The end of the year and the beginning of a new one traditionally means many things to many people. We’re coming up on Halloween. Then there’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, and, of course, New Year’s.
It’s also the season for:
Eating like it’s going out of style.
Setting New Year’s resolutions.
I can’t help you with that first one, but I do know that many of you will be considering entering a pageant in 2027, and some of you may have already done so. So before this year goes any further, let’s get back to some basics.
What are your priorities for 2027?
Making a decision, whether it’s to do with pageantry or not, is usually nothing more than a values clarification exercise. What does that mean? It means that if you’re clear on what matters to you most, it’s normally easy to make decisions.
Let’s take an example. Imagine you and your friends are trying to decide where to go for dinner. Outside of having a personal favorite restaurant, where you decide to go depends on whether you’re after:
Something quick and easy
Something fancy
Something new and unusual
Something that’s great bang for your buck
Decisions are hard when you don’t know what your values are, or when two or more of those values are in conflict. So, before we make a decision on whether to enter a pageant or not, we need to know what our values are going to be in 2027.
Or, said differently, what are going to be our 2027 priorities?
Write them down.
Will entering a pageant help you achieve those priorities?
I go into more detail on this in this week’s video, but suffice to say, if entering (not necessarily winning) a pageant would help you achieve your priorities in 2027, I say go for it. If it doesn’t help you achieve any of your priorities, then you should probably really think about it (after all, pageants are hardly a cheap hobby).
Quick note: people will sometimes say that entering a pageant will help them to do more volunteering, or something similar. Let’s be honest. Whilst that might technically be true, it would be easier, more efficient, and more effective to just do the thing (whatever the thing is) directly.
In other words, you don’t need to do a pageant to volunteer. Just go and volunteer.
Don’t join the cult
My main goal with this week’s article and video is to help you make better decisions. To me, that means making decisions with your eyes wide open, not simply doing something because your coach or a friend told you to. It’s totally acceptable to do pageants simply because you enjoy them, just don’t pretend that they’re the cure for everything that’s wrong in the world.
If entering a pageant will truly help you achieve your 2027 priorities, that’s great. If not, you may want to pause and consider putting your time and effort into something more aligned with them, at least for now.
Best,
Adrian.
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