So yesterday I took some of my own advice. I invested some time in myself.
In my work with owners and managers in companies and in my personal coaching, I regularly ask the following question . . . . . .
When was the last time you invested time in yourself?
I took a few hours out of my working day to attend a series of webinars as part of the EMCC Ireland Annual Conference. The event had a fine lineup of speakers on a variety of subjects including Courageous Wellbeing Conversations, Self Care for Business, Leading with Executive Presence, The Future Workforce and What It Takes To Be An Awesome Coach. The last webinar was by Michael Neill, one of the most impressive coaches I have come across in recent years. Don’t be put off by the title – its deliberately “tongue in cheek”.
As with most events like this, I feel the key is to capture a few quality ideas and most importantly, put them into action. If they just remain as notes on your notepad, then you will have had a nice time but nothing really will have changed.
When we invest in ourselves like this, we get excited and motivated in the moment. There may be tons and tons of great ideas. It’s important to remember that we don’t have to implement all of them at once! It’s better to pick a couple of the best ones and implement them. Let them bed in. Let them become great daily habits. Then go back and work on the next couple. That way, we don’t become overwhelmed or spread ourselves too thin by taking on too much at one time.
Yesterdays conference was quality time well spent. The following phrase from a mid morning presentation really resonated with me . . . . . . .
To speed up, sometimes we need to slow down
Giving ourselves the time and investment of working ON our business or ON ourselves verses working IN the business or IN our daily routine could be the very action that opens us up to greater possibilities and progress.