How to Rebuild Structure When it Breaks Down

Do you feel like a Jenga tower about to topple? Here’s how to rebuild structure when it breaks down.

Try this simple experiment at home. Clear out a shelf, a space, or corner of the room that was otherwise occupied. Don’t tell your family what you’ve done. Give it about three weeks. Inevitably you may find that space eventually becomes filled with something.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

Aristotle

When your structure breaks down it will not remain stagnant. It will shift by chance or by choice. The ability and fortitude to rebuild, reclaim, and continually adjust your structure is critical to experiencing more want you want in life and less of what you don’t.

Today the lines of personal and professional structure are blended perhaps more than ever. This is in fact part of the breakdown for many. Still any choice or discipline you take on in business and in life can be housed in a rebuilt structure.

Three Elements of Effective Structure 

1. Stable. At the very foundation of structure is stability. Build something that won’t easily break down. 
2. Sustainable. Will this structure hold up medium to long term?  
3. Flexible. How can your structure be adjusted so that it works within the inevitable inconsistencies of life?  

Structural Rebuilding Blocks

• Place. This may be what first comes to mind when you think structure. Where specifically is your choice ideally executed? Outside? Inside? Office? Gym? Coffee shop? In nature? What are the alternatives? What are your back-up places? (See Structure Discipline: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
• Time. There may be an ideal time of day, week, or month for certain daily disciplines. Lock it in and put it on the calendar. 
• Tools. Think resources, tracking tools, planners, apps, equipment, and accessories.
• Fuel. Depending on the task at hand this may include water, food (what specifically?), coffee, supplements, etc.
• Ambiance. Would music, aromatherapy, flowers, photos, or some other atmosphere enhancements be helpful?

Perhaps the most important block is the people in your structure. Who are your current and potential:

• Communities. A community is simply a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. How can you get involved? 
• Peers/Partners are individuals you can lock arms with, challenge (and be challenged by) and otherwise collaborate with. 
• Mentees. These are the people who look up to you. Those who you lead, coach, teach, or otherwise pour into. 
• Coaches/Mentors. Who is in your corner? Who can you call and ask for help? Who can you hire? Who is pouring into you? Who wants to see you win?  

Beware the coach who has no coach.

David Newman

Rebuilding structure isn’t always easy and it isn’t always fun. But it’s worth it. Put on your hardhat and get to work.