Tag: holiday

Leading the way towards a different Christmas

I am not looking forward to Christmas this year. This will be a Christmas without my son, who is stranded in another country, without a sense of gathering, without the madness of shopping in this busy time and preparing for some big celebration… Indeed… I can recall that this is the time of year where it is often easy to get caught up in family obligations, in the demands of hosting, or to feel lonely because everyone else is reunited and I have no family around.

We may have a very different Christmas, but it may not be that bad! We won’t have to lose track of our own needs as we devote our attention to the people, pets, and places we love. We may be able to take care of ourselves, to seek the light within. We may stand a chance to avoid feeling drained and out of touch with our energy level. We may just be lucky enough to find our way back to resourcing ourselves by ourselves, without the help of external drivers and the outside glamour to feel enriched and fulfilled.

This holiday season may just be what you need! You have a chance to integrate self-care to your schedule, to spend a full hour to let your mind wander, be it on your own or not. Even with close family around and the need to attend to the daily routine, give yourself the hour to go inside and let yourself dream of one thing or another, and restore your energy level thinking of what and whom you love.  This year has been about learning to take care of yourself, and it is time as the year comes to a close to celebrate yourself for it!

Time for boredom!

For leaders and most of us it can be challenging to find time for ourselves, separate from the outside world, to feed our inner world. I decided this year to take real time off over the holiday season. I realized that taking a break was, of course, necessary to attend to built-up stress and indulge in nurturing activities. It allowed me to push back on responsibility, play, walk, and (re)discover the joy of being lazy and the gift of boredom.

Have you noticed how we human beings thrive on novelty, and how quickly we get past novelty to find our new source of pleasure transforms into a tedious activity after a while. We get easily bored in search of new experiences. At core, life may just be about experiencing, and boredom the necessary “evil” to motivate us and drive ourselves to explore new experiments, new ideas, and summon creative energy. This may actually be THE pathway to self-awareness and inner work.

Among the key trends for today’s leadership, greater self-awareness has been identified as a must for leaders, and necessary for most of us in challenging times. Boredom may actually be your best friend! It all depends on how you CHOOSE to respond to it; whether you reach out for external drivers–possibly vices to fill the emptiness–or whether you reach within to generate your own way out. In fact, a bored mind may become the canvas against which innovation is born. It takes leadership to find your way out of boredom, but it also requires inspiration and creativity. May you all get inspired in 2019!