Cultivating A Summer Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Career Coaching

Cultivating A Summer Zen Mind, Beginners Mind: Career Coaching

Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group

Well, here we are on the threshold of the Summer Holiday season 2010. The World Cup is now down to a clutch of South American teams of uncanny talent and the favourites appear to be Brazil and Argentina. The kids are all out of school and biting at the bit waiting to go off. It seems quite ordinary. This calendar day will begin like so many others deep bowls of espresso and off to the office. The weather is glorious. Long days and bright light captivate the imagination and we are off in our minds. I can just picture the Chris Craft gliding from the dock on one of those splendid Maine island mornings, feet covered in Sebago, the smell of salt and pine in the air.

From where I sit in Paris, colleagues are day dreaming full-time. Who can blame them?

Judging from the press, the headlines make you yawn: Russian spies rounded up in American suburbia, the usual bit on Afghanistan, another general strike in Greece not to mention to “dividends” of talk on austerity and the last G20 meeting in Canada. Most people at this point recognise the world will continue so let’s start thinking about something more pleasant like the summer holiday season for example. The summer sale kicks off today in Paris and for those not in the office some might decide to find their way to the front line scrum to fill out their wardrobe.

Waking up to the calendar and the long beautiful days ahead, we have just crossed another invisible boundary. It is called time.

Humans all have uncanny ways of marking the passage of time, which give content to the events and ambitions of our lives. With the mad rush to make resolutions and click off days on a hypothetical countdown to your holiday, there is one resolution you really should make:

Recognise that the only time you have is now. The summer holiday is now whether you are on “holiday” or not. Not everyone will be at the Hamptons, the Vineyard, or Sardinia. You can however decide to make every day festive and joyous, particularly when you come home. In New England, “cocktail time” is particularly a sacrosanct custom. It is not about the alcoholic libations, it is about the camaraderie and friendships.

This summer do not procrastinate.

Were you thinking of boosting your career through education, don’t wait to start, plan it now before the September rush.

Want to explore the souks of Marrakech, go for it. Want to see the Grand Canyon, why wait?

Waiting is inevitably a fool’s game. People cite the question of timing.

“Timing is important, although I wouldn’t use this word. I would call it seasonality. “For everything, there is a season under the sun”.

Today as you wake up to put the kettle on, remember we are sailing thorough virgin land. Any thing is possible, if you really want it.

Anything! All you need to do is dream bi, smile, and have the will.

This summer you must promise your self to move past your usual pattern of continuity by adding a bit of zest sort of like the lemon peel slice in the thimble of espresso.

As you are glancing into the unknown also pause and give thanks for who you are and what you have, not necessarily in the material sense either.

Don’t judge, just look. Breath deeply, slowly, rhythmically until there is a smooth flow like a stream. Blend into the stream and expand. Feel yourself to be the room, the building, your village or city, the world.

Then close your eyes again and picture that you have you just been re-born. Everything is new and fresh just waiting for you to step forward onto the pier port side for a nice steamed lobster dinner with all the trimmings.

For Further Information

Andrew Scharf is a regular contributor to WCW inSIGHT on leadership and Business Education Trends. He is also the head of the MBA Coaching & Career Development division of Whitefield Consulting Worldwide, whose unique coaching methodologies have helped countless professionals harmonise their professional aspirations with their developmental needs.

Visit: http://www.whitefieldconsulting.com

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