“Am I dysfunctional?”  How many of us have asked ourselves that question? How many of us should ask ourselves that question?  Instead, we choose to avoid that question at every turn. After all, isn’t it a heck of a lot easier to blame everybody else rather than look at ourselves? Now, I’m not saying that others aren’t to blame from time to time.  I’m sure they are. But if you continue to relive the same unpleasant patterns over and over again in your life (Ex: you consistently have co-worker issues regardless of the job, you’ve never gotten along with any of your bosses throughout your career, you’ve been fired more than a few times, you have a long history of failed personal relationships, etc…) and you are the only common denominator, it’s time to look in the mirror. There comes a time when the answer lies within.

This month we are tackling this career and life derailer: “Am I dysfunctional?” We’ll take on, amongst other things, the following questions:

• Are you dysfunctional? How can you tell?

• What are the most common dysfunctions we suffer from?

• What do those dysfunctions cost us at work… and at home?

• What can we do to recognize those patterns and stop them before it’s too late?

Every week, I’ll kick off our conversation by addressing one of these big questions. Throughout the week I’ll collect and share stories, examples and other opinions as we dig in. By the end of the month, if we haven’t cured this dysfunction, we’ll do a darn good job treating it!  Write to me with your stories, examples or opinions on the subject. I promise to protect the innocent (and guilty!).

So, are you dysfunctional? What’s that costing you and are you willing to pay that price? Your choices are clear: continue to blame others and stay in your own personal version of “Groundhog Day” (a great movie if you haven’t seen it) – reliving the same patterns over and over again, or make the decision to break those patterns and live differently. The choice is simple and yet one of the scariest one’s we’ll ever make. The life you’ve always wanted lives on the other side.