Sharing Experiences: March Newsletter on "Time"

Personal Reflection: Flow vs. Force

Time... is both a timely and sore subject for me this past month.

My kindergartner (who attends a wonderful public elementary school) had school a grand total of six days in February—due to four snow days, two days of power outages after a windstorm, three days off for conferences, and a full week of mid-winter break. It’s essentially been a whole second Christmas break—plus some.

You’d think after being a parent for six years, I’d be used to the constant flex required. Alas, last month took me to a new edge, and I’ve discovered that for me, it’s not about time as much as it’s about control.

I want to have it. To be able to control the existence of time and space—to think, to work, and to move freely for a few hours a day.

If I’m being honest, that ruthless hunt for control via time makes me a brittle and angry version of myself. I continue to be reminded that my perceived control is only ever an illusion. Even the most solid things shift. Confirmed plans can be forced to change.

All I can actually "control" is my response to the moment in front of me. I’m all too aware that my perspective on this moment can cause me great suffering (when my attempt to control the current situation is at odds with reality), or I can surrender to what is.

This month, I have had the whole range of experiences… days of constant struggle, resistance, and work results (and children’s behavior) that seemed to mirror my inner state of frustration… and then days of unexpected bliss, as I leaned into playing outside in the snow with my kids, building a Lego giraffe, and hopping on a podcast (thank you, Jim Sabellico !) in the hour of coverage I had. And somehow, on those days, I accomplished more in a few minutes of work than in hours on a day when I was forcing things and roiling with inner chaos.

I know this... and yet a huge part of me needs to be constantly reminded—the only “time” we ever have is NOW. There’s no past or future per se, except for the impressions we carry in our minds. We exist only in a string of now moments.

When I am truly present in the moment, I access flow more easily. In flow, there’s never a decision to be made on how to spend that moment—the aligned action arises. We merge with the moment, and minimal “thinking” is required. We drop into BEING… and the most powerful results come from that state - even though in that state we’re not results-oriented. We aren’t “oriented” in any direction at all. Instead, we are like the power-filled stillness at the center of the compass.

I know March will bring more actual school days. My sincerest wish is that, whatever disruptions arise, I can leverage my lessons from February. I’d like to meet the moment with less agenda, less assertion of control, and more trust and presence with whatever IS.

Allowing life to unfold—whatever chaotic adventure today brings—may I learn to better flow along for the ride.

Shared Experiences:

Time Sovereignty vs. Time Management

The concept of Time Sovereignty was introduced to me by Mike Gardon. He is a new Skinny Author, a dear friend, and the person who introduced me to Raman Chadha (my co-founder & business partner in The Junto Institute) back in 2012.

In his upcoming book, Just Leave Me Alone So I Can Work: A Corporate Misfit’s Guide to Time Sovereignty, Mike explains that Time Sovereignty is rooted in the perspective shift that you own your time. From that place of ownership, you choose to align your schedule with your needs and natural disposition to optimally create. Time Management, on the other hand, consists of productivity hacks employed when we perceive that we are renting our time to others.

Rooted in Mike’s experience as a “corporate misfit”—working for a Fortune 300 insurance company in his mid-30s—the concepts in his book stem from how he built his path out of the golden handcuffs of corporate work and into a self-directed, financially sustainable life in which he now thrives.

One of my favorite concepts that Mike shares to help us move toward Time Sovereignty is not simply the art of saying “No,” but turning “No” into a win-win. He reflects, “Good bosses don't actually want order takers. They want people who can solve problems on their own, manage themselves, and make the best use of resources.”

Mike demonstrates how he began presenting “No” as a business case. When invited to a large and pointless meeting, he reframed it as a choice for his boss, presenting the opportunity and business case for what he planned to do with the time not spent at the meeting versus the value of his presence at it. Mike recalls, “It made it easy, and it didn’t even seem like my idea.”

As Mike shares, “Time Sovereignty is a mentality that not only helps you reclaim hours of your time, but also gives you agency to direct that time and energy toward your highest purpose—because you have space to observe, orient, decide, and act on the bigger questions.”

Stay tuned with The Skinny Platform for updates on the release of Mike’s book to hear his full story and other simple yet mind-blowing shifts that build toward a Time Sovereign life.

