Coaches Reinvent

“Steward”: A person who is responsible to take care of something.

I’ve been a good steward of my work, Reinvention Revolution, today.

I’ve stayed the course and remained committed to the spirit of the work.

Further, I took the actions that were inspired as a result of my alignment with my commitment to Reinvention Revolution.

In my heart, I can feel that Reinvention Revolution, for me, means a commitment to ignite the spirits of midlife reinventers worldwide, with hope, inspiration, and how.

This wasn’t my dream when I started being a coach in 1997. It has evolved, slowly and surely. Only in hindsight can I see the path.

So, I realize that I can’t expect to see the path forward from here. I can only be a faithful steward to what is emerging through me as the work evolves.

In other words, this work will show me what it is, step by step. My job is to show up every day aligned as much as possible with what I know the spirit of the work to be.

Today, I did that. I meditated to clear my thoughts, I sat and felt, in my heart, as best I could, the spirits of reinventers everywhere, and I was inspired to write several short pieces which I will publish on the Reinvention Revolution blog.

This is what I am called to, for now. Only in retrospect will the fullness of the ‘how’ and the path be visible to me.

But each step is known by me, if I sit and listen.

And that is the true call, to keep myself as free as possible of the doubting perspectives in me, and sit, listen, and take the next inspired step.

That is what I did today, and it felt good.

Today, in the middle of a coaching call, the telephone line started screeching with an impressive level of electronic noise. The client and I moved to a different line and continued our coaching.

Now that I have notified the phone company, and they tell me they’re on it, I’m left to reflect on the static in my own life. I love the mirror that life is!

I realized that I started today with a few scheduled coaching calls and when I finished my calls for the day, I jumped right into ‘making it happen’ mode. For a while it flowed and I was really into it.

Then, for no noticeable-to-me reason, it suddenly felt difficult, so I ‘buckled down’ and started to try harder to get things done, confident that more effort was what was required.

This is my particular version of static in the line. It gets harder, and I try harder.

Sounds ludicrous when I see it in print, but it’s what many of us are conditioned to do.

When I have my wits about me and notice what’s happening, I just stop. This is, by the way, very hard for me to do. But I have practiced it long enough that I know the wisdom and practicality in it. I learned it years ago when I would get stuck while writing for a deadline. Stopping was the most counter-intuitive for me, and the most powerful.

Then I meditate or just sit and breathe for 10 minutes, allowing the ’static to clear from my line’ as I come into alignment with my inner being. Sometimes I do feel like I have moved to a different line, by virtue of my different focus. Regardless, I then have access to a deeper, truer wisdom and more peace. A feeling that all really is well.

When I can remember to do that practice, I can clearly see the next step and my work becomes allowing myself to move into it with ease. No pushing or trying or forcing.

I’m famously frustrated with phone problems; the phone is my connect to my livelihood, so it has been one of those things that’s easy for me to let myself get all in a dither about. But it’s not a good reason. Really, nothing is.

I may not be able to choose the outer circumstance in my life, but I can choose my response to it, and therein lies my freedom.

Keeping our balance and alignment with our inner beings is a practice, not a destination. It’s my top priority, because I want to live my life in that feeling of flow.

It is like a meditation. We are moving through the activities of our lives with ease and flow, and something happens that introduces static in our lines.

At that point we have a choice. Pay attention to the static, try to overcome it, and get frustrated. Or we can do whatever works best for us to come back into alignment with who we know we really are. The static may not go away, but that’s not the point. We choose to direct our focus to something that brings us back to inner clarity and insight.

I’m not saying that is is always easy to clear our minds and choose a focus that gets us back into the flow. But I am saying that it is possible and worth it. I know this because I have countless examples of my own and with my clients.

And this time, it was good for me to stop, pay attention, and redirect my focus. I feel better: freer, clearer, and back in the flow.

I’m back, after taking the summer off from my blogs.

My European clients have taught me well, about the value and productivity (!) of sabbaticals: incubation, integration, inspiration. It allows a different truth to emerge from a different perspective.

I didn’t plan to take a summer sabbatical; I was responding to a strong call in me to do so.

One of my focuses over the summer was my stained glass mosaic art. As I became immersed in the process of art, it taught me a lot about my approach to my business.

Through this blog, I’ll be sharing some thoughts about how an art paradigm can inspire our business models, and about the relationship between being and doing, especially as it relates to our coaching businesses.

Stay tuned!

Has your Dream become a To Do List?

We’re coaches, Masters of the Compelling Way.

It’s tough when the internal fire for our work dies down to a glowing ember.

But it happens to all of us, whether we are new coaches or have been coaches for a while. And, at least for me, I’m always taken by surprise when it happens, because I love my work.

The first sign, for me, is flagging energy. I feel like I’m pushing a boulder up hill.

When I look beneath my sluggishness, the cause is usually feeling overwhelmed by the multitude of things I want to do that support my business, such as marketing or technology activities.

The first thing I try to do is to tough it out, to try harder to focus and get things done, holding myself accountable for my list.

Sometimes focus gets me out of my lethargy, but, it usually doesn’t. Intense focus always works better for me when my energy is already flowing.

That’s when I realize that my Dream has become a To Do List.

I’ve lost the feeling of connection to the Why of what I’m doing.

This is definitely the good news. Because we are coaches, we love our work. It’s fulfilling, meaningful, and it contributes to the world. The Why is strong, even when we may have lost the immediacy of our connection to it.

So it’s relatively easy to recover that feeling, to stoke the glowing ember back into a healthy and inspiring fire.

How do we do that? Take a brief Time Out. This can be very counter-intuitive, at least for me, because my tendency is always to keep plugging away at the to do list, trying to get up a head of steam.

The goal of your Time Out is to recapture that uplifting feeling of meaning, fulfillment, purpose that is, for you, connected to coaching. Really important distinction here: Recover the feeling, not just the knowing in your head that what you are doing is important. The ‘head place’ just doesn’t have the power.

This is where most of us get off the track. We lose the power that’s available to us from the visceral feeling of our own unique Dream and passion for coaching.

Just for a few minutes, do whatever you like to do to get relaxed and in a reflective state.

Focus your attention on your Dream and feeeeeeeel the power of it. Hold your attention on the responses to each of these questions long enough to feel the stirring from deep within you. There is a remembrance that is deep inside of you; trust it.
• Why did you become a coach? What was the power and feeling that compelled you into that decision?
• What is your dream for your coaching? How are your clients transformed through coaching with you?
• Who are you as a coach? (”I am the one who…..”)

Do whatever is best for you to ‘lock in the feeling’ so you can reconnect to it whenever you want. For some of us, writing works well. For others, images are powerful, perhaps in a collage. Mantras or affirmations that resonate with your heart can be very effective also.

Your Dream doesn’t have to become a To Do List, even though it needs to be supported by action. Invest in the time to retrieve your passion; it’s a high payoff investment. Before you know it, you will be moving full steam ahead again, in joyous action.

START HERE:

Action: The next time that you feel like you’ve run out of steam, ask yourself if your Dream has become a To Do List. It it has, take a Time Out. Reconnect, get the fire back. Then go back to your list of actions and pick the most inspiring one first, and do it. Get the momentum going and let your feeling connection to your Dream continue to stoke the fire.

Insight: What keeps you connected to the feeling of your Dream?