The Power of Pausing
Ruts happen. For several days last week, I experienced a motivation vacuum. My overdeveloped self-discipline and the satisfaction I derive from creating a sense of progress are usually enough to propel me through most weeks. An entrepreneur by nature, I feel primarily responsible for my dissatisfaction. Having no higher authority to hold accountable (i.e. or blame) tends to compound my frustration. I get tired of reaching for my bootstraps. Many colleagues lately, often with enviable positions, are more frequently considering other opportunities in hopes of securing more income, different responsibilities, or a better work environment. Greater happiness is the next job over. Clients who have jumped to and become invested in solutions before really acknowledging or closely considering the problem they're addressing is a common and stubborn challenge. "But we know what to do!" I've worked long enough to have identified some of the antidotes to my emotional and intellectual gullies. Staying connected with others is imperative, as is temporarily downshifting to easier, more basic tasks rather than trying to manufacture the gumption to undertake the more significant ones. Take smaller steps and reassert context, and allow the wave of emotion to be and pass rather than try to deny it. Shift locations to alter the energy and perspective. The deepest ravines tend to occur when I'm the most isolated, and last the longest when I am reluctant to pause—which alone can be more difficult than it seems it should be—to consider the source. The "real answers" may not be the most immediate, obvious, or previously known, but they do often at least start, if not also end, with us/me.
