Being a Clearing for Others
Today I spent roughly 7.35 hours on calls and meetings.
Yep. That’s about the length of the average workday (and most people are only effective for about three hours…).
I was committed to being on a 30-minute coaching call and three-hour training session, as well as a call with a mentor, so I was adequately prepared for these commitments.
What I wasn’t expecting was what happened in the margins – mainly conversations with classmates and friends.
Were there calls I didn’t have to pick up? Yes.
But I’m standing from a space of new possibilities, for the people around me, as well as the impact and contribution I’m making in the world.
I used to avoid texts, emails, and calls like the plague – streamlining communication to the extent that life would allow. Forcing it into the borders of life so I could focus on… productivity, apparently.
The insanity of trying to do things that way has really sunk in for me in the last couple of days. I realized I’d taken things about as far as I could at the level of leadership I was operating at (and that’s a subject worthy of further discourse).
Today, I chose to be a clearing for people. Listening to their challenges. Relating to them. Offering coaching if it was appropriate or applicable. Putting people first because I care, and because they’re worth it. Their experiences aren’t insignificant, especially to them.
In a way, I’m coming to see that not interacting with people is more exhausting. Forcing myself to sit at a desk and write, design, and create for hours is more exhausting than not. Some people are made for that, and I look up to them. I can do it, but I don’t know how much life it injects into my day.
I do feel tired. But it’s 11:01 PM and I’m about to wind down for the day. What I can tell you is that I don’t feel like I usually do after a full day of writing, designing, and creating. That is a different kind of tired.
Although the leadership program I’m in is the furthest thing from comfortable, I’m amazed by how much I’m already discovering for myself – in terms of prioritization, time, numbers, and more.
I can’t imagine 7.35 hours on the phone or in Zoom will be a daily occurrence, but I do need to make sure I’ve got enough time to do my work as well… 😅
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