Gain Wisdom and Perspective by Shifting Gears

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As we prepare to bid farewell to 2020, several clients have told me they desperately need a digital detox. Others crave variety, any variety, because staying at home and doing the same thing day after day is what they’ve been doing all year long. Clients continually say how profound it is to pause and reflect more about themselves, their work and their life.

If you were to pause right now and reflect, what do you need?

Why Shifting Gears is Powerful
Shifting gears provides the torque
And the power
To accelerate when the time is right

Most of my clients are over-achievers who habitually move faster by shifting to higher and higher gears. The real benefit comes from shifting down, not up. If you’ve been on overdrive, here are some ideas. Which one grabs you?


do anything you normally do, just do it slower
take a nap

be quiet or still
listen more, talk less

lean back, ever-so-slightly

be unavailable
reflect

feel what you're feeling
ponder not knowing

stop something
begin again

soften your gaze

Word of the wise: Don’t enter into this practice trying to find some grand insight or figure something out. To do so would be counter to this endeavor. Think of it like going from zoom focus on the camera and now panning out to get a much wider view. Allow yourself to linger with questions and not have answers yet. If an ah-ha comes, great. But the real purpose is to experience a change of pace. Nothing else.