Sometimes the next chapter begins with one small decision to stop drifting.
There is something about this time of year that always reminds me that life comes in seasons.
There are seasons when we plant. Seasons when things grow like crazy. Seasons when we harvest what we have created. And then there are seasons when it looks like very little is happening at all.
We humans aren’t that different.
Yet somehow, we seem to expect ourselves to keep going at the same speed all year round.
Keep producing. Keep achieving. Keep moving forward.
And preferably know exactly where we are going.
I have certainly been guilty of that.
As a natural doer, slowing down hasn’t always come easily to me. Yet some of the most important new beginnings in my life haven’t appeared when I was pushing harder.
They came when I stopped long enough to hear myself.
Sometimes momentum begins by stopping
One of those moments happened in a hammock.
I was simply lying there, allowing myself to be. No pressure. No judgement. No need to accomplish anything.
This time in my hammock is something I consider both work and pleasure because I’ve learned how much can happen when I allow myself to slow down and just be in the moment.
You rest.
Your nervous system gets a chance to settle when it has gone a little bananas.
Ideas appear.
And perhaps most importantly, you get a chance to hear what is coming from within rather than all the voices around you telling you what you should be doing.
On this particular day, one thought suddenly appeared:
“I’m going to write an e-book.”
And then the ideas kept coming.
I hadn’t gone into my hammock with a business plan or a goal to figure out my next product. I had simply created enough space to hear something that was already there.
That little moment eventually became “The Hidden Room – The Key Was Never Missing”, and it also became another piece of something much bigger that has been developing in my work.
It reminded me of something I have learned many times in my life.
New momentum doesn’t always come from doing more. Sometimes it comes from hearing yourself more clearly.
A new beginning doesn’t have to mean starting over
When we find ourselves in transition, we tend to think a new beginning requires a big decision.
Leave the job.
Change the relationship.
Move somewhere else.
Start the business.
Reinvent yourself.
I’ve made some pretty big changes in my own life, so I’m certainly not against them.
But I’ve also learned that you don’t have to throw your whole life in the trash to create a new chapter.
Sometimes it begins much more quietly.
You recognise that something doesn’t feel right anymore.
You become curious instead of immediately trying to fix it.
You notice an old pattern you’ve been repeating.
You say no where you would normally say yes.
You have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Or perhaps you simply admit to yourself that what once worked for you doesn’t anymore.
Then you make one small decision.
And another.
Transformation may begin with one decision, but sustainable transformation is created through the choices we make afterwards.
You don’t always need another answer
This is also where I believe coaching can make such a difference.
Not because a coach should tell you what your next chapter should look like.
Quite the opposite.
Sometimes we are so busy living our lives, solving problems, building businesses, supporting other people and taking care of everything that needs our attention that we simply can’t hear ourselves anymore.
A good coaching conversation creates space.
Space to stop and reflect.
Space to question what you’ve been taking for granted.
Space to recognise patterns that are difficult to see when you’re standing right in the middle of them.
And eventually, space to ask a question that has become increasingly important in both my own life and my work:
What is actually true for me now?
Not ten years ago.
Not what your family expects.
Not what your colleagues think.
Not what social media tells you a successful life should look like.
What is true for you, now?
Coming HOME
That question is at the heart of something I’ve been developing in my work that I call HOME.
H – Hear yourself
Slow down enough to hear what is actually going on within you.
O – Own your patterns
Recognise the habits, beliefs and old programming that may still be running your life.
M – Move with truth
Start making choices and taking action based on what you know now.
E – Embody what you learn
Bring those insights into everyday life so change becomes something you live, not just something you understand.
For me, coming HOME isn’t about becoming someone completely new.
It is about reconnecting with yourself so that the next decisions you make come from who you are today rather than who you learned you needed to be years ago.
And perhaps that is what renewal really means.
Not erasing what came before.
Not starting from zero.
Taking everything you’ve experienced, learned and become with you while giving yourself permission to choose differently from here.
What might your new beginning look like?
Perhaps this season isn’t asking you to make a dramatic change.
Maybe your new beginning is much smaller than that.
Take ten quiet minutes.
Go for a walk without your phone.
Sit somewhere you love with a cup of coffee.
Stop trying to find the answer for a moment and simply listen.
Then ask yourself:
Where in my life am I ready for something new?
And perhaps more importantly:
What is one small decision I can make today that moves me in that direction?
You don’t need the whole map before you begin.
Sometimes one honest decision is enough to change your direction.
And that small change in direction might just be the beginning of a completely new momentum.
Ready to explore what’s next?
If you recognise yourself somewhere in these words and you know that something needs to change, but you’re not quite sure what that change looks like yet, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
Sometimes the first step is simply having the space to talk it through with someone who isn’t standing in the middle of your life with you.
Through Archer Inspirations, you can connect with a coach who can help you slow down, gain clarity and explore what your next step might be.
And if my way of working speaks to you, I’d be happy to have that conversation with you.
Your next chapter doesn’t need to begin with a giant leap.
It can begin with one conversation.
One decision.
One small step towards coming HOME to yourself.
Coach Anneli Johansson
Creating Smiles by Anneli | Archer Inspirations
