Who would have thought Thursday would end the way it did?
I’m so glad that it did because I was meant to be there!
My working week had been a wearying one and as each day rolled in into the next I was feeling a cumulative effect that had me feeling mentally, emotionally and physically tired. Sitting at my corporate desk Thursday morning I was struggling to not feeling overwhelmed with all the tasks and responsibilities I had.
Earlier in the week, a friend had suggested I might enjoy hearing the guest speaker at the Soar Collective event that was being held in Ballarat on Thursday evening.
Feeling so tired that morning I wasn’t sure if I would go. I wasn’t sure I would even get there as I had a prior commitment straight after work and it was possible that I would miss the first half hour of the event.
When I heard however, what the topic for the evening, I knew that I needed to hear what she had to say, so I decided to do my best to get there.
The speaker was Jacqui Calvert, an energy healer turned coach, who works with women entrepreneurs to help them align their energy to create business success and to clear out any limiting blocks in the process. When I heard the words ‘clear’ and ‘align”, it was as if the topic had been designed just for me.
As it turned out, I was clearly meant to be at this event: I was able to leave work on time to get to my appointment, it finished earlier than I expected so I arrived at the venue with time to spare. The serendipity continued as I introduced myself to one of the ladies in the room to discover that it was the guest speaker, Jacqui.
I do love it when you’re in alignment with yourself and the opportunities and learning just flow!
Jacqui shared her own personal experience to the group in regard to preparing her own presentation for the evening. She had known about the event about a month prior and whilst she had acknowledged to herself that she needed to get on to it a number of times during the month, it wasn’t until the day before that she actually did. It was good to know that I wasn’t the only procrastinator in the room.
Jacqui’s preparation technique clearly differed from how I normally prepare: rather than focus and list what she thought she needed to say, she took steps to align herself first with what she wanted to achieve and instead listed how she wanted to feel when her presentation was completed.
Jacqui’s preparation was a list of “I want to feel …” statements rather than topics to be covered. In writing the opening “I want to feel …” she then let her desired outcome flow without judgement or editing and in doing so, filled an A4 page front and back. It wasn’t a list of content but instead an intention of how she and her audience would feel at the end of the talk.
Having now genuinely stated her intention first, Jacqui said the content detail then flowed naturally to her. The key to this was being intention focused rather than task focused: once she was aligned with her energy in a way that was true to her message, Jacqui said that it only took her about 15 minutes to prepare her presentation.
Keen to test Jacqui’s preparation method for myself, I took the opportunity Friday morning whilst I was on the train, to create my intention for my work day.
Did it make a difference to how I felt and did things? It most certainly did!
My intention list included wanting to feel valued, appreciated, calm, ease, calm, clarity and connection to just name a few. Unlike my normal “to do” list, not one task was listed.
As I sat on the train heading home that evening looking back over my day, I realised that I did feel all those things and more. My work flowed rather than gushed and I had left work knowing that I had in fact completed my tasks that day with an ease and calm that I don’t always experience. The biggest plus for me was not feeling overwhelmed by what had, hadn’t and was still to do: it was a good feeling.
Going to the Soar Collective event reminded me too how important it is to connect with like-minded people, and in particular, entrepreneurial women. The energy in the room on Thursday evening was supportive and encouraging. All the ladies were genuine and interested to hear about each other’s business and what they could do to assist someone else in theirs. After such a wearying start to my day I went home feeling energised by the people I had met and inspired by the opportunities I can see ahead.
I was definitely meant to be that evening so just watch this space to see what transpires next.
Until next time, wishing you a day filled with love, laughter, happiness and connection with others.
Joanna xo
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