As summer begins to wind down, vacations have ended and the kids are heading back to school, we begin to find ourselves returning to our normal rhythm of life that takes hold until next spring.
Before long, the trees will be turning to their brilliance of yellows and oranges and will follow with the shedding of the leaves, no longer useful in the cold crisp months that will be upon us before long.
I wonder if there is not an analogy here for us to ponder upon.
Is Fall not a wonderful time to seek your own brilliance - in your strengths, your values and your passion - and let these shine? Is it not a time to reconnect to the essence of you and consider when you've most been most on purpose in your life? Are you there now? Or is it nearing that time to shed some of the things in your life that no longer serve you? Is it time to re-balance your 'to do's' in your life and give way for more meaningful time well spent? Reconnection to you - to your essence - is as important to our paths, as the turn of the seasons.
Stopping to smell the pine trees and consider where you are in this certain point in your life leads to new visions and new ideas.
Letting go of some of the clutter in your mind and allowing time to ponder what is important to you brings personal growth.
It is this path of rediscovery that I find most rewarding in the work that I do.
It is wonderful when a new client - one who has been downtrodden upon by day-to-day corporate pressures or an-out-of-synch pace of life - rediscovers who they are as a person.
Being part of the cycle that allows their strengths to blossom into brilliant colors is gratifying.
To see their passions propel them out of a mundane life to find new paths.
To me, this transformation is as beautiful as the turn of the aspen in the Fall.
I see confidence return.
I see a new light in their eyes.
I see new dreams unfold.
And, most importantly, I see the new dreams take shape and become real.
This is what I love about my work.
So what are some ways to reconnect to you? Here are a few questions to help you start your own journey of self-exploration.
I encourage you to take some peaceful, quiet time - with a cup of tea and ponder upon these questions.
I encourage you to tell your stories.
1.
Describe a time when you were most on purpose - when you were alive with passion and in love with what you were doing.
Write a story about this time.
What was it about the situation that made it so meaningful to you? Who was involved? What strengths did you bring to the situation that contributed to the success? Share your story with some of the important people in your life.
Ask them if they can think of more stories when they saw you at your best.
Ask them to tell you what strengths they saw in you in those stories - how did you make a difference? 2.
There are often people in our life who have inspired us somewhere along the way and who have made an impact on who we are.
Who are those people in your life? What is it about them that you'd like to have more of in your life? What values did they hold dear? Write down a story or two about these people when you saw them at their best.
3.
What are five things in your life that you'd like to change to make it more satisfying, on-purpose and joyful? You might notice that I asked you to tell stories.
The journey that I take my coaching clients on are rooted in stories such as these.
These are the seeds that start the germination of growth that leads to new brilliance shining through and bright lights leading the way.
With each story we explore, new ideas begin to formulate.
If you like what is starting to bubble for you, I invite you to gift yourself with a complimentary introductory coaching session with me.
Perhaps Fall is the right time for you to find your own brilliant colors!