What happens now? Your next, most elegant step

I get it: a million and one things are vying for your attention right now. There's the regular life stuff: work, family, relationships, bills, groceries (are eggs just eventually going to go completely away because of the bird flu???), etc. Then there's LIFE stuff: book bans, mandated silence from WHO, NIH, NSF, ICE raids, trans erasure in politics and policies, abortion bans, state-sanctioned police violence against Black communities…etc.?

It's incredibly difficult to know where to turn your attention and what your next steps should be. I find myself stuck in that mental state quite often.?

The one thing I try to remember when I'm mentally stuck and/or overwhelmed is something I learned from reading Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. It's a question that quickly helps me identify three things: (1) where I'm currently at; (2) where I want to go or be; and (3) how to close the gap between 1 and 2. The question is: what is the next, most elegant step?

The next, most elegant step is the one action that you can take that honors your capacity (or, lack thereof when appropriate) and acknowledges what you don't know.?

For example, maybe you're currently working a 9-5 in marketing but you want to pivot from your current industry to practice law. The overwhelming “next step” is applying to law school, right? The next, most elegant step honors your capacity by breaking down “applying to law school” into smaller steps so you don't overwhelm yourself and burn out. To add a layer of complexity, it's completely realistic to say that there are probably some things you don't know about being in law school. When you pair these things together, you get your next, most elegant step. It could like something like:

• purchasing an LSAT study book OR
• making an appointment with a law school admissions counselor OR
• scheduling an informational interview with someone in your network who practices law OR
• requesting information from a few law programs you think might be a good fit OR
• narrowing it down to the specific type of law you are interested in practicing

You wouldn't do ALL of these things as your next step, you'd pick the one that honors your capacity the most. There is an unspoken assumption here that you've already done step zero which is understanding where your capacity is at. Without a a healthy sense of self-awareness, it's super easy to overestimate how much capacity you have to direct toward that next step (I'm guilty of this ALL the time - I blame my Capricorn stellium) and then overdo it which usually leads to feeling like a failure.

I get that it's hard to find the time to turn inward and maintain that healthy sense of self-awareness. I also get that right now, many of us are wondering what our next steps might be.?

That's why I've decided to create some space for us to hold ourselves gently and lovingly ask the hard questions. How much capacity do I actually have to be active about the issues that matter the most to me? Do I feel financially ready for an economic crisis? What skills would be useful to learn so that I can better care for myself, my family, and my community in the coming years??

These are not hard questions with hard answers, they just take time and a willingness to be honest. Honesty requires psychological safety and that's what I'm offering with the Kitchen Table Talk sessions.?

The first Kitchen Table Talk is happening on February 6 from 8-9pm ET and we’ll focus on number one from the example list above (identifying what issue areas we want to get organized in (immigration vs. reproductive justice, etc). The session will be recorded so if you want the info but may not have the time on Feb 6 you can still get what you need. I do recommend joining live, however!?

I look forward to seeing you on February 6 at the kitchen table.

If the price is a barrier for you to participate, please message me! I don't want you to miss out on something that you know is a good fit for you because of money.?