Live for Tomorrow With an Internal Checklist
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
By Melanie Lockwood Herman
Executive Director
In his book 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life, Dick Van Dyke offers a buffet of funny and memorable insights from a life well lived. I especially loved that each chapter, averaging 2-3 pages, is bite sized and suitable for those times when you need to take a deep breath between hectic moments. The brevity of each rule is also ideal if you enjoy sharing what you’re learning—out loud—with a loved one or colleague.
The wisdom in his chapter titled “Don’t Live in the Past” invites us to redirect when we find ourselves waxing unpoetically about the good old days. To focus on the future, we first need to live in the ‘right now’. Van Dyke suggests using an internal checklist to refocus. He writes:
“What and who are right in front of you, right now?! Grab on, jump in! As soon as I start to feel a sense of quickening, that’s my lifeline back to the present.”
When it feels as though you are drowning in details and complexity, pause to answer these powerful prompts from Dick Van Dyke’s internal checklist.
- What are you going to do today?
- What do you want tomorrow, next month, next year to look like?
- What feels important?
- What still needs getting done?
Better still, bring the sharp minds and endless curiosity of colleagues together to create a motivating team checklist:
- With respect to risk awareness, readiness and resilience: what are WE going to do today?
- With respect to our risk function and evolving capabilities, what do WE want tomorrow, next month, next year to look like?
- Related to risk, what feels most important right now?
- As we step back and reflect on risk management, what still needs getting done?
Last week a nonprofit leader expressed gratitude for our team’s simple definition of the word risk: possibilities. I shared that despite its simplicity the definition was nearly 29 years in the making. It reflects our team’s commitment to learn from every team and nonprofit mission we encounter. Our shift to defining risks as possibilities was inspired by our internal checklist:
- Does it convey hope and optimism as well as worry and concern?
- Can the definition be understood quickly by staff at various levels, with varied backgrounds?
- Does the definition conjure things that haven’t happened yet, but could happen in the future?
As I peruse my internal checklist, the common element is learning. From a stack of books waiting to be read, to the webinars and conferences I will attend and the new client teams I have yet to meet, the opportunity to learn from and alongside others provides inspiration and energy. It helps me focus on today and lean into tomorrow. What’s on your internal checklist?
“One thing I love about the Risk Summit is the opportunity to connect and learn from other risk managers, nonprofit professionals, and NRMC staff. I have attended the Risk Summit multiple years and always look forward to connecting with returning attendees and meeting new people. The Risk Summit brings together a diverse and engaged set of professionals who are ready to learn, share, and connect.”
— Heather Chadwick
“I love the Risk Summit because I always learn something valuable, such as new approaches to the issues I’m grappling with. I always leave the Risk Summit with a notebook full of practical ideas. I also leave with an expanded network of professional acquaintances and a feeling it was the most useful conference I’ve been to in quite a while. I am in awe how such a topic as risk management can be artfully delivered.”
— Paul Doman
“One thing I love about the Risk Summit is the ability to see and feel the passion of nonprofit leaders as they learn and share together.”
— Michael Schraer
“One thing I love about the Risk Summit is connecting and learning from / with really great people.”
— Lisa Prinz
“First let me congratulate you on a conference well done. I had a great time at the Nonprofit Employee Benefits Conference and walked away with some valuable tools and questions that we’ll need to be addressing in both the short and long term. Thanks to you and your staff for all you do to provide us with quality resources in support of our missions.”
— Scott Brown, Mohonk Preserve
“BBYO’s engagement of NRMC to conduct a risk assessment was one of the most valuable processes undertaken over the past five years. Numerous programmatic and procedural changes were recommended and have since been implemented. Additionally, dozens (literally) of insurance coverage gaps were identified that would never have been without the work of NRMC. This assessment led to a broker bidding process that resulted in BBYO’s selection of a new broker that we have been extremely satisfied with. I unconditionally recommend the Center for their consultative services.
— Sidney Abrams, BBYO
“Melanie Herman has provided expert, insightful, timely and well resourced information to our Executive Team and Board of Directors. Our corporation recently experienced massive growth through merger and the Board has been working to better integrate their expanded set of roles and responsibilities. Melanie presented at our Annual Board of Director’s Retreat and captured the interest of our Board members. As a result of her excellent presentation the Board has engaged in focused review which is having immediate effects on governance.”
— Pamela Mattel, Basics Promesa Systems Inc
“The Nonprofit Risk Management Center has been an outstanding partner for us. They are attentive to our needs, and work hard to successfully meet our requests for information. Being an Affiliate member gave us access to so many time- and money-saving resources that it easily paid for itself! Nonprofit Risk Management Center is truly a valued partner of The Community Foundation of Elkhart County and we are continuously able to optimize staff time with the support given by their team.”
— Jodi Spataro, Community Foundation of Elkhart County
“The board and staff of the Prince George’s Child Resource Center are extremely pleased with the results of the risk assessment conducted by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. A thorough scan revealed that while we are a well run organization, we had risks that we never imagined. We are grateful to know that we have now minimized our organizational risks and we recommend the Center to other nonprofits.”
— Marti Worshtil, Prince George’s Child Resource Center
Great American Insurance Group’s Specialty Human Services is committed to protecting those who improve your communities. The NRMC team has committed to delivering dynamic risk management solutions tailored to nonprofit organizations. These organizations have many and varied risk issues, hence the need for specialized coverage and expert knowledge for their protection. We’ve had Melanie speak on several occasions to employees and our agents. She is always on point and delivers such great value. Thank you for the terrific partnership and allowing our nonprofits to focus on their mission!