There are times for all leaders when overwhelm blooms so large as to push away those aspects of who we are that give us juice and enjoyment, therefore it is important to create a litmus test to support you in recharging your battery and resetting your operating system.
A litmus test is the key by which you run every decision to make sure you only say yes to those things which most serve you and your overall strategies and objectives.
My new litmus test is J.E.M.™, which stands for Joy, Energy, and Money. As opportunities cross my path, I now evaluate them to see if they have the potential to provide all three. If it’s not a J.E.M.™, I must decline.
Reverse your overwhelm and bring out your full sparkle! If it’s not a J.E.M.™, it will drain you on some level and should either be in your delegate, decline, dismiss, or destruct pile.
Evaluate all you are currently doing. Make four columns and in the first one, list all your current tasks, projects, and initiatives. Across the top of the remaining three columns, place a J, an E, and an M. Now, for each item listed in column one, work across the page checking the next column if it brings you joy, the next if it gives you energy, and the last if it makes you money.
The ideal is that the ones that hit on all three are the JEMs that you keep. If it hits on 2/3, you might choose to keep it but downgrade its importance in your priorities. If it only hits 1/3, it’s not likely serving you in the best possible way and can be dismissed or delegated. If it doesn’t give you any of the three, no joy, no energy, and no money…then why on earth would you keep it on your plate?
What are those things which give you the most J.E.M.™?
Wishing you J.E.M.™ filled sparkles in the new year!
© Suzi Pomerantz, all rights reserved.
