Reach for the sky

A year ago, I returned from my visit to Singapore and India, having taken my knowledge-sharing group global, and it's led me to reflect on the impact the trip has had on me over the past year.

Spring has arrived and I'm noticing the new growth, the blossom and new leaves on the trees, and I'm finding my eyes drawn to the top of the trees, up to the sky.

Observing the trees, and how the tallest trees reach up to the sky, it reminds me of this time last year when I was in India, and somehow it felt as if I was on the roof of the world. A few years ago, I wrote a short story about climbing to the top of the mountain, and looking back a year later, I really do feel as if my trip to Singapore, and especially India, was reaching the top of the mountain for a moment; standing on the top and seeing the sky, and the world around me.

It took some time to return to earth afterwards; in fact, I felt it took my soul a month to catch up with my body after I had returned, and a few months later, a colleague likened my trip to a visit to the moon. Neil Armstrong*, the first man to walk on the moon, is reputed to have had said that after you have been to the moon, you need to find a new goal, because you may not necessarily go back, and you need to find life in the everyday, because what do you do after you've walked on the moon?

Surprisingly, the one thing I have never really found myself wanting to be, is an astronaut, so I am not referring to this literally, but in hindsight, when I remember how much effort, hard work and preparation I put into organising the trip, and myself, it almost may as well have been.

Somehow, India, especially, felt as if I was standing on the roof of the world, and I felt as if I could actually touch the sky, particularly on the day I visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. The day I found myself face-to-face with the kites, and for a moment I knew that everything was right with the world, and I knew what I was here to do. I felt so inspired, and so grateful. I imagine this must be how astronauts feel when they look down at the Earth from their viewpoint in space. It's a moment out of time, and you have to savour that image because it is unique to you, and once you return to ground, it will be a memory in your mind.

One of the reasons I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go, and that I travelled by myself, is that I discovered that I could be on my own, and find my way. I made the trip my own, and whenever I happen to look to the skies and see an aeroplane over the skies over Oxfordshire, I see the vapour trails, and I can see that although lift-off may take a burst of energy, once the journey is mapped out, watching from the ground, we see the aeroplane travel across the sky, leaving behind the vapour trails that merge into the clouds, and the design of the sky, and even though we cannot see where the aeroplane is going, all it has to do is keep moving forward until it reaches its destination, and it can land.

Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”. I would add to that, the only way to truly know whether you can, is to test yourself, and get out there and do it.

Lynn

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong

Begin in the middle

I've spent many years learning and working on time management, and I have read many books on the topic.

"Just begin". "Begin with the end in mind".* Both of these are admirable recommendations, and neither of them really work for me all the time. I cannot begin if I don't know where to begin. It's not always like a race, where everyone lines up at the starting point together, and a shot is fired to tell us when we can begin.

Many times, a task or a goal for me is so many building blocks or puzzle pieces that I need to gather together, before I can decide which part to work on first.

And beginning with the end in mind only works if you know exactly where you are going - if I want to be in Rome by 5pm on Friday afternoon, I know I need to work it backwards to identify what to pack and which method of transportation I will use to reach my destination, so I am able to work out what time I need to leave home to arrive on time. 

Begin with the end in mind is great if you know exactly what you want. And if you are building your dream house, then you probably do want to keep that image in mind, to be sure that when it is built, it is how you wanted it to be. And with any goal, to really achieve it, in some tiny corner of your mind, you do need to believe it is possible; you need to be able to see yourself having achieved it, to be living the results.

Be willing to adapt

Some goals, though, are a little different - we need to see ourselves achieving them, but to be willing to adapt if needed, or to realise that what we imagined is not exactly how it will play out. I remember visualising my trip to Singapore and India last year. For me it was seeing myself in my mind's eye, boarding the plane at Heathrow, and imagining the flight, and then landing in Singapore.

However, no matter how much research I did about Singapore and India, no matter how many colleagues in Singapore and India I spoke to in order to prepare the workshops, and how much I planned the trip, in the end none of that matched exactly my imaginings and my visual image.

What it did do, was to carry me through the time when I was planning and working, and to give me the inner motivation to keep going. And where the original goal was to go to Singapore and India and present the workshops, the more I spoke about my trip to colleagues and friends and relatives, the more real it became, and the more I began to realise it was not just about going, it was about what a successful outcome of the trip would be, and how I could ensure that it was successful.

Crossing the finishing line 

When I was working on my coaching diploma two years ago, there came a point where I was nearly finished, and yet I just had 3000 words left to write to submit my coursework for assessment. By this point I had completed all my practise coaching sessions, I had attended all the on-site training days and I had been assessed on my practical skills. I had completed what felt like about 90% of the course. However, I found myself hesitating to complete the final 3000 words, to submit that final piece, because it was that last bit of work, and handing that in would be the final test. Had I done enough to pass? Had I done enough to pass with a mark that I would find satisfactory? What would happen if I passed?

Then I read a description in "The Now Habit"** about the final stretch of a marathon. It wasn't until I read this description and imagined my course as a race that I was able to put it together and realise that not handing in that final 3000 words, was the equivalent of simply sitting down 100m before the finishing line, of stopping, and not finishing the race.  I could see the finishing line, and my friends cheering me on, but if I didn't cross the finishing line, I could not finish the race. It was then I realised that my friends would congratulate me on finishing no matter how long it took me, and that it really didn't matter how long it took others to finish that race, whether they finished ahead of me, or after me. It was my race, and only I was in charge of myself and my attitude.

Celebrate finishing

I got over this idea by deciding to celebrate when I had handed in my coursework, when I had crossed the finishing line, rather than waiting to find out my results and celebrate my outcome. Whilst I wanted a good outcome, and I'd want a personal best for the race, the most important thing is crossing that finishing line. Because that is the part that I have control over: my efforts and my input.

You may say that it is obvious when to begin if you are running a race, but I would argue that is not necessarily the case. For one person it may be buying their race outfit, for another it may be registering for the race, for another it may be finding a cause to run for, or a friend who will sign up with them. For another it may be signing up to a gym to build up their stamina.

So I say, if you're not totally sure where to start, that's okay. Take the first step.

Begin in the middle.

Lynn

* "Begin with the end in mind" from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, 1989, (Simon & Schuster)

* The Now Habit, Neil Fiore, 1988, (TarcherPerigree)