21.09.2022

Need for Space & Meaning | Wisdom |What Next?

Hello there! Welcome to my weekly LEAPS. 

You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly Wednesday feature or our mailing list. Every Wednesday, I share 5 things using our LEAPS approach: 

Learn: something new or an idea
Energy: something that’s creating an energy and positive impact
Action: something to do
Processing: a question to consider
Shout out: something or someone that I want to celebrate or acknowledge

Have you taken the GLAS Understanding Assessment
and received your free report?

LEARN
Something Worth Sharing

The Need for Space and Meaning

I’ve been conducting a small piece of research recently based on my team discussing what people feel is the one thing they’d like most in their life at the moment. The results of our research highlighted that over 50% of people most crave space and rest. The next area that was highlighted as being a key need for people was to establish a clear sense of purpose and meaning for their life.

I’m not hugely surprised by these results - my clients often share with me a sense of overwhelm and chaos, and that things are overly complex, fast-paced with time slipping away. Equally, while most of us subscribe to the importance of purpose and meaning - for many, the ability to find that purpose feels out of reach and frustrating.

I touched on a ‘Learning’ last week that was based on Queen Elizabeth II’s smile - this week I’m also reminded of her. The Queen had a very clear sense of purpose and meaning to her long life - that of service. She also, out of necessity, was able to create space and rest to enable her to keep functioning and live to 96 years old. She did this by developing strategies that were built around boundaries - including having a place to escape to and allowed her to indulge in her favourite things including: dogs, horses and family.

Much of our work is helping teams, individuals and businesses to find their purpose, but it is down to each of us to be self-disciplined in creating and protecting our space and rest. These things are often seen as luxuries, but we must change this to consider meaning, time and space as necessities.

ENERGY
Focusing on an emotion or positive energy; a stand-out word / s

Wisdom

I’m working with a business at the moment that reminded me of this beautiful word. The word WISDOM has an origin in Old English and meant "knowledge, learning, experience". The word is formed from WIS “to know” + DOM “state, condition, quality”.

I think of wisdom as being more than simply learning or knowing something, but about how you use the knowledge and apply it. I’ve met many clever people in my life, but not nearly as many wise people.

ACTION
Something small that you can do that might make a big difference

Honest Conversations

In #familybusiness work we often refer to the ‘elephant in the room’, the thing that people have an awareness of and yet avoid at all costs. It refers to the unspoken issues that, when left, can stagnate and become even bigger issues. The action this week is to have an honest conversation - at home, in the office, with a friend etc.

PROCESSING
A question to think about and consider (you can discuss this with someone or write your thoughts down)

“What next?”

One of my favourite questions - and one that my husband and I talk about daily. At the end of the day we talk about what’s coming up next - possibly over the next few days or weeks - for each of us. We try to not to real off our respective ‘to do’ list, but share how we feel about the things that are coming up, for example: not wanting to let a customer down in a piece of work, what might be an exciting opportunity ahead, what challenges we foresee with something and so on.

In life, the ‘what next?’ question is really important - to pause and question whether you’re simply drifting along without direction or choosing to live (and adapt) deliberately.

SHOUT OUT
Who / what I think deserves recognition, my gratitude or to be celebrated.

My China Tea Set

I’m going shout out a strange thing - my beautiful traditional fine china cup and saucer tea set. It sounds very grand, and yet was bought from a charity shop a few years ago due to hosting an afternoon tea party for an elderly group - as part of a charity volunteering thing. I remembered how my grandma would only drink from a ‘proper cup and saucer’, and so as the owner of ‘mugs’ - I went and found a dainty tea service with little flowers and gold edging.

The set doesn’t come out very often, but when it does it always becomes a conversation piece and people will say that the tea tastes better from it. I have no idea of the history or who originally owned it. We used the set on the occasion of the Queen’s state funeral, along with home baked Victoria Sponge cake - it was all very British and very lovely.

BONUS GIFT FOR YOU
This week’s little extra for you - from me

This week, I’m gifting you a download for my visual of The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware. It’s a very interesting and incredibly important read. I was reminded of the book by my friend in Canada, David McLean.

To access this download free of charge, use code 5regrets (use this code before next Wednesday 28th September).

If you’d like to discuss having your ideas, business or culture captured visually - you can also let me know via email.

*** ORDER YOURS NOW ***

Order Your Deliberate Year Calendar & Logbook Set

LEAPS is a process used by our team and clients all the time - and even my own family on a daily basis. 

I’ll be sharing a set of LEAPS each week with you and encourage you to do your own version:

• L: what have you learned?

• E: what’s your energy / feeling word

• A: what’s one thing you need to do?

• P: what are you thinking / processing?

• S: who or what can you shout out?