How do you Lead when you feel you're falling behind?

I have been meditating a LOT lately on the elements of Leadership, and more specifically on how to lead when we feel that we are depleted, slowing down, or that we are falling behind.

Here is what I believe about leaders and leadership:

Leadership is a Calling, an act of Service that comes from Soul, Dharma, beyond a single human lifetime

Leaders work best when inspired from within, instead of motivated by reasons outwith themselves

Our capacity and ability to lead comes from the best within us, our divine gifts

It is expressed through action, through the choices we make each and every day (not in what we choose to do every once in awhile when we have to)

We first must learn to lead ourselves, to be consistent, focused, and to live with integrity and honesty if we have any hope of supporting or leading others.

So when we are experiencing a second year of a worldwide pandemic, when we can feel limited, denied, delayed, how do we continue to move, flow, create?

We must learn to nourish and recover, even in the uphill climb.

Because right now it feels that we are climbing Everest, and it hasn't gotten any easier over the past few years.  Pushing to move ahead is exhausting, racing ahead feels like a joke (even if we want to!), and we feel weary in the efforts to gain the same ground we possibly would have if things were smoother, with fewer obstacles.

So what matters at this point is not the pinnacle or peak of our goals, but the steps we take each day.  It matters what we choose to practice in our daily lives.

I think that we often look to the big events in life, graduations, completion of a big project, a wedding, a special birthday, to keep us going.  And believe me, having things to look forward to is so important, and I encourage you to keep planning and building anticipation.  But at the moment, planning is difficult, scheduling is still unclear.  And so it is the little consistencies which are going to nourish us, and create the most impact right now.

Take some time this week to re-examine your daily schedule, and ask yourself the following:

*Am I choosing activities that nourish my mind, body, spirit?  (Make sure these are ACTIONS.  This could include meditation, walk in nature, reading for knowledge or just for fun, eating in alignment with your body, breathwork, stretching, etc)

*Do my choices lead me in the direction I want to be taking? (Doom scrolling, Netflix binges, hiding from your support systems do NOT!)

*Am I creating time and space that is for ME? (or is it all dedicated to everyone else but me?)

*Am I dedicating my mind towards expansive learning and understanding? (or am I spending too much time worrying about what I cannot change, stressing about a future I cannot control?)

This is THE WORK right now, what truly matters.  And if you can get the daily right, the future will unfold with more clarity, strength, and alignment with your Dharma.

-Jennifer

*For those of you who would like some additional support with this, I offer a 6 month Embodied Existence Programme, which supports you in building your schedule and your life in a way that creates healthy foundations to help centre you.