3 tips for following your tradition

What is your tradition? Who have been the people that you have admired? Whose path do you want to follow in your way? People who recognise their tradition feel they are part of something greater than themselves. Others have taken pursued this route before - and many will follow it in the future. People who find their tradition often feel humbler yet stronger. Let’s explore how you can follow these steps in your own way.

* You can find your tradition.

Start by writing the names of the people you admire whose path you would like to follow in your own way. For example, my own models have been people such as Abraham Maslow, Virginia Satir, Viktor Frankl and Richard Bolles. Why? They each wrote books which gave a positive view of people's possibilities. Whilst not having the same talent as these people, I want to build on their work in my own way. What is your tradition? If you are caring for people in a hospice, you may be following the path taken by Dame Cicely Saunders, Sheila Cassidy and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. If you are doing pioneering work on the web, you may be following the path taken by Tim Berners-Lee. Looking at the people you admire, what do you believe they did well? Describe what you think they did right in their chosen field. Try completing the following sentences.

The people I admire - past or present - whose path I would like to follow in my own way are:

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The things I believe they did well to do good work in their lives were:

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* You can follow your tradition.

How can you follow this path in your own way? Paul Hawken, for example, built on the tradition established by ethical entrepreneurs. His 1987 book Growing a Business, became the basis for a 17 part PBS television series in the US. He has since pioneered the way in showing how to sustain the right balance between ecology and economics. His book Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, co-authored with Amory Lovins, has been hailed as one of the most influential of the past 20 years. Let’s return to your tradition. Describe how you would like to follow this route - or broaden it in your own way. Try completing the following sentences.

The things I can do to follow this tradition in my own way are:

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* You can fulfil your part of your tradition.

What do you see as your part in contributing to your tradition? Everybody is born to finish something - be it a book to write, a house to build, an invention to create, a relationship to fulfil or whatever. But it is important not to get neurotic about finishing it. Providing you are pursuing your chosen road, you are keeping the tradition alive. Seeing a ‘finished product’ is satisfying - be it a painting, a project or a graduating class saying ‘thank you’. Time catches up with all of us, however, which means we cannot complete everything. So the key is to make your best contribution each day - which is a good way of ‘finishing’. Honouring the past, you will keep the road open for others to follow in the future. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to fulfil my part of my tradition are:

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