28 Oct Learning to pace ourselves
Consolidation and Recovery
Have you come across the concept of an integration week? I was introduced to the idea in a “Year of Living Brilliantly” with Michael Bungay Stanier. Every 6-7 weeks, he breaks away from the rhythm of the 5-minute nuggets of video wisdom from his diverse portfolio of 30+ amazing presenters. He asks us to step back and evaluate:
- What have you learned?
- How do the topics of the past few weeks connect to each other?
- How do you move from a year of “learning” brilliantly to a year of “living” brilliantly? (Answer: by actually putting in practise the information that resonated most deeply)
I like this thoughtful approach. And it occurs to me that this invitation to pause, ponder and reflect is a very necessary future skill as the world around us speeds up. And why, like good sleep habits, good hygiene and good eating, we pass along the message to our youth.
Integration Week
With that in mind, I thought now would be a good moment to pause and invite you to do the same as you evaluate the messages from the past weeks:
- What was most insightful?
- Have you found yourself putting some of the concepts or ideas into action?
- What do you like? And not like?
Here is a digest of the past few essays:
- Mother of Dragons – We grow them to fly. Why, then, should we be stuck in an “empty nest”? Time to rebrand!
- What’s for dinner? – how to lower the barrier of entry for tasks that take a while to get started
- We borrow this earth from our children – Trying to make sense of climate and its impact on the Future of Work
- #MakeTakeTalk – We can feel powerless in the face of big issues. To which my inside voice responds “You always have a choice. Do nothing. Or do something, however small. So, Karena, what is your smallest viable action?” This is a discussion on selecting my choice of a call to action.
- From sous chef to plating – How three courses are helping me improve my writing
- From boring to riveting with Michael Lewis – An analysis of the unique way Michael Lewis is able to make very dry topics more engaging.
What spoke to you the loudest? What did you do with that reaction?
Are you visiting for the first time? Would you like to sign up for a weekly dose of this kind of information?
Pause. Ponder. Reflect.
Make. Take. Talk.
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
CREDIT & THANKS; DEFINITIONS & RESOURCES:
- My book “Contours of Courageous Parenting – Tilting Towards Better Decisions” is available on your local Amazon site
- Find a version of this thought for today article on LinkedIn, Instagram
- Photo, audio & video credits: Karena de Souza
Julie Freedman Smith
Posted at 18:24h, 29 OctoberIn reflecting on the work so far, the theme that resonates for me is that it is easy to get stuck doing something one way because we’ve always done it that way before. But maybe there is another way to do it. AND maybe things that felt hard, were being left undone. We have the power to reflect, look around and ask others how things can happen differently. We may find that we are happy with the way things are going. We may find that there’s a better way. We must be willing to look and change in order to find those new ways.
One of the ways that I have committed to pausing within my week is by taking Sundays away from my phone. I turn off the phone. Now, I still have my email on my computer if I really need it. AND I have my landline if someone needs to find me. What I have also gained is chunks of time when I might normally go to scroll through Instagram or watch some videos on YouTube. I just don’t. I go do stuff. OR I go and do nothing. The day goes on forever. There is so much extra time to pause, reflect, bake, walk, read, or do what I want (and figure out what that is.)
Thanks for your inspiring writing.
Karena de Souza
Posted at 18:45h, 29 OctoberI really like your idea of a Sunday away from the phone. Thank you for all the suggestions and thoughtful reflection here, Julie. It gives me and all those in our community some great ideas. “Another way to do it.”