Pausing to go faster

We’re not wired to stop, are we?

We’re wired to keep going. Get promoted. Make more money. Buy more things.

Pausing, whether intentionally or not, can feel like a sign of weakness. Like things are not ok. Like we’re giving up.

Having been forced to pause a few times, I’ve learned to enjoy those moments. To use them to reflect and course correct.

Don’t get my wrong, not all my pauses have been fruitful.

There was one time my manager sent me to see a coach for a full day, and I wasn’t ready for anything she had to share with me.

There was one time I quit a job on day 9 to start my own thing, only to realise I wasn’t that passionate about locksmithing (who would have thought, eh?)

But there was also the time last year where I left a job, took a couple of months off, and intentionally asked myself:

What do I really want to do next?

I could have gotten any other job. I was offered a few, including a Chief Innovation Officer which sounded shiny and exciting.

I could have taken summer off and travelled for a while. And if you know me, you know that’s the most tempting option out there.

Instead I pulled up a notebook and did some soul searching:

• What was important to me, in the long term and in the short term?

• What did I enjoy doing, both at work and outside of work?

• What did other people tell me I’m good at?

• What brought me joy?

I call this the Compass model. It looks like this. And you can get your hands on a copy here.

Sure, I ended up with some weird ideas.

Freelance remote researcher and cat sitter - I love traveling! and cats! and research!

Travel blogger - I post about 1 picture from each holiday I go on, that one got canned pretty quickly.

Cab/Uber driver, in Greece - the weather is nice there, right?

But I also ended up honing in on what I really like doing:

1. Helping people thrive and be themselves - that’s been my main focus as a leader, and I’ve left companies that didn’t value people above everything else (including that job that lasted 9 days). This realisation led me to train to be a coach, I’m now internationally accredited, and have never felt more in sync with my purpose.

2. Helping people start and scale businesses - I’ve been doing that for about 15 years in some shape or form. I mean, I helped a company design a system that predicted unborn horses’ likely performance in races based on their lineage in an afternoon. Trust me when I say, I can troubleshoot anything in under 30min.

3. Workshops - I’m partial to a good workshop, especially fun and fast ones. Oh and LEGO® Serious Play® based ones are my faves.
   

Many moons and experiments later, I have left the corporate world fully behind. I now run a private coaching practice to help senior leaders thrive in their careers and in their business. And a LEGO® based training and innovation company to help teams perform at their best, together. And I’m only just getting started.

And if I can leave you with one piece of advice?

Take that time out.

Do some deep introspection.

Get a coach.

It’s never too late to start something new.

Ready for your next move? You can grab time with me here.

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