3 Simple Steps to Reclaim Your Time and Energy
Sharing a happy and success story of my client Sophie (not her real name)
As a scientist, Sophie has a very analytical, logical and rational mind. She overthinks things a lot and takes a long time to make decisions.
In the past, her indecisiveness cost many missed opportunities to put her brilliant ideas forward. And someone else would say what she wanted to say first. As a leader, her outward appearance was very confident but on the inside it was a different story.
The stories she used to tell herself:
‘I’m no good’, ‘Who’d listen to me anyway?’ ‘I might as well not be here’
Deflated and frustrated she fell into the victim archetype, feeling sorry for herself, powerless and losing control.
Not only this came up at work, it came up in other areas of life too - how she viewed herself in many situations. A victim.
From my own experience and others, when we start to put ourselves down, things will spiral down out of control. The bottom of this spiral is usually fear.
We allow our fear to be in the driving seat. Fear will always be there.
Our primal brain is trying to keep us safe. It also keeps us small and holds us back.
The work that we did first when we started was addressing her basic needs which is something I cover in the Ready to Rise guide.
She was not meeting these needs.
It’s my belief that the foundational step as an embodied leader is meeting your basic needs first.
Your physiological, mental, emotional and spiritual needs.
As outlined by McKinsey (2008), leadership requires ‘having a well of physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual strength that drives personal achievement and, in turn, inspires others to follow’.
Meeting our basic needs gets us to the state of OK.
When Sophie got to the state of OK she felt replenished, this is the baseline - her cup was full again and before long it was overflowing. This is the state where we can be generous with our time and energy.
Once Sophie got into a habit of being in overflow, the victim in her became quiet. No longer being a victim, she reclaimed her power and took control.
Her energy was up, she got things done and still took time out for herself and her family.
People started going to her for advice, her loved ones were amazed at her strength in dealing with the most difficult time in her life, her boss was commending her to take on a new role and students were inspired by her passion.
She finally feels good about herself and equally importantly she feels like she’s back in control again.
Sophie has become an inspiration for her students, colleagues, boss and loved ones because she shows up differently. Still as her, but the reconnected and more embodied version of her.
I could not have been prouder of how far she’s come.
So, if you can resonate with Sophie’s story, what do you need to be able to show up differently?
Remember the very first step is getting your needs met. This is foundational work, you cannot skip it.
Here are 3 steps can you take today to reclaim your time and energy and start meeting your needs.
1. Commit to finishing work on time
2. Go for a walk outside
3. Turn your phone off early and don’t take it into bedroom tonight
Now go and get your Ready to Rise guide for the deeper journey.
