How To Experience More Impact and Fulfillment

“We learn that we can have a full life and a rich internal life by slowing down from within.”

I’m writing to you from Melbourne, Australia this week. I’m in the midst of three events with Fiona Lukeis. It’s been full and fun. I have loved getting to partner with Fiona, to meet her beautiful family and have loved being with all the wonderful participants of the different programs. 

There is a thread that runs through each of these events. Whether you are a business owner or leader attending the Beyond Limits in Business event, a participant of the Inspire Retreat or a coach/practitioner attending the Deepen Your Impact training; we all benefit greatly when we take a moment to step out of our lives and tune into a different pace and slow down.

When we are working, raising our families, taking care of our homes, etc., we can get pretty busy in our lives and in our minds. We can get into our routines and if you’re like me, get into “doer” mode.

Our minds get full of schedules, meetings, plans and pretty soon, we are running full steam ahead. Our internal state is revved up, sped up and busy. We can start to feel bogged down or overwhelmed by all the things we have on our plate.

Often people assume this is what is required to stay on top of things, to be successful and to be accomplished in their work or lives. At the close of the retreat this weekend, one of the participants was laughing because she is in the midst of a move and has a number of deadlines at work. Two weeks ago, she told her sister, “I can’t go to the weekend. I don’t have time to sit in a room for three days and feel good!”. I laughed out loud when she shared this. I can totally relate. In fact, I think I might have said those exact same words at some point.

But what she went on to share was how grateful she was that she did it anyway. This is not uncommon. I see it for myself and with many of my workshop participants and clients. Time away, slowing down, can seem like the last thing you should do, but is often the most powerful.

A busy mind, a full mind, was my norm. I didn’t really see this as a problem until I started to experience how a freer, less gripped or busy mind allowed me to get more impacted by life. Reflecting on it now, I didn’t realize that my busy sped up mind was creating a layer of thought between me and life; between me and more connection and inspiration.

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs or watched any of my videos you have heard me share how in a freer mind, we have access to more creativity and resilience. We access new potential and fresh perspective.

What is also true is that in a slower, more spacious mind, we naturally fall into the present moment. We are more available to life and to others.

As I started to respect all my thinking less and respect a quieter mind more, I was pleasantly surprised to discover I was getting touched by life in new ways. For instance, I would have given myself a good grade on relationships. I was friendly, open and cared about others. But I had no idea how much more connection and impact were possible.

My busy mind was diluting impact. I was going fast, inside and out and as a result it was difficult to tap into and experience the richer feelings that are available to us.

From this richer, more connected space we move through life with more ease and grace. We are more efficient and better listeners. We get to the heart of the matter and have more perspective. We connect more powerfully to others and as a result we are more impacted.

As clients experience this for themselves they will often tell me how feeling connected, hopeful and more inspired has changed their lives. It has changed the way they see themselves and the people around them.

Allowing themselves to be impacted by life and others, has even taken their business and results to new levels of fulfillment. They feel more aligned and connected to their authentic nature and as a result experience more moments of flow and synchronicity. And even more surprising to them, their work improves, and their businesses grow.

Slowing down internally allows more space. That space is generative. It’s creative. And opposite to what we have believed, it is also a short cut to progress.

We learn that we can have a full life and a rich internal life by slowing down from within.

Is your plate full? Is your mind busy? Do you have a lot to accomplish? Have you been burning the candle at both ends? Are you feeling exhausted or burnt out?

The answer is not trying harder, pushing harder or getting your act together. The simple, yet transformative answer is to slow down. Take a pause, let your mind get quiet. Fall into the richer space within and experience more connection, impact, insight and fulfillment. Let that be the source of your work and life.