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I write this blog fortnightly. It's a creative process and whatever I write about is inspired by life experiences, observation and my intuition. This time around, as my working deadline approached I still hadn't come up with a topic that I was happy with. I gave it a couple of days and still felt the same. I remember coming across this quote and thinking 'my blog and I just aren't vibing!':
“I don't like forced conversations, forced friendships, forced interactions. I simply do not force things. If we do not vibe, we don't vibe" - unknown.
I was tempted to write about anything that came to mind as long as I met the deadline, but that just didn't feel right because this blog is not a formality or something that I have to do. It is something I believe in – that leadership is personal - and love doing. So when I felt stuck it got me thinking about forcing things.
When was the last time you forced something because you thought it should happen when you expect or the way you want? Think about that for a moment. Perhaps your efforts to build a friendship were not reciprocated, the position you lobbied for got axed, or the product idea you came up with in a hurry did not sell.
Forcing matters may seem like the right thing to do in the moment, but with hindsight I realise that it never yields what I expect or want. So what can interrupt this pattern?
SPACE. Space to pause, observe, and refocus. This is how I break it down:
1. PAUSE – slow down and pause for at least 5 minutes.
2. OBSERVE – what is happening within and outside of you:
Internally: How do you feel? What thoughts are coming up? What is your intuition telling you?
Externally: Look at the circumstance you are in and consider the perspectives of those around you.
3. REFOCUS – examine everything you have observed and decide on the best way forward.
This SPACE can be as big or small as you want it to be, in terms of time and extent of your reflection.
So in those moments when you keep pushing, spinning your tyres and getting deeper into the mud until you're stuck, remember you can choose to get into the SPACE.
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