Take a Moment to Slow Down,
Hello Hello! It’s August, my birthday month, and I can sense my energy going up. As you probably have noticed, I decided to take July off from writing the newsletter and focus on being with the family and traveling. We had one road trip to Chicago and we saw the Broadway show Hamilton that my kids are obsessed with, on Fourth of July we saw the fireworks in Boston and traveled to Maine and then my husband and I headed to a solo trip to Nova Scotia (which was on my bucket list for a while) to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
Here I am with my monthly short, hope it goes well with your coffee/tea break.
What I Was Thinking About?
Bucket list,
“You have to stop using the term bucket list,” my husband said when we discussed the Nova Scotia trip. I am not sure what is your perspective about the term bucket list, but my husband and I have two different ways of viewing this term. My husband believes that a bucket list is one of the most annoying terms someone can use. Even more, he thinks it is a way of making people feel restless and not fulfilled with their life; this is why he doesn’t have a bucket list or at least an announced one.
On the other hand, I don’t believe my life will be incomplete without a bucket list. I think that having a few wants that are beyond my present life and my career and personal goals, or some goals I have for my kids is a nice to have. “You know,” I told him “I can get what you say – it might be that some people are making a story about their life being meaningful or not by checking off (or not) items on their bucket list. It might be another way of our modern society to add pressure rather than satisfaction and appreciation on enjoying the what’s here what’s now. But I do like to see a few of my wants accomplished.”
For example, when my husband and I were on our honeymoon, we went on a safari trip to Africa. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I have had in my life. When we were there, I told my husband, one day when we will have a boy, and a girl and they reach teenage I want to take them on a Safari trip. I have to say that I forgot about it, but when my son and daughter turned 12 and 13 – Bar Mitzvah ages, we were able to take them with our younger son to South Africa as a gift to a special time in their life. Traveling to South Africa with the kids and knowing that it might be a once in a lifetime experience for them was one of the most fulfilling moments in my life.
I don’t carry my bucket list with me everywhere I go; it doesn’t nudge me nor disturbs me. I don’t let it be a heavy bucket nor burden. But when a moment arises, and I check an item off my list, it feels really good.
I am curious, what are your thoughts about having a bucket list do you have one? Or do you believe like my husband that having one is unnecessary peer pressure or trend? I would love to get your thoughts about it.
Recovery
One of the reasons I decided not to write a newsletter in July was that I needed to recover. Being my boss, I had to learn the hardest discipline of all, how to get things done when the goal is to work toward my business goals and not for the team’s goals. At times, it can drive you to work continuously while not always seeing any results. It took me a while to identify that I can work half the time and create so much more, and the cool thing is that I can run, spend time with people I love and BE.
I have to admit that the decision when I work and when I do not work became more and more of intuitive decision; I let my body decide for me when it is time to stop. But still, there are moments when I keep recognizing my blind spots. What I am not able to see. On our trip to Nova Scotia, I realized that this trip abled me to recover. We all have our stories, and my story is that one of my kids has to follow a strict diet that impacts my day to day life and especially when we travel. The prep and planning around our family travel this summer was sometimes exhausting. Still, we wanted to make sure our child can enjoy the travel experience.
In Nova Scotia I was able to put aside my parent hat for a week and be with my husband with no adults responsibilities. Many times when I work with clients who take care of others; their parents, siblings, children, pets or the community they can forget that beyond the responsibility of taking care of others there are also emotions, many emotions that clutter. Sometimes we are so busy in the doing of taking care of the others that we forget to take a moment to acknowledge what we feel. Being me with no responsibilities allowed me to sit or stand on cliffs, watch the beautiful nature and the ocean and acknowledge all the emotions I haven’t have had the time to pay attention to. I didn’t realize how much it was needed until I said it out loud to my husband. So I know many of you out there take care of someone else. Would you be willing to take 5 minutes, half an hour, a day or a week – whatever you can to let go of the responsibilities and the role of the care-taker and just BE?
What have I listened to lately?
If you have Amazon Prime I became a big fan of Amazon music. One of the best features they have is recommendations followed by the music you listen to. I found a few new albums and playlists that I enjoy listening to their suggestions.
The latest band I enjoy listening to that I have learned about is a Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit. Check them out.
My Most Watched Video Last Month on Social Media
My most-watched video in July was about the distinction between being messy, and I am messy. Click here to watch the video
For more inspirational shorts and on the run videos check my social media feeds: @NoaRCoach (LinkedIn/twitter/FB/Instagram)
Noa @Next Events - Come and Say Hi :-)
Monthly Women Walking Mastermind
2019 -2020 Monthly Women Walking Mastermind.
Stay tuned!!! my friend Kelly Caldwell and I are working on 2019-2020 plan.
We already decided (while walking and talking at Lake Bass trail) that we will have it on the 3rd Friday of each month so mark your calendars. Topics will be posted soon. Please contact me if you would like to get more information.
Did you know that sitting is worse than smoking? Years ago, I shifted many of my sitting meetings with walking meetings; it grew until it became this walking mastermind.
What did I learn from shifting my sitting meetings to walking meetings?
1. Walking is good for us; we sit too much in front of the screens (thank you Netflix.) This is your time to disconnect to connect with others
2. It is a guilt-free zone. You work and walk at the same time (no need to plan an exercise activity,) and now even network – isn’t that cool?
3. Walking in nature brings a new perspective on your work/life situations. You leave inspired energized to come back to what you do with new views and ideas.
What is the feedback we receive from attendees?
Structure
Kelly and I created a structure around networking that makes it easier to connect with other women and create meaningful conversations that create new partnerships and energy to go back to their business/life/career and keep moving forward with new connections in the local community and beyond.