Heather and I were discussing adapting to change. "We want to comfortably skate across the surface of life without pain," she said. "But like Jonah, we must go into the belly of the whale before coming out into the light."

"I call it passing through the Valley of Despair," I replied. "It's a transitional negative state at our inner spiritual core due to some major change hitting us."

"The real issue is having the system to cope with it," she countered. "We each need our own method of quickly revealing our deeper self-awareness in these situations. It's like rekindling one's calm, confident, response while under pressure. It's a spiritual skill."

"What about colleagues and coaches, like me?"

"We certainly manage better talking with supportive colleagues, advisors, friends, and family. But deeper spiritual work, especially with them, nourishes us in ways that are both permanent and powerful. There's a big difference."

Is your career/job/life going through change? What spiritual work is on your business agenda this week? 

And please, stop telling me you're too busy! That's precisely when you need this stuff. Nothing is as urgent as your own spirit in times of change. Just ask your colleagues who work with the not-so-calm-and-confident version of you.

Oh, and there's more. Don't focus so much on you and how you feel. Serving others is the best pathway to self-awareness during change. Try it.

Stephen
ANE  = Calm, Confident, Connected, Courageous Leadership

PS: In PA/NY/NJ area? We need two hours of service in next two weeks to help in our Executive Director search and preparing our Nov 15 7am breakfast event in Newtown, PA: Create Compelling Conversations. Email me if you can.