Shift Happens!

View from an airplane window at the wings and flying over a scenic landscape of green hills and rivers

I am working with several clients who are in a parallel process—they are managing things the way they are while they are creating things the way they might be. Career transition, empty nesting, strategic planning, and business development are examples of this idea. It is a challenging place to be.

Think about it…

Here you are. You have a role, a program, a plan, a process… you are what you are today. And you take on a program to re-imagine, to re-invent yourself. You have to continue being what you are as you gradually shift to what you are trying to become. There is a transfer from now to next. There is planning, challenge, and adjustment. Lightening fast or dead crawl slow… shift happens.

What does recruiting a new volunteer board looks like while managing the board you currently have? What does planning for your organization’s bright future look like when you are mired in a dull now? What does securing your dream job look like while working the job you have? What does investing your savings look like while you are also paying down debt? What do you know is needed in order to be in both places at the same time?

One of the fun coaching tools we use is a “Wheel of Life” diagram. Talk about how something so simple can be so revealing! Try it! It goes something like this… If you rate your current topic (work, relationship, your board, money, etc.) a “3”—it’s where you are today—and your goal is to be a “10” what needs to happen in the space between 3 and 10? What’s there for you? What do you notice? That’s the parallel process… the “building from” place… how to be a 3 and a 4 and a 6 and a 9 while aiming for the 10. Get it?

Being in the 3 is familiar, safe, historical, habit, and expected. Moving from 3 toward 10 requires some bold energy, imagination, risk, trial and error, collaboration, and apologies. You have to be willing to take some bold steps out of the safe and familiar and into the risky unknown. It’s kind of daring.

Today, imagine the shift that wants to happen for you.