This is an excerpt from the book I am writing called, “Living Your Purposeful Life”.
I was recently on a business trip that took me to the West coast of Canada for several parties and meetings. I left on a Tuesday and returned on Friday. During that entire time, it seemed like I was going from one event to another. I got to Vancouver in time to go to the hotel, get changed and head to the customer appreciation Christmas dinner. It was a last night and I had to be up early for some meetings out East with my team.
After those meetings, I hopped on a plane and headed to Calgary. Arrived there, had lunch with the Calgary office and then went to the hotel to get ready for another customer appreciation Christmas party. Another late night and I had to be up early for some meetings out East with my team. Then, there was an executive lunch with more customers and that evening was a dinner with my team in Calgary. To top things off, there was a fire alarm in my hotel at 2am before I hopped on a plane to come home on Friday.
I was tired when I got home on Friday and I thought that all I needed was a good night of sleep and I would be better. When I got up on Saturday, I was feeling better, but as the day went on, I felt drained. Initially, I thought it was the week of running that I had and it was catching up with me. All week, all I did was run from one event to another, but really when I felt into me, I felt like all my energy had been sucked from me.
In talking to a friend of mine, she asked me to look deeper and when we looked deeper, we found that during the week, I had given away my power to the events of the week, instead of me holding my power within me.
For example, at the first dinner, I was more concerned about where I was sitting and how am I going to hold a conversation with the people I was sitting next too. I also did not have a seat and was very concerned about not having a seat. Throughout the week, I was overly concerned with, “am I adding ‘business value’ by me being here?” instead of me just being there and letting the event flow around me.
Once the events started, I did have some wonderful conversations with people at the events, especially in Calgary as the event was more of a cocktail party versus a sit down dinner. I really enjoyed the conversation that I had with two people in Calgary, while being “stuck” with them at the event and I say “stuck”, because while talking to these two people, I was worried about not going and talking to other customers at the event. Oh well, I enjoyed myself and was glad to have met those customers.
I learned that I need to take time for myself. It was a very busy week and I did not take the time that I felt that I needed for me, and I do not think that I needed a lot of time for me, just 10-15 minutes to check in and clear my space.
I also learned that I just need to be me. When I let myself be me after the events started, I had wonderful conversations. I need to stop worrying about what might happen and just go with the flow of the event and wonderful things will happen. I do not know if I added “business value” by being at the events, but the conversations that I had were wonderful and I felt fulfilled and I can only hope that the people that I had conversations with got value for themselves.
Please make sure you take time and check in with yourself and ask, “where is my power?” Is your power within you, or are you giving it away? This is an important question to ask all the time, but especially during the holiday season, when there are a lot of requests and events on our plates. We may not like all the events, but when we go to the events, we just need to make sure we are there, present, being ourselves.
Before going to an event, take some time to sit and breath. Be with yourself and a wonderful question that I love to ponder is “what wants to happen through me?” Ask this question in relationship to the event you are about to attend and you do not need to get an answer. I find that just by asking this question, I feel a sense of wonder and I start to allow whatever needs to flow through me at the event unfold in front of me. And, it does not take a lot of time. It can take as little as 5 minutes. Take the time and let me know if it helps you.