Treat #58
: Inspired Enthusiasm
"I slept for the first time in a year," she exclaims as she greets me on day two of our coaching. "And my appetite is back." The joy in her enthusiasm is catching. I am reminded of the impact this work can have for those whose heads have been managing everything, without the benefit of either a paper or computer list to release the pressure. I can see it has taken its toll on her physically. Because of the stress, she is quite thin and has no appetite.
However, her hunger for a cleared plate of actions is voracious. She tells me she spent the last year holding most of her projects and actions in her head with Post-it note reminders stuck everywhere, but she couldn't manage it all as the workload became voluminous. She was functioning without a central command center from which to view all her agreements at a glance and get them out of the unconscious place they were living. She was experiencing her incompletes screaming for her attention, and because they were invisible she couldn't take action. Instead they stayed lurking about in her head. Her mind was bursting with more than it could possibly remember and she couldn't sleep or eat. Daily she was constantly distracted and pulled in a hundred directions. The worry about what was not being done was intense.
Over the two days as we cleared out her mind by writing it all down and processing all her physical paper and emails she brought her focus and attention back to right now. We stayed with the process until every last piece of paper was touched and acted upon. Like a spinning top, she came to a gradual stillness and relaxation that only the moment can provide.
I felt an increase in energy just being in her presence. As she experienced the freedom of finishing one thing at a time, and more space opening in her consciousness, the tension melted. When we finished she had close to 70 next action items on her list that only a day before were in her head and scattered about the office. She was undaunted by her next action list as it was all doable and she could see it at a glance. She no longer has to chase around to try and find out what she needs to do; her first steps are laid out clearly before her.
The process is simple, the results life altering. Most of us never get to an empty mind. She did and she can finally breathe and relax.
The next morning she emailed me from her office with continuing inspired enthusiasm and gratitude for the freedom. With her new found focus, she had already completed many of her next actions, and even one project and it was only 10:00 a.m. She was taking off her first Saturday and Sunday in months.
It was the last line of her email that inspired me the most: “And I slept again.”
I am appreciating once more that our consciousness thrives on focusing and completing, and rewards us with peaceful rest and renewed vitality.
Martha Invitations
1. Do a thorough Weekly Review and experience the energy you create for yourself.
2. Today practice doing one thing at a time through to completion.
3. Do three things that have been sitting on your action list for longer than a month.
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