So, it’s nearly a month (already!) since my 2016 retreat. As with last year, I found that the retreat weekend is an eye-opener for me as well as for the attendees, and this year, having moved house and had some time off, I’ve been left with some revelations.
One of which is: it’s time to change gear and slow down.
I know for so many of my clients, this is counter-intuitive. For so many of us, especially creatives and visionaries, we want to be changing UP a gear, moving forward faster and moving up as high as we can. Don’t get me wrong, I have a whole heap of ambition. And a whole list of projects (including my Big New Idea).
And so much of my ambition and inspiration comes from within me and within my work. I get inspired by the clients I work with. I listen to them and their challenges, and I can think of lots of ways I want to help. Or I simply have a growing need within me to do something new.
But there’s also part of that ambition and inspiration that is driven by fear or comparison, and that doesn’t feel so good to me. First of all, I don’t need it. I’ve got enough ideas and scope without needing any more fire behind me to get me moving. Second, I don’t want to be driven by fear, or by what other people are doing.
There are people and businesses way ahead of me – people who’ve been building their businesses for years and years.
There are people who started out (or have since received) way more financial backing or other support than me.
There are people who have a team, even of just two, to carry the load of running a business.
I cannot expect myself to live up to what other people are doing. I don’t know the truth of what’s going on in their business, anyway, no matter how shiny and amazing it looks from the outside.
For me, it’s really the people further down the road than me that get me. I want to be there already! I’m impatient, and like many creatives, I am visionary, so I can see myself further down the line, even when I’m many years (probably) away.
So here’s the thing: I’m slowing down
My ambition and vision aren’t going anywhere and, rather than push myself to the limits, I’ve decided to trust that they’re sticking around. This is what’s going to keep me going in the long run.
That means cutting back on the number of projects I’m trying to plan, launch, and think about. It means I’m going to let business run as usual (rather than pushing it to grow, fast) while I work on the Big New Idea. And it means that I’ll be planning way more time around each activity, so that I can do things slowly.
This is not easy for me. At all.
I like working fast. I like doing things. I like calming the fear that says, “If you don’t do this now, someone else will.” Sound familiar?
But more than anything, I want to be sat in two, five, 10, 20 years’ time able to say: “I built this my way, and it has stayed the distance. I’m so glad I built it right. I’m so glad I didn’t burn out along the way. It’s such a pleasure to live this life, to do this work, and to bloom in my own right timing.”
So. Who’s with me?
