This week in #Quest Jeffrey invited us to claim our devotion with #TodayTuesday. In hearing these words I remembered that I had really enjoyed implementing this practice earlier this year and as my enquiry unfolded as to why it stopped it became clear that the other thing it was linked to had also ground to a halt somewhere during the year - my daily meditations.
Rather than beat myself up, I'm slowly getting back to my much reduced mesa (we are preparing to move house in 2020) and taking the time to discover my daily devotion. This week I devoted myself to:
fun - on this day, I tried to look at the fun side of everything. When things didn't go to plan, I thought about the situation as a game where it was just another obstacle to be overcome to get to the prize.
service - on this day I committed to putting others first and to serving them as best as I could.
completion - on this day I actively commitment to finishing a large number of unfinished tasks on my list to help me feel a sense of accomplishment around some of the loose ends. This is included, follow ups, returning emails and closing out projects that were no longer viable but were still on the list more out of hope.
If you could devote your day to a single quality - what would you devote your day to?
My evening highlights were insightful and this practice is one that I would like to continue alongside my gratitude practice of thinking about the things that I'm grateful for at the end of the day. My highlights included:
the look of realisation - that change point - I saw on the faces of the people I was training.
the very long meditation I did using the kaleidoscope and the insights it gave me that seemed to have so much meaning in-the-moment but which have been totally forgotten in-this-moment!
the call I received from a prospective client not long after my colleagues and I had to disband our stroll around the City of London looking for a place to bid me farewell from the company.
It's so easy to overlook the small things or to not notice those magical synchronicities that life gives us when we're too busy. This year I've worked towards this acceptance of everything in 'right-timing' and being OK when things I have been working at or towards have not come to fruition or completion when I had planned or anticipated. In that acceptance there is a freedom in knowing that life in all its chaos unfolds in perfect synchronicity as well.
I'll admit that when Jeffrey gave examples for the #FutureFriday instigation and how we can invite slowness, my body tightened and I started to feel a bit agitated. I don't need to look at any one of the large goals I have set out in my list for 2020 because all of them will benefit from me changing something that will invite slowness into my life.
2019 has happened at a seemingly relentless pace and others have observed that I work with such intensity that they would like to see me 'enjoy the journey' and 'have more fun'. The invitation to 'have more fun' is one my late Great Aunt would share with me every time we met before she set off on her next great adventure. Not that their opinion should matter, except that I know in my hear that they are right.
Part of the grind of 2019 has been the sheer number of different things I have taken on. To invite slowness, I would like to incorporate some guidelines for myself:
Go to bed earlier to wake up earlier. This is going to be counter-intuitive for me since it will theoretically reduce my days by around 2+ hours. On the flipside, my Ayurvedic Dr believes it will help my digestion since liver detoxification happens between 10pm and 2am. It will also enable me to wake rested rather than exhausted and perhaps amp my energy during the day.
No phones in the bedroom. Despite the research about blue light, over-stimulated brains, etc many of us find ourselves saying goodnight to our screens only to say goodmorning to them again some hours later. I'm determined to not let my partner have the joy of taking another photo of me asleep with my phone in my hand.
Getting outside at least once per day. For any company of one or home-based worker, it can also be too to stay in your cave and beaver away at a litany of tasks without looking up or taking a real break. This is very much what I do.
If I could incorporate one or all of these things into my day, I am curious about how it will impact my productivity, creativity and sense of time.
For those who've been following me this year, you would have noticed a shift in my social media use - both in terms of how I'm using it and how frequently. Overall my SM use has reduced but this is also a reflection of how much time I have spent doing rather than being, and a 1 second video of my life this past year might have been the flipbook equivalent of me working at different positions around the kitchen table or coaching from the desk.
So I ask you, how you could you create more spaciousness in your life? What could it take to give up some of the hustle or the grind to just LIVE a bit more and what impact might it have on your life?
PS when you are ready, here are 4 ways that I can help you #ignitepotential:
• Leadership Coach / Personal Coach
• Business Winning Consultant
• Sales Team Transformation
• Authentic Leadership & Business Igniter Retreats
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