Do You Need a Reboot?

Time to read: 87 seconds

TV fire in my "office"

This week is an invitation to reset, however and wherever you can. You tell me you're tired, overwhelmed, that there's a lot happening and a lot to do. You have important work, and important people to care for - customers, patients, family, neighbors, and clients.

I had the pleasure to spend last week at Rancho La Puerta, where I teach a couple of times a year. A friend invited me as her guest so I got to spend the week resting, reflecting, doing art, connecting with interesting people, exercising, and eating healthy food. The week was a complete system re-boot.

The purpose of a reboot is to refresh your mind, widen your perspective, and prepare you to return to daily life stronger and ready.

Although I highly recommend getting away, you can reboot right where you are without special equipment or getting on a plane.

Here are a few ideas to inspire your thinking:

• Close your eyes and sit quietly for 5 minutes. Do this now. If you put your fingers on your keyboard, everyone will think you are working.

• Stand up and walk around the building or the kitchen or the block (if it's not pouring snow like it is at our house). A change of scenery will change your perspective and invite fresh ideas.

• Light your fireplace. Or like us, your YouTube TV fire which I promise you is just as relaxing.

• Go to a different part of your town and eat at a restaurant you've never tried. You don't have to travel out of the country to have a fresh experience.

• Sleep. Do everything you can to get good sleep.

• Get a massage. Try a sensory deprivation tank. See an acupuncturist. Take a hot bath. Anything that gives you a few minutes of quiet, comfort, and sensory experience. (The needles are REALLY small.)

Then you open your eyes and return to life, work, and service refreshed and clear. Please email me and share with me how you reboot. I always love to hear from you. Really and truly.

Practices That Change The World #7

Time to read: 56 seconds

2023 started intensely. Chaos. Crisis. Emotions. No pause or time to breathe. Last week I finally had a chance to breathe, recover, and reflect.

For today's "practices that change the world," I am going to start with a story. (My parents granted me permission to tell it.)

My mother made an emergency trip to the hospital two weeks ago. I got THAT phone call and in 20 minutes was showered, packed and in the car to the airport. If you've ever done this, you know what the next week was like. (For all you caring folks, my mom is home and doing well.)

In the middle of it all, we received disappointing news that meant more days in the hospital. We were discouraged and sad.

I was the chief note-taker and candy striper so I looked at my parents and said,

"What would make this suck 5% less?"

My parents: "answers to medical questions....going home."

Me: "Not in the future. What can I do right now that would improve this experience by 5%?"

My father said, "beer."

My mother said, "a massage."

I said, "better food."

Which brings me to today's practice....

What can you do right now...this minute...that will improve your experience by 5%?

Studies show that a beer, a massage, and better food improve your experience by 10-15%. In fact, those things created sublime moments in the midst of difficulty. When you aim for 5% better right now, you often get so much more.

I love to hear from you. What's your 5% better?

Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you love this newsletter, your friends and colleagues will, too. Anyone can sign up here.

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Practices That Change The World #6

Time to read: one minute that includes a powerful exercise that will change the world right now

I am here this week.

Today's practice is an actual practice. In the one minute it takes you to read this newsletter, you are going to do something that will change the world.

Pause

Victor Fankl said, "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In that response, lies our growth and our freedom."

So, right now, wherever you are...on the train, in your office, in your kitchen....Stop. Breathe. Pause. Notice. Do this for 30 seconds and see what happens.

Then if you're inspired, hit reply to this email and tell me all about it. I love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend!

Words To Last a Lifetime

Time to read: 26 seconds

Indiana Jones and the Bridge of Faith

One of my clients has been walking through the fire for a couple of months in order to clean up some old stuff and prepare for an exciting career move.

During our session this week, she told me how peaceful, calm, and confident she feels now. Doors are opening, and now she has the clarity and capacity to move forward. She started acknowledging me and thanking me for my help. I love a good compliment as much as anyone, and as she spoke, it became clear, she was not talking about me. She was talking about herself.

