Pause for a Moment of Gratitude

It’s November! Can we pause for a moment of gratitude? There’s a lot to love about this time of year, but my favorite is that November is the season of giving thanks.

As we come out of our purposeful mini-pauses, I also want to check in with all of you. So let’s do two things together right now – a little reflecting on what we learned about ourselves and a lot of conscious gratitude.

What Happened?

I hope you explored your life, career, and goals with the prompts we provided throughout October. I wish I could have a conversation with every single one of you about the golden nuggets that came from this kind of self-exploration. 

It’s easy to get caught back up in the every day and lose sight of any new ambitions or objectives. With that in mind, I encourage you to take a moment now to fill in some blanks:

• What activities helped you to feel the most REFRESHED?

• As you REFLECTED, did you uncover anything surprising about yourself?

• Did you RECALIBRATE your purpose, vision, or goals in a significant way? 

• How is your RECHARGED version of self different from the previous self?

• In what direction do you want to REDIRECT your energy and efforts?

• As you REEMERGE, what is one change you want to commit to making first?

In thinking about next steps, you might want to find an accountability partner, like a close colleague or mentor, with whom you can confide your new goals. For more in-depth exploration and planning, a career coach can be a valuable asset in maintaining the momentum you gained from your purposeful pauses.

What’s gratitude got to do with it?

I try to practice gratitude all year long, but especially at this time of year. Let’s practice gratitude together in some ways related to purpose and pausing.

First, be sure to appreciate the person at the center of your story: YOU. You are doing all the things. You’re taking the time to learn about who you are at your core and what you want on the deepest level. That’s awesome! Not everyone has the drive and the patience to go through these processes. So kudos!

Second, I invite you to carry over these small moments of the day, those so-called white spaces. We’ve been using them to reexamine our lives and make plans for the future. What if, for November, we fill them with gratitude?

And we can tie this all together by giving thanks for the lessons we’ve learned and the:

• Gifts that have gotten us to where we are.
• Strengths and assets that will take us to where we’re going.
• People who have provided guidance or training, opportunities that we are plugging into.

Wrap it all up with a bow!

The whole point of those purposeful pauses was to uncover the truth about our lives and our careers if where we are is where we want to be or if there are new frontiers to explore. 

Let’s do one final exercise together: A gratitude statement about our foundation (past and present) and the future (what we hope to achieve.)

For example: I am grateful for the lessons I learned as a corporate executive that enabled me to launch my own business, and I look forward to growing my practice with fantastic clients, speaking engagements, and innovative new offerings.

Your turn!