by Caroline Leach | Jul 30, 2021 | Careers, Leadership
How can you solve a difficult problem?
Counterintuitively, almost by deliberately not thinking about it.
First, you can go for a walk. Get out doors, pick up your stride, and enjoy being in nature. (That’s what I did today, and I took a picture of Crystal Crag in Mammoth Lakes.) A little forest bathing and forest therapy are good things.
Second, you can go to sleep, whether it’s for a nap or simply time to turn in for the evening. It can help to give yourself an assignment to come up with solutions to the problem you’re facing. Then switch your focus to something else, perhaps some reading before bed.
In both cases, you might be surprised that ideas to solve your problem seem to magically crop up from seemingly nowhere.
If you’ve tried to solve a problem by walking or sleeping, and not actively thinking about it, what happened?
by Caroline Leach | Mar 31, 2021 | Leadership, Work/Life
What do you really, really want?
Not what you think others want you to want. Not what you believe is socially acceptable to want. Not what you think you’re capable of achieving.
No, what do you really want?
This is one of the most important questions any of us can contemplate. It’s a question that’s often at the heart of a coaching journey.
You don’t have to know how to get what you want. Once you know what you want, you’ll figure out the how. Step by step and day by day.
You’ll become more attuned to opportunities that could help you move forward. You’ll become more discerning about what to decline, because it doesn’t serve your larger vision.
Now that we’re one quarter of the way through 2021, it’s a good time to pause and reflect. How is your year going so far? Is it what you intended? And what do you really want?
by Caroline Leach | Jan 31, 2021 | Leadership, Work/Life
Life can be endlessly complex, no? More technology, more commitments, and more goals and dreams. Layered over that is a global pandemic, climate change, social justice, and political polarization. It can make life feel especially heavy.
When overwhelm rears its head, as it often does, one question can help. It isn’t to imply that the challenges any of us faces are easy, or simple, or straightforward. But in any given moment, asking “what would made it simple?” can help you identify new ways to take action.
This blog is an example. I’ve posted to it each month for the last six years. There’s a phenomenon about “not breaking the chain.” Once you do something repeatedly, you accrue “check marks,” day after day, or month after month. As you rack up more check marks, it provides its own momentum to keep going. This is not my original idea, but it resonates with me.
So here it is, the last day of January. If I do not post to my blog by midnight, I will break the chain of 72 months of posting. Usually my posts are 500 or more words in length. But I don’t have 500 words to share right now. Life is busy and complex. So how can I make it easy? By sharing this question with you.
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