Hello Friends,
Greetings to you during this very springy spring in the Pacific Northwest! The photo below is the largest Sitka Spruce on the West Coast of the United States! We made it eventually as the article describes below. Like hiking, business strategy requires more than pushing forward at all costs. As I know from experience and as I support my business coaching clients on is that it requires stopping, surrendering and pivoting to find success.
The steady forest trail turned quicksand muddy. Our boots made a “thwap, thwap” sound as we plodded onward.
“This is an elk trail,” my husband, exclaimed.
“We’ve lost the trail.”
Not wanting to back track, I scrambled to find proof to support my sinking hope. Turning back meant slopping through the muddy, thick slow-moving stream and back up, up, up.
My shoulders sank as I scanned the dense brush and the hillside beyond. The ocean roared westward. He was right. We had to turn back. The trail was most certainly not here.
Moving onward meant a messy, messy unclear path through dense brush thicket. Maybe we could have made it and found the real path again, but it would have been unnecessarily difficult and perhaps impossible.
Once back en route, I shook my head. It was clear. We were never going to make it on that path even though I truly thought if we pushed hard enough, we could.
The actual trail was easy, straightforward, and beautiful. If we had pushed through the other, we would have had a miserable day.
By surrendering, backtracking, and gaining new perspective, the day was glorious.
Why is giving up so difficult? Why do we grit our teeth and hold on when letting go almost always turns out for the best?
Why is stepping backward, even a little, considered defeat?
What if we reframed those dark, self-destructive feelings of defeat into plushy, warm, bright surrender?
Breathe with me friends and savor these statements:
Surrender is a choice.
Surrender allows perspective.
Surrender offers a chance to pause, evaluate, pivot, and start again
Surrender allows an outcome to happen for us.
Surrender creates space and relinquishes the squeeze of desperation and forcing.
Surrender precursors 20/20 hindsight.
Where there is Surrender, freedom dwells.
I am on your side and a little emphatic about breathing, surrendering and allowing... because it works. You are cordially invited to surrender whenever you can. Even wave the flag of defeat occasionally. New paths open in ways we can only see from the open spaces created by these actions, these choices.
Surrender on! Shelly
PS Ready to surrender your business forward? Enjoy 30 minutes of Free Business Coaching. Let's get to know each other.