Give yourself a break

Welcome to another twisty, fun-filled Friday newsletter.

'Break,' meaning:

1. An opportunity – as in never give a sucker an even break

2. A rest – as in tea break.

Cycles are integral to life and sometimes we struggle to understand them.

In winter it’s difficult to imagine a let up in the cold, dark days and to see them pass into spring then summer.

When you start a new business, it is a slog and can be hard to bear, especially on your own, yet there comes a time when that will change. A tipping point – hopefully towards the cycle of growth.

In that job you feel trapped in, it can feel delusional to acknowledge that you are in a stage that will pass, but you are.

Which leads me to the break cycle.

A huge part of the work I do with the remarkable people I work with helping them build amazing careers and business is…

(Forgive the obvious plug)

… helping them see the opportunities that are right in front of them.

It’s called the ‘invisible obvious.’

Things that are invisible to them, and obvious to other people, in this case me.

To tease them into seeing this ‘break’ just in front of them, I ask what they would do in my shoes were they working with a client suffering from amnesia.

The example I give is of a famous person, like Tom Cruise.

What guidance would you give Tom Cruise (temporarily suffering from amnesia) about the opportunities he could pursue?

I suppose if you hated Top Gun, you might encourage him to try his luck getting a job down at the fish factory, but otherwise, you would probably encourage him to try acting.

In a coaching session, when my client sees this new opportunity, there is a huge change.

In a moment, they have the insight about this big break. They can see it happening for them, they can see what they can achieve and they know what to do.

They don’t necessarily know everything they need to do, but they definitely know enough to get going.

This is when dreams pop out, plans begin to flow and possibility and potential merge and things start to happen.

It is the perfect moment to take that enthusiasm in harness. To turn those dreams into goals and those into road-maps and to set milestones and use metaphors to describe everything…

That has to be expressed.

And yet, we are nearly at the point where the other break cycle comes in.

Breaks as in tea breaks.

Breaks are to enthusiasm as chargers are to batteries.

Or sharpening stones to knives.

But in the midst of all the excitement at catching the break, they are among the last things to occur to my client.

I get it.

Suddenly you can see a path to your life’s next dream, the last thing you want to do is sit down with the crossword.

But.

You will go further and for longer and do more and take more people with you, if you do.

When your big opportunity comes along, dream it do and give yourself a break.