Bringing Awareness to What Makes us Feel Vital
When you are working on something that you love, hours pass like minutes. However, sometimes it is a struggle to recognize what topics or projects might bring us that sense of vitality. What brings us vitality is missing from our awareness.
At the April 2019 Catalyst Constellations Retreat we all experienced having people reflect back to us which ideas caused us to spark with vitality. And it was a tremendous gift! In fact, our ability to make positive change in the world was amplified as those around us helped us tune into what brought us joy. So much so that we wanted to share the magic formula that can help you give this same gift to others.
So how can you support fellow Catalysts in recognizing their signs of vitality? And how can you benefit from their support? Follow these simple steps:
1. Find a fellow Catalyst or group of Catalysts to connect with.
Our Catalyst Constellations Retreat cohort was amazing, but they all went back to their own companies and lives. So the first step is identifying people we can come together with in our day-to-day environments and building a regular meeting rhythm.
2. Discuss how we all have more energy if we work on things that we love.
As Catalysts we can go hard after anything. It is in our DNA. Whether or not we burn out will depend on our energy flow. One way we can manage our energy flow is to work on challenges and projects that we love and therefore renew our energy.
If you work on topics that keep your energy flowing you are limitless because you have renewed energy to keep going! Therefore, how much we can accomplish is directly related to the things we are working on. If you chose to engage with challenges that invigorate you then you can accomplish much more than if you focus in areas that deplete your energy.
This can be the difference between burning out versus having sustained impact.
When you are building a network of Catalysts discuss how making the choice to work on areas we love will allow all of us to sustain our energy and therefore be more productive and accomplish more!
3. Commit to helping one another see your vitality sparks.
Once you’ve agreed that bringing awareness to the areas where we spark with vitality is beneficial, you want to make this part of your commitment to one another. Commit to paying attention and reflecting back when you see a spark of vitality or when you notice an energetic dip. Commit to taking time to discuss opportunities and projects. This will grow everyone’s personal awareness and allow them to amplify their positive change!
4. Bring attention to body cues of what is invigorating to the person in front of you.
Specifically, when in conversation with fellow Catalysts reflect back to them when you see cues in their body language. Note responses that something is invigorating to them, versus not.
For example, you may be talking to a colleague that sits up straighter, talks faster and seems to light up when talking about facilitating a group of executives. Then you may notice that she sinks back in her chair. She may seem to deflate like a balloon as she talks about having to write up the notes following the meeting.
It can be easier for us have awareness for these physical cues in others, rather than feel them in ourselves. Take a moment to tell her: “I noticed you lit up when talking about facilitating, and you seemed to dim when talking about writing notes.”
Authors: Ally Taylor, Ann Rich, Ashley Munday, Breana Teubner, Brett Christenson, Enrique Aznar, Gayatri Agnew, Izabel Loinaz, Jay Hasbrouck, Rosie Slentz, Ryan Warren, Sam Ladner, Shannon Lucas, Tahni Candelaria, and Tracey Lovejoy
