How often do you do that, in your work and life? Pause, stop, listen, recover and regroup? And what would be different if you did?
As you read this we’ll have reached June. For some this will end Q1 of your financial year, for others it’s half way – and it came about fast! Strategies will be in motion and revenues may or may not be where you wished. Plans may have unravelled, and success may seem a long way off.
This pattern is a familiar one. June is also the half way point in our calendar year, marked with the solstice.
The Summer Solstice reminds us to turn inward and find the nourishment needed to grow and evolve. It is a time to pause and wait for the energy planted in the Spring to reach full bloom. In business, this may mean we need to be patient. We may see setbacks, as we can’t predict what the environment may bring. It will though bear fruit though as the year progresses.
Pausing, allows us to recognise what we’re noticing, what lessons we’ve learned, and where we still need to focus for the rest of the year.
Increasingly this doesn’t happen. The speed of customer demand, technology and change, our scattered attention and a myriad of demands from work, family, and life keep us always on and busy. This doesn’t serve us well.
Pausing is built into many things around us, yet we resist it; don’t make space for it. Consider:
Daily our bodies need to rest. Sleep is proven to be crucial to our functioning. The time we sleep is when the cleaning and repair teams in our bodies come out. They tidy up, repair our organs and tissues and makes sure we’re ready to go again the next day. Get too little – we deplete our energy and health.
Exercise: in all forms of exercise, there is a period of recovery. This could be a rest between sets in strength training, walking and stretching at the end of a run, or suvasana (corpse pose) in yoga, when we rest to take in the energy generated in practice.
PC System Back ups: ironically, we’ve even programmed pausing into our machines.
Why then do we fail to plan in times to pause, rest, regroup and recover for ourselves? Everything around us tells us it’s worthwhile, yet we still fail to value being still?
So I invite you to do just that, and to focus on three things.
Pause
Listen inward and outwardly – what do you notice?
What patterns do you see repeating? Notice these without judgement.
What sense and meaning do these give you?
Recognise
After you have paused, start with the good stuff (send your critical inner voice on a short holiday).
What has gone well for you? What successes have you had, what have you achieved?
What or who has helped you achieve these successes, and how can you lean into this more?
What have you put in motion that is yet to bear fruit, where must you be patient?
Focus
Finally regroup, and decide where your attention will serve you best.
Stop: What patterns and plans do you need to release as circumstances have changed.
Start: What must be set in motion to enable you to gain momentum?
Continue: What is difficult that you may be of service to you if you lean into it?
Accept: you can only control what is within your sphere of control; stop worrying about everything else.
So find the time. It may be 5 minutes at the end of the day, an hour in the week, or a half day or day alone or with your team, when you pause and review. I guarantee it with be worthwhile.
Annabel is an Executive and Team Coach, Leadership Facilitator and Coach Supervisor. Contact Annabel via LinkedIn, annabel@successfultraining.co.uk, or visit www.successfultraining.co.uk