How to do your best in a complex world.
Sharing your gifts and being ok.
I came across a quote this week that I wish I had written. It says everything I’ve been trying to say for years in one great sentence.
“Your best is what you can do without harming your mental and physical health, not what you can accomplish when you disregard it.” The former is your responsibility to the world. To deliver and share your gifts, unique contributions, the labour and love within you and within your means to bring into being. The latter part of the quote is consenting to be consumed as part of some growth and productivity cult that has brought us to this point of planetary disaster.
I was such a champion of working past my limits in service of whatever it was I was doing. I loved part of it so I thought it was ok, even noble. And then it wasn’t ok. For some of us that comes with aging past our body’s ability to bounce back. Sometimes it’s a life event like having a family, grieving a loved one, menopause! or other changes in circumstances that jar you awake to the understanding that a lot of society as we know it hasn’t been designed to make sure you are ok. For me, this work started before it wasn’t ok. I wrote A Little Book of Permission while I was still rolling fast. But it was a signpost (and how funny that I used a signpost for the cover and logo???) that it took me a bit longer to understand.
Your best is required of the world more than ever. AND, ALSO it needs to take into consideration your well-being. Any system that requires that you disregard your well-being for its success is never going to take care of you, they aren’t built that way and we need to change it every chance we get. We will never be able to re-grasp our relationship with the well-being of the planet and the natural systems we are definitely a part of until we can see our own true well-being as important too. It’s hard to worry about over-consumption when you are also being consumed.
The work to push back and create something different can feel risky and lonely. But you are not alone. It might be hard to see the others, like the awakening seed deep in the soil before the shoots push through, but you are a part of a wildflower meadow of a future that actually cares about people and all our family in the more-than-human world of this planet.
And I’ll be here to remind you to keep trying and to celebrate you every time you prioritise being ok. Message me anytime you need someone to hear.
Susie
I created a new offer of digestible support for people trying to bring their best into the world and prioritise their well-being as part of their definition of success. I’ve been practising this format and it is so good! Imagine feeling supported and focusing on a digestible amount each time we talk but without worrying you’ll run out of time to address what you need?
Here’s how Unlimited works:
1 x 30 minute Kick Off Call to get us oriented with what you might be trying to bring into the world. Business, well-being within your current work, art, a new career, life pivots whatever you want to do and feel supported progress on.
Unlimited x 15 minute sessions each month (subject to availability). You receive the recording and summary of each session. You can book your next session right after.
$500/month Purchase necessary to start, but if we don’t click at the Kick Off Call you can get a refund then (minus payment processing fees). Once you get started cancel anytime before the next billing cycle.
The sessions will be on Zoom.
Availability for sessions: M-Th 10-4 CST (let me know if you are non-North American and we can find something that works better for you). I will be unavailable for the holidays December 20-January 5th.
Click the link to join now or message me to discuss!