World Tree Coaching is 7 years old this month! Every year on my business anniversary, I take time to reflect on the lessons of the past year. Do I need to tell you that this year has been…incredible…intense…outrageous?
It seems less-than-interesting to do a complete recounting of the last year – I mean, we’ve all been here, haven’t we? But, I do still want to reflect on some of the lessons. Two lessons, actually. Two lessons have superseded all the others.
Lessons from World Tree Coaching Year 7
Lesson One: Space.
There is an unbelievable amount of power in the ability to pause and create space in our lives. This year, with the Coronavirus and so many other STOP AND LISTEN moments, taking time came to feel like the only option. Giving ourselves space to see clearly, to thoughtfully determine the next steps and to connect with all of the pain, suffering, and even beauty of the moment enables us to choose more wisely where we go from here.
Frequently this year, I decided to simply take some space. Occasionally, that meant a few hours between writing the email and sending it (or not). From time-to-time, that meant slowing down and meditating at my desk if for no other purpose than to feel the beat of my heart and the rhythm of my breath. Sometimes it meant speaking or engaging more deliberately. And then, other times, it meant creating space after a whirlwind of activity, a moment in which to go back to a mistake, reconsider my choices and maybe even make amends.
Space provides us with an opportunity to grow. When times are difficult or uncertain, we need that space more than ever.
Lesson Two: Reevaluate
When we create space, we also provide ourselves with an opportunity to reevaluate. Being able to reevaluate a situation, a choice, a perspective is perhaps the greatest gift of space. Lesson One offers us Lesson Two. What a treasure!
This year I practiced saying yes to moments, experiences and professional opportunities that I knew were in line with the future I want for myself and my family. And, I also practiced saying no – even if it meant saying goodbye to ideas or projects that at one point had seemed ideal.
There is often the temptation, I think, to get locked in to one way of being. One plan. One idea. One perspective. But, especially in a globally mobile lifestyle, taking time to step back and reevaluate is important to developing into who we want to be personally and professionally. With so many inherent shifts in the expat lifestyle – why wouldn’t we allow that opportunity to teach us where we may need to change?
And so, at this World Tree Coaching anniversary point, I feel especially connected to what it means to create space in my busy life. And, in turn, how cultivating a lifestyle that allows for space, offers me the opportunities to make shifts. More than ever, in our changing world, this seems essential.
Thank you!
And one more thing before I go, thank you!! I have immense gratitude for my clients and the community of professionals that have become a part of my globally mobile career. On a daily basis I have the incredible honor to support and collaborate with the most thoughtful and dynamic community spread out in almost every corner of the globe! Together – we can all fulfill World Tree Coaching’s vision…
To create a world where every global citizen* knows every day they have everything they need to be exactly the person they want to be – no matter where life takes them. *One person at a time.