The words that poured from her were so profound, I asked if I could share them with you. Clearly, she said yes because here are her words.

"I put my faith in the person I know and the person I trust. I walked off the cliff and knew someone would catch me. I closed my eyes, put my foot out, and the bridge was there."

That is wisdom to last a lifetime.

Please email me and tell me what her quote means to you. I always love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend.

Do This. It Makes Everything Better.

Time to read: 15 seconds

My daughter recently told me that I have no "chill." I prefer to think of myself as energetic and productive. And, she has a point.

Where are you on the scale of chill to energetic?

Regardless of where you are on the scale, I have something for you to try, something highly scientific and skilled that will take weeks to master.

Ready?

Here it is.

Lie down.

That's it. Simply lie down. The couch is a pretty good place although I can also recommend the floor. Rather wonderful things happen including rest, meditation, reading, dog love, and a cat on your stomach. Oh, and you become more productive when you take a break, Who knew?!

I feel like I've discovered something under-rated among the type-As and kept highly secret among those of you with "chill." Your secret is out, and it's marvelous.

Be well. Now you know what to do with your weekend. Have fun!

Your Boss Wanted Me to Send You This Message

Time to read: 5 seconds. You've got a plane to catch.

Sedona, AZ

Hi Rebels,

Your boss wanted me to write to you with this simple message:

Take a vacation.

If you have stockpiled a huge bank of vacation days because you're "too busy to leave the office," this means you.

Seriously, take a vacation. Now.

And send me photos.

With rebel love,

Christina

P.S. Do you have a friend who needs to be reminded to use their vacation time? Send them this little hint. They can sign up for more hints here.

Have You Paid Too Much?

Time to read: Less than 90 seconds.

You don't have to earn this. It's already yours.

I belong to a writing salon. Once a month, a small group of unlikely friends gathers around someone's dining room table to write and read our journals, stories, essays, and memoirs. We've been meeting for five years and have seen each other through retirements, deaths, grandchildren, job changes, and the rediscovery of our creativity. This month, one of my esteemed colleagues wrote a beautiful piece with a great reminder of the price you think you have to pay for pleasure.

I was deeply moved by his piece, and he generously agreed that I could share it with you. It's a perfect message for Corporate Rebels in summer.

From Bill Peterson:

In the busyness years of my life, I remember reading an article in which the author recommended some “good summer reads.” I’m thinking it was about twenty years ago. My history is no longer five or ten or fifteen years ago. I now have to reach back twenty, thirty, forty years or even more to reach those heyday years.

For years, I have longed to sit in the leisure of summer, open a book and enjoy a good summer read. And now, this summer I have arrived! I have laid aside the demands I put upon myself through a combination of purposeful intention and opportunity. On Sunday afternoons and mild weekday evenings I am finding myself stretched out on the old couch in the front porch with my feet up and the lamp lighting only enough to illuminate the pages, and I am enjoying a “good...summer...read.” Serendipitously I'm reading a book entitled, “The Art of the Wasted Day”, by Patricia Hampl. A wasted day? I don’t think so. You'd have to read the book to understand that part. But, for me it's more like, “The Fulfilled Day”, “The Blessed Day” or “The Day Long Awaited” because I feel like I have been waiting for these days all of my life.

I’ve paid for these days. I’ve paid with hard work and toil, sweat and burnt skin. I’ve paid, but the truth is I’ve paid too much. And I’m wondering if I really didn’t need to pay for these days at all. They were always there for me, but I told them to wait...for too long...way too long!

So now, here I am, in summer 2018, and I am fulfilling a life dream. I am reading with no intention to rush. I am savoring each word, each sentence, each thought. At last I am enjoying “a good summer read.”

If you loved Bill's writing, please email me and let me know. I'll share it with him.

Happy rebel-y summer, everyone!

Christina

P.S. Do you have a colleague who needs permission to sloooowwww down and put their feet up? Send them this newsletter and invite them to sign up for the Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter right here.