Hyper Aware as my Rocket Ship Draws Closer

I find myself in a state of hyper awareness as I prepare for my own ‘rocket ship’- my silent retreat now just over a week away. I realize that every single person, abrasive, loving or neither, is in my path for a reason. There is a lesson to be learned or a connection to be made with every event, conversation and encounter.

I had a terrible, terrible day yesterday. A wildly out of control day, the kind of which used to be the norm for me when I was insanely running my business and living life-by-crisis. (Just as you are probably doing right now.) Now I am hyper aware that days like yesterday do not need to blindside me and that how I react to them makes all the difference in the world to my blood pressure and the redness in my cheeks. Not to mention relational damage. I choose to not have out of control days anymore so I am overly sensitive to how the day blindsided me and made conscience decisions in how I reacted to it.

After my hysterical day, I made it to my hotel very late. Weeping during the long dark drive like an idiot because all I really wanted was to be going home somewhere to someone special who would draw me a long soak, scrub my back, pour me a glass of wine or three and tell me that everything was going to be all right. That I was doing the right thing and what I had to offer was of value.

But somewhere between the hotel front desk and my room, I dumped my pity party and realized that I was in control of the way I responded to my day and the events that had unfolded in it and that my weeping was irrational. I realized that I needed to step back from my sense of out of control, call on my faith and take care of myself and my own circumstances. I drew my own bath, shaved my legs and fell back on my hyper-aware senses.

I worry about all small business owners who day after day are living out of control inside of their businesses and know clearly that this does NOT need to be the norm. In hindsight, I can only imagine how much more successful I would have been had I run my business in the moment in a state of full awareness every single day. How do we take the feeling of hyper awareness and translate it into how we lead, run, manage and grow our passion for our businesses into success? How do we learn to grow from a position of quiet and awareness instead of one of insanity?

This is what ‘it’ is right now, for all entrepreneurs. We have the choice to step back, lead and manage. My hope for you is that you do what you can to put yourself in a position to revisit how you are running your business, treating your customers and leading your employees. You are challenged to take the time to put yourself into a state of hyper awareness.