Does your day belong to you?
The responsibilities of work and life can easily drag us if we are not intentional about carving out space for ourselves. This week I am reading Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus and he talks about how we can reframe stressful situations into little pockets of peace.
In the book he talked about long commutes as an example of something that most people dread. Now that I live much farther from most of my work and clients, my daily commute is an hour or more each way. I look forward to this time alone where I listen to audiobooks and podcasts that nourish my love of learning, which is one of my core values. Some days when I’m feeling overstimulated, I simply ride in complete stillness and silence to give my nervous system some much needed rest.
These last few weeks left me feeling particularly full and overflowing because I found some other ways to prioritize little pockets of peace. When I facilitate individual coaching sessions with my clients, they usually take place via Zoom, and we are both seated the entire time. Since the weather is warmer, I have been doing walk and talk sessions in nature with some of my clients which adds an additional level of healing and wellbeing for both of us. This also supports my core value of creativity as I explore new and innovative ways to do my work.
One of my other core values is connection. My mastermind group generally meets in the morning once a week, but we try to make it a practice to take a trip together annually. This past week we traveled to sunny San Diego where we enjoyed endless hours of girl talk surrounded by beautiful and fragrant flowers and foliage. I left that trip feeling energized and inspired in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time.
Here are some questions to consider as you plan for pockets of peace as a regular part of your daily or weekly routines.
How might you curate your commute or another challenging part of your day to shift it from feeling stressful to serene?
Where might you incorporate movement, nature, or some other creative alternative into an otherwise stationary or stagnant part of your daily routine?
How might you curate your community to connect with people who energize and inspire you?