Now is the time: challenge how you see EVERYTHING!

In 2002 when I was eight-months pregnant with my son, I took a Friday off from my career coaching business to explore how I could radically innovate and move from a hourly pay business model to one that was more profitable (and beneficial to my clients).

On my visioning retreat, I challenged myself to turn my model upside down and deep dive into, “If I were my client and in the midst of a tumultuous career transition, what type of support would I most desire?” I dropped all preconceived ideas around what a coaching/consulting business model should look like and completely focused on my clients’ needs. This memorable day changed produced a revolutionary new highly-effective client service model and it changed the way I did business moving forward.

This week I challenge  you to adopt the upside down mindset as you consider how you work, educate your children, connect with your team and serve in the world. This is not about thinking outside the box, but completely removing the box from the landscape.

Can you drop history and look at your life, work and family like you never have before?

Here are a few questions to consider (and a shameless plug; Chapter 9 in my last book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life is completely focused on this approach):

• What would happen if you put your heart and passions in the driver’s seat and just did the work YOU wanted to do for the rest of 2020 (as opposed to doing what you think you “should” be doing)?
• What if instead of following the norm (online education for your kids or managing a work project the way you always have), you did the opposite of what you’d normally do? What if you did nothing and let the solution just come to you?
• What if you sat down with a wise friend and shared what’s causing you the most pain and suffering as you peer into the fall; what would your friend counsel you to do?
• How can you remove preconceived beliefs or ideas about ways of doing things and release yourself to a freer, more open, creative and non-linear mindset?
• Who in your world might serve as a wonderful sounding board for you as you blast old paradigms and explore radical new ways of being, seeing, working and living?

Creativity and innovation author Daniel Pink says the defining work of the 21st century is conceptual and big picture. When looking for a solution, Pink says, “It’s non-routine. That is, you can’t reduce it to script, a formula, an algorithm or a series of steps that lead to a correct answer. It’s multi-disciplinary. It involves elements of design, empathy, and symphonic thinking. It’s self-directed rather than ‘managed.’ And it’s animated by a sense of purpose.”

This time is presenting us with enormous opportunity. Are you going to say yes to this invitation for radical re-invention or keep doing business as usual?

SEEKING SUPPORT FOR YOURSELF OR YOUR TEAM? HERE ARE TWO OPPORTUNITIES::

• Consider hiring me to create a workshop to help your team, organization or employees feel less stressed and more resilient, energized and focused. For 20+ years I’ve been speaking to professionals worldwide on how to find balance through practicing the art/science of self-care. Whether it’s a workshop, keynote or mini-retreat via Zoom, I’d love to discuss how I can support your organization. Learn more here.
• *NEW* REDISCOVERING YOUR PURPOSE–a 3-week online self-care retreat.  Want support for determining what is uniquely yours to do in the year to come? Email info@reneetrudeau.com to receive an inner circle invite to my upcoming fall, online offering for women only.  Space very limited; details to come!

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by life coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art and science of self-care, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 400 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead life coaching groups and women’s retreats based on her work. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and 18-year-old son. More on Renee here.