There is an investment in your life, whether it is the work you do, building relationships with family, friends and colleagues or life projects.  There is the time, energy and focus.  And then there is a depth to your investment that takes time to drop into and therefore takes time to step out of.

Exploring Narnia

It is like walking through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia.  You can hang around the lamp close to the doorway and barely experience anything of the magical world beyond.  If you do, it takes moments to transition between the two worlds.  Or, you can explore all that Narnia has to offer, travel great distances, meet many people, have adventures and experiences.  If you immerse yourself in that World, it will take time to explore the depth and breadth.  And it will take time to find your way back to the entrance to the wardrobe.

Slowing down for Fulfilment and Meaning

How much time do you give yourself between tasks in your day?  As you move between team meetings, e-mails, client meetings, creative brainstorming sessions, writing reports and so on, how much do you immerse yourself in each task?  Do you give yourself permission to slow down and get into the details?  And do you give yourself the space to re-emerge before moving on?  Because there is great benefit to deeply engaging with these daily tasks.  You bring more of yourself to them and so work becomes more fulfilling and meaningful.

Of course, this does not just apply to work.  Cooking meals, the school run, play time, relaxation, those important conversations that build trust and intimacy.  They also require investment if you want that sense of connection and purpose in life beyond work.

In our busy lives, it is all too easy to give as little as possible to these moments.  We rush about, ticking off the to-do list.  As if getting to the end of it is the most important thing in the world.  Often feeling overwhelmed, worn out and stressed as a result.  But, with the rushing, we miss the magic.

Investment of Time, Energy and Focus

If we slow down and make the time, energy and focus investment to these tasks, we often do them better, we put more heart into them, we give more, which feels magical.  Often, it leads to better results, but that is not the point.  The point is that sense of fulfilment, meaning and purpose.  If you do that, it takes time to do it well.  The mind focuses and though you give energy to it, it is a regenerative energy, that fuels your love of life, relationship, work and self.

It takes time and consistent concentration to get into deep focus.  That is why removing distractions is so important.  It gives your brain a chance to focus deeply so that you can do the fine detail work, big picture thinking or creative brainstorming you set out to do.

You descend into deeper layers of concentration, where ambient sound may disappear, you lose all sense of time and you access levels of insight or hold complex networks of information you don’t normally achieve.  You become aware in a way that you are not normally aware, such as emotional attunement, sensitivity to the body and awareness of the environment.

Seven-step Process to Sovereign Leadership

We walk through the wardrobe into the magical world of Narnia by slowing down.  When the rushing stops, we suddenly realise we have so much more time available to us.  The depth of focus this affords us means we are more efficient at the tasks we do.  So, before you rush into your next task:

1. take a few moments to breath
2. relax the core muscles such as the forehead, jaw, chest and abdomen
3. align the body posture so the spine is upright and body relaxed
4. let your weight drop into the seat or floor
5. allow the ground to push you up so that you feel relaxed and tall
6. feel connected to the ground/ Earth and the ceiling/ Sky
7. I refer to this as your Sovereign Leadership. It may help to imagine wearing a crown and robe and to walk around the room with them, so you have a dignified air.

Sovereign Leadership in Action

Any task I do, I practice this 7-step technique first, so that I can be purposeful about who I am being when I do the task.  When I am coaching, I take 5-10 minutes before each session to get into my Sovereign Leadership.  I focus on being alongside my client, being clear about their potential and brilliance, the things I appreciate about them and what might truly be possible for them.  At the end of our session, I take 5 minutes to shake the previous session off so that I can more easily refocus on the next client or task.  I am not a machine.  My mind and body take time to immerse into a client, to attune or align, and it takes time to come out.  Just like Narnia, the magic lies in the immersion.  It gets great results.

After practicing this 7-step technique, I have a client who wrote to me, “After that session I felt powerful like a superhero.  I had clinical supervision and an important meeting.  My performance at both events was outstanding.  My thoughts were clear and smooth.  And I was coming up with gem after gem without even having to process and ponder on them before I spoke (quite the opposite of my normal practice).”

I use this for anything.  When I go food shopping, it keeps me mindful of the healthy food choices I want to make and the fun of cooking for myself, my partner, family and friends.  Before I walk, it connects me to the wonders and beauty of nature.  When I meet with friends, I am reminded of our mutual love, respect and appreciation.

The benefits have been profound for me.  They have been life-changing.  Before I discovered slowing down and Sovereign Leadership, life felt like an unfulfilling race, trying to reach the end of a never-ending to do list.  Now, when I remember that investment in time, energy and focus, even the must mundane tasks feel fulfilling, and I can find a way to give meaning to them and align them to my purpose as well.

Over to You

Do you rush through your day?  How do you feel about slowing down?  What messages are you telling yourself about living so fast?  How is that working for you?  How might you begin to slow down a little?  If you do slow down, what difference does it make?  What investment do you make in bringing fulfilment, meaning and purpose to your life?

If these tools of Sovereign Leadership are intriguing to you and you’d like to know more, I will be co-hosting a webinar on December 2^nd, 2021.  You’ll find further details at this link:

Pass it on

If you found this useful, please take a moment to think of someone else who might find it valuable as well and then send them the link.  Help them make that investment as you have.