How many business leaders, entrepreneurs or parents do you know who give the sense of living a spacious life?
Or bringing it closer to home, how spacious is your daily work and life?
Whoever we are, regardless of the seniority of our job or size of our family - because everyone’s life has its complexities - we don’t have the time for having time and space. In fact the opposite exudes from our pores as we rush between meetings, juggle multiple hats and focus on making a dent in our to do lists.
And when a bit of space presents itself, you’d think we’d grab it with all our might, wouldn’t you? But many of us decide to trade it for getting ahead or feeling that little bit less behind.
What if this urgent and achievement focused existance we’re submerged in is leading us further from the lives, careers and businesses that we aspire, not closer?
Because how creative can we really be when we’re in this urgent and highly reactive mindset?
How likely are we to spot opportunities when we’re focused on trying to hammer something through to completion?
How much good will and compassion are we likely to receive from others – colleagues and family alike - when we’re stuck in the whirlwind of chasing output?
How much enjoyment are we likely to feel when our overriding ambition is simply to get things done?
We miss so much.
We lose so much.
We feel like we need to do so much more.
And the cycle repeats itself, often sped up further and even less enjoyable.
So how do we get real on the emptiness of this spedup way of living and move towards a more sustainable and fulfilling alternative?
Maybe it starts with seeing the real source of those feelings of urgency, stress and pressure tha leads to the hustle. It looks like they’re coming from the demanding boss, the looming deadline or the uncontrollable inbox. But really, when we get curious about it, is that true?
Have you noticed that sometimes those things send us into a tail spin yet other times we sail right past them, stress free? Or maybe you’ve seen that when you’re in a good mood, nothing really bothers you but when you’re in a bad mood every last thing is frustrating.
The source of our feelings is our thoughts, not the world out there. When we forget this its easy to have burdened and reactive mind. In that spedup state of mind it makes sense that things won’t look great and we won’t feel great; we feel compelled to take action to get things done, innocently believing we have no choice.
These unwanted feelings wake us up to the fact that we’ve strayed off course and if we keep on in this direction - although we might still deliver an output - it will be slow going, exhausting, underwhelming and unfulfilling. And we want more than that, right?
Because our life is the experience not the output, however much we might want to achieve.
Our alternative course is that state of flow, or being fully absorbed in what we’re doing, which can feel illusive in our sped up and burdened mind. Yet it is in this state of flow, when we’re connected inwardly, that we’re not even contemplating the outcome of our activity or the other things we need to do once we get there. It is in this state that we feel most alive, we become most creative and the results are most impactful.
What if we saw our sped up thinking and dragon breathing down our neck feelings as an indication that our focus is off track and we simply need to course correct?
What if we could experience the journeying towards achieving something, not by forcing our way to get across the finish line so we can get on with our lives, but as life itself? By being fully absorbed in the each step of the experience?
Because when we hit that place, everything changes.
We feel like we’ve got all the time in the world.
We feel like ideas surface and take shape effortlessly.
Many of the things we’re worrying about having to get done, become redundant.
And the feelings of stress, anxiety and exhaustion evaporate.
Surely that’s the spaciousness we all crave?
If you’re interested in experiencing more spaciousness and a freer mind in your life, work and world check out coaching programs, workshops and immersions or drop me a line