I’m part of a coaching program for successful entrepreneurs that relentlessly encourages, recommends, cajoles and insists that we take free days. There is to be no checking of email, returning voicemails, sending texts, planning, organizing, cleaning up that one little project, reading a business book, or thinking about work. Period. Nada. Nothing. Cold turkey!
“It is easy to skip your own needs and make sacrifices for the sake of others. This sacrifice will not only prevent you from living the life you want, but you will be unable to effectively take care of others as you would like.” ~ Guest blogger, Bud Roth
Self-renewal is something you do for yourself that rejuvenates, renews, brings you a fresh perspective or more energy or greater insight. Self-renewal yields amazing paybacks – in energy, focus, productivity, insight, learning, and physical and mental well being. Every person is different – and will find different activities that are self-renewing.
For much of my life, I flung myself blindly into each day. I typically asked myself at the beginning of the day, “What do I need to do today?” Then I had two different friends ask me two compelling questions that stopped me dead in my tracks.
Focusing on what I was grateful for forced me to develop a keener eye for all the good things in my life – and once I noticed, I found ways to add more of those things into my daily routine. Today, daily reflection has become a treasured part of my day, enabling me to decompress, process, center, learn, and grow.
Renewal is especially important for leaders today. Work demands are higher. Leaders feel constantly “on the job” due to email, cellphones, texting and instant messaging. Resources are constrained yet the need to get more done is greater.
There are times when I’m facing a tough situation – and a coach is not available. When that happens, I’ve honed a process to “coach myself” through the situation. I’ll share the process and the questions I ask myself in those specific situations.
For those who have lives that are fast paced, coaching can provide the gift of slowing down and reflecting. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
We all have blind spots about ourselves and our performance. There are things we can’t see, things that we are unaware of, and ways others see us that we are totally oblivious to. I believe this is true with even the most self aware individuals.
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