DRIVEN Newsletter Sep 6, 2022
Savoring Summer.
Hello to September and the final stretch of summer! Here’s to catching your breath and gazing at the Harvest Moon each morning!
Did your summer FLY by, too? Looking back, although it was my intention, I wasn’t truly able to lay low during the summer. This, despite not much work on the calendar. You see, serendipitously, two of my coaching contracts went on hiatus during the summer, and a 9-month Cultural Transformation I mentioned in past messages ended in July.
I’d given myself the space to settle into our new home. And yet, my brain wouldn’t let me fully relax. The slasher movie soundtrack of worry and stress played relentlessly in my head. What if coaching contracts don’t renew? What if all of my other coaching dries up? What if workshops that are in the works fall through? A lot of “what ifs”.
Thankfully a cherished network colleague recommended the book Chatter. Just what the coach ordered! The concept that grabbed me from the start of this book is that introspection in a distressed state can prove insidious. That epiphany has allowed me to finally settle into summertime freedom. Better late than never. AND, just in the nick of time!
I’ll have a solid week of “vacation pace” before September hits third gear. My pace is that of Thoreau, as described in his masterpiece, Walden. I strive to slow down and appreciate every aspect of our new home.
Besides the background chatter of fear for what hasn’t even happened, I enjoyed a lot of encouraging feedback for my recent Tuesday postings. Then, when Michael wondered how we could share these postings with more eyeballs than our current mailing list, I made a decision I never thought I’d make.
Starting last week, I began posting my weekly column on LinkedIn. If you enjoy these pieces, you can now easily share them with your contacts. This would mean the world to me, and your network may thank you, too!
And regarding my worries about potential lost business, I might have considered Mark Twain’s lesson of “having known a great many troubles, most of which never happened”. DRIVEN is now preparing for a DEI workshop focusing on Unconscious Bias at a law firm. We’ll be launching our DRIVEN to Wellness series for an international financial services client. And not only has one of our coaching contracts renewed, but we’re also doing a coaching pilot with a commercial real estate client, launching on World Mental Health Day!
All of this is oxytocin-producing. And the icing on the cake is my first true Autumn engagement will be to welcome my colleagues from the C-IQ EU Collective living in North America to my home for our first North American retreat! This hybrid event will not only allow us to connect but will give us the opportunity to explore how to support clients to Lead with Confidence.
Summer’s almost gone, but that doesn’t mean great things will come to a halt.
What are your aspirations for the Autumn of ’22?
Cheers!
-Deborah Goldstein
Feel Empowered to be a Woman!
In a sea of entertaining audio content for your earbuds, how do you uncover something truly worthwhile? Well, you can take our advice! We’re hooked on a podcast produced by “It All Media”. Full disclosure: Deborah started listening after being introduced to one of IAM’s founders, Kacie Lett Gordon. After one conversation with Kacie, Deborah knew she was the real deal— someone she’d want to learn from. Kacie is optimistic, realistic, compassionate, SMART, and a true DRIVEN Professional. What’s compelling about her podcast is that it gives women permission to take ourselves seriously. Here’s a favorite episode. But don’t hesitate to browse the full library, which features dozens of outstanding episodes!
Accelerate Your Success!
Supporting your health and well-being isn’t only about taking intentional breaks throughout the day and drinking enough water. This dedication to self is also about how you use your time. Check out my writing partner Ute Franzen-Waschke’s latest Forbes article, which shares a different way to allocate time for meetings. If you’re groaning at the word “meeting”, consider that if you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll get the same outcome. Contemplating a different way to structure meetings can revolutionize your relationship with these communication opportunities.
Something for the Soul.
Mother Tongue is a biannual print magazine that “interrogates (and celebrates) modern motherhood through inclusive stories about art, sex, pop culture, politics, food and a few things in between. It’s not about kids or how to parent them: It’s about the nuanced lives we are living….” While I read the second edition from cover to cover, as if it were a book, the exhaustion, the determination, the power, the artistic brilliance and the goodness of those who contributed to this piece of art reverberated in my mind and soul. If you’re courageous enough to read about the truth, order an issue of Mother Tongue today.
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