As an adult I don’t get that automatic sense of new beginnings in a work context every year. January 1st for me is about personal change but I don’t have a career equivalent and there’s no reason why not. In fact, I think it’s crucial and why would we limit this refresh to once per year? Why not have a quarterly reset? Even if we’re heading back into the same role we can attack the next season with fresh intentionality.

In the rebranding exercise, the title of ‘The Slow Coach’ seems to fit the times, as my coaching practice appears to be taken up with clients all trying to go too fast.

Last month I finished the Zen Leader series, a three-year journey that has honestly changed the fabric of who I am.

It’s not surprising in an environment where almost everything around us is changing nearly constantly, that our species is so attached to keeping things the same.

It seems that wherever we turn, we are confronted by a world in disintegration, with little rationality or compassion.

The first 6 months of self-employment have been interesting, revealing. As a one-man-band selling your own time, there’s nowhere to hide.

An image we sometimes use in Zen training is likening our mind to a body of water. When calm and quiet, it reflects the conditions around it clearly; when stirred up and turbulent, it distorts everything.

In essence, patience is the ability to tolerate discomfort. It’s a useful skill, and one that is being put to the test right now: a full year into a pandemic.

In my Zen training over the last couple of weeks, I have begun to notice a divide that exists between me (my ego), putting ‘me’ at the center of the result, against a more profound sense of self (my true nature) which sees the issue with radical honesty.