulating fiscal projections, using numerical data to
document community needs, etcetera; the more proficient and (indeed) relaxed I
am with anything related to numbers.
As a grants administrator,
I find I’m preparing budgets (and financial reports) of various sorts all
throughout the year. When budget
time comes, I find I am far less uncomfortable than some of my counterparts who
have much smaller budgets.
Time and experience has taught me that this same principle
can be applied to pretty much any area of my life (building courage,
confidence, grace, etc.). If I
want to overcome something (e.g. fear of public speaking) or gain a proficiency
within a given area (writing), it is my frequent engagement within that area
that will allow me to get comfy with it—in time, maybe even master it.
Speaking of public
speaking… I’m headed to my Toastmasters meeting today at lunchtime, where I’m
scheduled to deliver a speech. Last week’s blog post about my goal setting tips seems to have resonated with a lot of folks.
As a result, I have selected this as today’s speech topic.
If you didn’t see that post, feel
free to access it here.
What areas in your
life are begging for practice? Engage in them frequently, and find yourself getting a bit
more comfy.
Joy & peace! T.
