The dog days of summer are upon us.  Work – or seeking work – must continue, but we would rather be sitting under a tree or playing in the water.  It is hard to feel stressed, overwhelmed or under pressure when the temperature is hovering around ninety degrees.  Instead of fighting it, why don’t we use this lethargic time to review where we are and where we are going.  Take a walk with me into a shady spot where you can refresh your thinking, slow yourself down, and, perhaps, emerge revitalized and a little more energized to tackle the challenges you are facing.

I invite you to my Zen Zone.

At the bottom of the garden, you will find a bench facing a gong.  When you strike it, the gong has a dull, hollow sound.  Surrounding the bench and gong are five bushes.  Each has a story to tell, a lesson to teach.

The first bush seeks to Illuminate.  It helps you open your eyes and see things afresh.  Look at what’s troubling you, and ask yourself if there is another way to make sense of it.  When you go back to the world, ask others for their ideas.  Find ,new information from different sources.  Then, tap into the most powerful way of knowing: let the light of your own intuition help you find your own clarity.  Contradictions, conflict, and yearnings, become clearer when you sit for a while, like a photographer in a dark room, and let the images of what you really want slowly emerge.  With that clarity and illumination, you will find the commitment you need to move forward. 

The second bush seeks to Ignite.  You feel a surge of energy at the moment of illumination and insight.  This is the spark you will learn to notice and not ignore.  It is the moment of readiness for action, the opening for making a decision.  The spark of fire you feel when you move from knowing to doing fuels your actions and propels you like a rocket because you are ready to go.

The third bush seeks to Integrate.  You will see the threads linking the diverse strands of your life, the glue holding the shards and fragments together. Your life and work are not a series of single-colored blobs all competing for time and edging each other out of the way.  Rather, they are a complex tapestry with shades and colors fused in harmony re-appearing at different times and all contributing to the richness of the whole.

The fourth bush seeks to Inspire.  You will feel a heightened state of awareness, even excitement, when you see things starting to change.  What seemed closed is now opened.  What seemed lost is now found.  What seemed unthinkable now seems possible.  And, the magic of inspiration is that when you feel inspired by this sense of  clarity, energy and wholeness, you, in turn, will be able to inspire others.

The fifth bush seeks to Improve.  This bush, ever hopeful and optimistic, reminds you that things can always get better.  It enables you to recognize how much you have learned from the past and to what you can look forward in the future. And, it reminds you that the work of improvement is never done.

Fredia Woolf, Founder of Woolf Consulting, writes about career and workplace issues.  She coaches leaders on how to reach their people, their goals and their potential, and designs programs for organizations to enhance their effectiveness and the quality of both leadership and teamwork.  She can be contacted at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on August 5th, 2011 at 11:30 am