Hopefully you are able to work safely and effectively from home right now or, if you are one of the thousands of keyworkers out there, I hope you too are keeping safe and I thank you for your effort, commitment and compassion.
For those of us working in a form or quarantine, we may be experiencing new thoughts, feelings and moods as our everyday drive to action and choices have changed. Many tasks have been replaced or usurped by a new sense of urgency (Urgentia taking a new form). But perhaps gaps (and possibly potential moments of stillness) are appearing in your days? Our everyday drive to action and choices have changed, maybe forever. Are new opportunities arising as some old familiar challenges are no longer prevalent or relevant? Maybe things are even getting actioned in the gaps between what were previously back-to-back meetings that now take an abridged virtual form!?!
To continue to activate your adrenaline to rapidly work through assignments and your to do list, and jump in and out of calls and webinars, may be preventing you from an important phase of deeper inner understanding. A time to notice and capture the spaces and calm moments to tune into what truly motivates and drives you, away from the people and schedules and client demands that may have made up almost all your previous ignition for action and motion.
In simple terms the forces that activate you are either “Push” or “Pull”. Taking this opportunity to become aware of these forces and the choices you are making could be wonderfully transformational.
· PUSH forces tend to be the have to… should do… and ought to… They often feel like burdensome chores and accumulate over time. The busier you get, the more you attract. (read chapter 36 of The Impact Book, “The Should Shift”). There will obviously be some unavoidable stuff in this category, that’s the journey you are on and the situation in which you find yourself, your duties and responsibilities, but the unexamined life of mainly Push force with its constant mental and physical nudges can be bruising.
· PULL forces tend to be what you are drawn to, desirous of, would love to find time to do (read chapter 40 of The ‘Keep It Simple’ Book, “The 3-4-3 Strategy”). Often this category sits dormant, waiting for that perfect moment for you to spend some time on. To read, listen, learn, experiment, enjoy. It could be now!
NOTE: these forces will apply to the people you spend time with too!
Hopefully the job you do and the role you have has a blend of these two forces and has elements that are both Push and Pull.
As with many of my simple notes, I seek to inspire you to pause a little more and heighten your awareness of what is going in inside and around you. As you go about your day today and for the week ahead, breathe and notice if you experience the Push or the Pull. Once you become involved in that next task you will experience the force again (generally Push demands more effort and may leave you somewhat drained, Pull can sparkle with ideas and new thinking).
This work requires patience, space and time, and your decision to notice.
People I have met and worked with over my career as a coach that operate more with the “Pull” force seem to have a higher level of happiness, certainty, inner belief and confidence. The results that causes are more fulfilling and often remarkable. They, more often tune into their natural drivers, applying their skills and gifts where they want to, where they are drawn to and where they have the most positive impact. It’s why you are here!
Retune into your force and let it guide you.
PS. – To those who are not working from home, out there still delivering an essential role in keeping our communities safe and functioning, thank you again.
PPS. – In this curious time, I have, unsurprisingly, a somewhat vacuous diary, and am ready to take on coaching clients, you or your colleagues. A single or run of conversations with me will provide you with a safe and secure space to vent, explore, expand, review, reset and reactivate your attitude. You could be the difference your family, team or company need right now. Unleash. Pay what you wish, if I can support you I will. Email me and let’s explore.