The Permission to Change with Time

I love, love, love that Bill Kruse acknowledges we are not the same person every day, every year—as human beings and as business leaders. I think a lot of us feel the pressure to show up the same… filling the same emotional and practical roles for our business partners, team members, and customers.

That’s reflective of the Western world’s obsession with “perpetual summer”—perpetual maximum productivity, maximum growth, maximum expansion. And yet, the evidence is everywhere in nature that the most sustainable and effective cycle for creation includes seasons of deep change and death (winter), the tender emergence of the new (spring), expansion and productivity (summer), discernment and paring back (fall), and then back to change and death again—which, in its compost, produces the seeds for the next cycle.

Let’s be honest, this is happening to all things, no matter how prolonged the cycle is or how much we might resist it. That includes you and me. And that is the point and purpose of Bill’s book—full of the wisdom he has gained after a lifetime of guiding clients and leading his team at HKA CPAs & Advisors.

Bill urges business leaders to plan for change rather than wait until they are overcome by it. This begins with an internal awareness of the change coming within ourselves and our capacity—and ultimately, giving ourselves permission to evolve and not remain the same.

There’s an endless number of events that could demand a shift in the status quo. A few common ones that Bill has helped others prepare for include:

• Selling the business
• Succession planning
• Taking on new risk/assets
• Maternity/paternity leave
• Elderly parents needing more care
• Health issues (our own or a close family member’s)
• Burnout and needing a sabbatical

He makes the analogy that homeowners shouldn’t wait until they want to sell their house to update the bathroom or fix that weird plank in the fence—they should do those things now to enjoy their homes in their optimal states.

Similarly, he urges business owners to run their businesses “change-ready”—as if they were positioning to sell, even if they’re not. That means maintaining the same level of diligence in company value, financial management, order, and upkeep—as if someone else were coming in to inspect it.

The most valuable thing to me in Bill’s story and wisdom is the acknowledgment that I am not the same business leader over time. Through personal reflection, I see the poignant truth of that, as in recent years, what I can offer and how I show up has significantly shifted.

At The Junto Institute, I fulfilled an operational and detail-oriented role and had the capacity to do so. Now, with The Skinny Platform, I offer more “art” than “science”, living in a new world of story-mapping and deep conversations with entrepreneurs—exploring who they are at their core and how they got there.

I laugh at the operational standards I used to hold myself to—because my life as a parent to young kiddos has changed me and leaves me with less room to indulge in my patterns of perfectionism. And I give thanks that I’ve got Ben Heuertz in my life, who can hold our business’s many operational threads to a high standard.

It’s good to change. And it can be painful to see how we just can’t operate the way we did before. That usually requires the shedding of some old inner stories. Either way, change is coming—for us as people and for our businesses.

We might as well build and operate in a way that anticipates change, with a nimble and flexible mindset and structure, and let go of the illusion that the world needs us to be one way forever. Because it will move on—and so should we.

Reading Corner: Books I’d Recommend

• Beyond the Founder Rainmaker by Scott Peterson just launched last week—and became an Amazon Bestseller within 48 hours. This book is ideal for the founder and sole sales leader who is ready to build a model that scales their “secret sauce” into a team, process, and system. Scott’s framework around the “Blue Chip Client” is simple and mind-blowing—a huge time-saver and money-maker. Nothing like focus and alignment to create momentum and revenue-producing activity.
• Loving What Is by Bryon Katie. When I was in the throes of my February, struggling to adapt to my many levels of schedule disruption, I found some solid ground listening to this book. Katie’s brilliant four-question framework helped unravel my inner stories and get me clear on how I was creating my own misery. (And the work ever continues ??) Highly recommend if there’s any part of your reality you’re resisting!

Reflection Questions:

1. How are you a different version of a business leader now than you were in the past? Can you sense the need for change coming—in your time, capacity, or how you show up and the roles you perform? If so, what can you do to begin embracing the inevitability of that change?
2. How “Time Sovereign” do you feel? How could you align your days and weeks to better suit your natural flow and creative needs?
3. Where are you resisting reality as it is? Can you identify stories or thought patterns that are causing you suffering?

My Closing Appreciations

A heartwarming welcome to Bailey Baack and Bella Jackson, who joined The Skinny Platform team this winter! I am so thrilled to have you both as part of our team.

You are already bringing fresh insights to our process, asking deep questions about how and why we do things, and showing up with such intentionality and excitement for our Authors.

Wahoo all around! ??