Renewal, Fresh Eyes, and Next Steps

I went to a 3-day coaching seminar last week (thanks, Andrea!) and before the plane even landed in San Francisco I knew this was a really good use of my time. Just sitting with my thoughts for the half-day it took to get from here to there - and jotting down some of the zillion ideas that 'popped' from that - proved to be an incredibly worthwhile exercise. That the seminar had some good things to offer, as well, was icing on the cake. That I got to meet a number of wonderfully interesting people there was even more icing. That several of them were "names" I knew only via cyberspace beforehand, was even more icing! Hmmm, with all that icing, it's no wonder I found myself making sure I visited the hotel's workout facility to shed a few extra calories.

Renewal is such an important aspect of ongoing success ... and personal hardiness. But while renewal is often thought to flow from Balance - as in, take a vacation so that you can re-charge your batteries, and/or stop doing certain things that drain your energy and attention, and/or make a point of doing some new things to stretch your comfort zone, etc. - the kind of renewal I'm referring to here is a result of getting more DEEPLY involved with your work, and doing it in a purposefully different way. When we do that, we tend to be able to see new things, and old things in new ways. It's both exhilarating and downright fun. And it's incredibly motivating, as well.

So when's the last time YOU got out of your office, put on some Fresh Eyes, and took a look at what's going on around you? More importantly, when's the NEXT time scheduled for?