Last weekend my husband and I took a whirlwind trip back to my childhood home in New York to celebrate some family Birthdays.
On this trip, unlike what I’d normally do, I decided not to fill the days with plans in advance. My experience is the inspiration for this week’s post. In four days we visited friends and sights from NYC to Stony Brook, to the tip of the Long Island.
Are you a planner? Are you great at setting priorities and establishing goals, and achieving them? Can you juggle complex schedules and move at the speed of light in getting things done?
These important abilities serve us very well as leaders. Having ambition, a strong work ethic and passion can certainly help us to deliver great results, but there’s also tremendous power in just BE-ing present and living in the moment.
As I learn from transformational leaders, I’ve found that the journey is just as important as the destination. Or rather, every moment IS the destination – and if we’re not careful – we may miss the lessons and opportunities we are meant to receive in order to achieve what we really want.
When I work 1:1 with high achievers; successful people with a tremendous value and pride in the quality of their work, we often take some time to “slow down,” reflect, notice, observe and analyze.
In some cases, this can feel counter-intuitive, or perhaps even unsettling as we become less “busy,” because there’s always a lot to get done, and the stakes are high!
It’s possible that in these moments, the need to be practical and organized could be hiding feelings of not being “enough.” We may find that fear-based questions of “what if…?” can begin to surface. We may ask: “What if I don’t get everything done? What if things don’t go how they need to go? What if I let people down? What if people think I’m lazy, not good at my job, etc.?”
On this recent trip, I replaced the “What if I don’t see everyone/do everything I want?” with “What if I do exactly what I am meant to do?”
I trusted, and I was “in” every moment. It was one of the best four days, ever! When I look back on all that we did and experienced, it seems almost impossible.
Time seemed to expand, connections were made, and magic happened – like randomly coming across the Imagine mosaic in Central Park JUST as I was pondering what the next year will hold.
I couldn’t have planned that if I tried. I think I’m on to something. 😉
As always, if you’d like to get more clear about YOUR best next steps to get “unstuck,” or strike that balance between proper planning and BE-ing in the moment, CLICK HERE to schedule your complimentary Clarity Call with me.
To your success,
Kathryn
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