Have you ever noticed that most kids never stop growing? It doesn’t matter how hard their life is, they just keep growing–getting taller, gaining new cognitive capacities, developing new urgings at the behest of their hormones. It doesn’t matter, they just keep growing. (With all compassion toward parents with children who have developmental obstacles.)
Many of us have acquired the illusion that we’ve stopped growing. It’s true, we don’t need to get bigger clothes or shoes (as long as our weight is stable, of course), but other parts of us keep growing, no matter what.
But because we have this impression we aren’t growing (and somewhere, deep down, perhaps we are unconsciously insisting that we’ll never grow!), we keep old structures and behaviors in our lives even though they simply no longer fit.
Parts of our spirit are getting as achy as our feet did when we were young and our outgrown shoes started to hurt. Generally, we can’t endure the pain in our feet; however, many of us endure the pain in our souls for quite some time, thinking, well, this is just the way it is.
This point has come to me and my business big time over the last few months. I want to get you up to date on some big changes that are taking place, and invite all of you to 1) celebrate with me, 2) think about where in your life you’re living with “shoes that don’t fit anymore,” and 3) consider joining me in some upcoming opportunities.
When it comes to business development, I am instinctively conservative. I take on new infrastructure and specialties only when it becomes entirely clear that I can’t live with the status quo anymore. I am definitely NOT an early adopter. 😉 The upside to this is that I am not constantly investing money and energy into momentary enthusiasms that don’t have depth. The downside is that sometimes, well, I live with shoes that don’t fit for a while before the ache gets strong enough to make me change direction.
And then, the things that “don’t fit” anymore start to pile up. Are you like me–you have to wait until a bunch of things don’t fit before you admit to yourself, well, it’s time? And then, all at once, there you are, with change happening all around, because it was change or really, really injure your feet.
What were some of the old shoes I was living with?Â
- Working with clients out of my home office. It was so EASY, so nice to see people at my home, and everyone loves the space, the light, the gracious energy, the easy parking. But it was kind of like a great old pair of flip flops that you hadn’t noticed your heel was now an inch outside of.
- My online scheduler–it was an improvement on my first one, but it didn’t make “padding” between appointments possible, and with the increase in clients, I was working back to back for very long days.
- My first, hard won old website. I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to get up that website, but it’s been out of date for easily two or more years.
What are your old shoes? What are you living with, for whatever reason–fear, money worries, the love of familiarity, the bother of changing, or even not really noticing what almost everyone else has already noticed?
I can tell you what I’ve noticed, now that I am a ways through grappling with these limitations: at first I resisted change, feared it, but now there is enormous relief at embracing the inevitability of change and growth, and instead of being pushed around by it, taking the reins and being in some charge of it, being creatively part of it, imagining the ways trying something new might bring great unexpected graces into my life.
So, I’ve made the changes. And there are two I want to make a very big deal out of with all of you:
Welcome to my new, hard-won website. I believe it is a deep expression of me as a person, and of the business I hope I practice in the world. I want it to be a model for all of my clients who are alternative practitioners and coaches–not so much the design and format, but the quality of the marketing, the invitation that I want to offer in a way that is both loving and compelling.
I invite you to visit, share it with your friends, watch my very cool new welcome video, enjoy the resources (especially the awesome new photo gallery), and give me feedback.
Some of you may notice that there is a new gift for alternative practitioners and coaches who sign up for my newsletter. For those of you who are already subscribed, please reach out to me personally, and I will send that to you.
2) Â A HOPEFUL BUSINESS INTENSIVE FOR ALTERNATIVE PRACTITIONERS AND COACHES WHO ARE A BIT (OR A LOT) STUCK – June 6th
When we live with behaviors we’ve outgrown but we’re still tolerating, we don’t just limit ourselves, we limit the people around us. Â
So, I regularly ask myself–how are my too-tight shoes not only affecting me, but affecting my clients? How do my old ways of doing things not meeting their need to grow and heal? For instance, I’ve been talking with quite a few people who’ve been reading about my business growth programs with great interest, but for a bunch of good reasons they just aren’t ready. I realized I needed to make something available to all of them, too.
To find out more about this upcoming workshop, read below and check it out here.
I’d love to hear from you! Please post your comments and questions on my blog here.
Leslie, I love what you say about old shoes and needing to update. You are modelling that so well for all of us, with your office move, online scheduler and now this gorgeous new website. I know I can so easily ignore that small ache that indicates it’s time for a change. Your post helps me to stay alert to it. Thank you.
Thanks so much Juliet!