I argued with reality.

Speed was my superpower. 

Until it became a flaw.

Quick to learn and fast to adapt, I went from investor relations covering Latin America to executive search focused on fashion. 

I lived in a New York Minute.

You'd think burnout slowed me down. 

Pas du tout!

I became even more impatient. 

I was anxious to get back at it. 

But despite my efforting, all I got was capricious results. 

"Impatience is an argument with reality.

A wish for time to speed up, tomorrow to come sooner or to close your eyes then open them and find yourself in another place", wrote Rick Rubin in The Creative Act.

Wish I had read that then!

I had been refusing, and ignoring reality.

But reality is a bitch because she has all the time in the world :) 

You need space to bring in newness. And you create space 

by letting go of the old.

Then Rubin says: 

"All we have to do is invite it in and await it actively. Not anxiously, as this might scare it off."

If it sounds woo-woo and totally counterintuitive, it's because we are so immersed in the hustle culture that we don't know better.

If your efforting stops yielding results, see how you can let go of stuff and pause - it feels like hell for doers like me. But it works!

In fact, slowing down is now my most efficient coaching tool.

every form of it:

observing, noticing allowing.

That's it.

So you stop loosing energy arguing with reality?

Look, the pandemic accelerated everything for everyone making work feel like a full-speed merry-go-round. 

Remember when you were a kid and got dizzy? you either got out or got in the center.

Same for work. 

You either pause or recenter your attention.

It's not doing, it's reclaiming our attention and becoming intimate with ourselves.

Then wait actively and see how things unfold and possibilities emerge. 

The result surprised me.

I wish you had done it sooner :) Just kidding!

Patience is an art, not a quick fix.

And I practice baby steps, like when I wait 3 mn for my coffee!

But like with the spaceship, when you arrive in atmosphere where there is no gravity anymore, you detach the empty and heavy tank so you fire the lighter sets of engine and go into orbit. No effort will take the heavy tank into orbit. 

Coaching is challenging our own assumptions, stretching how we think, kind of yoga for the brain. 

W a r m e s t, 

A g a t h e 

PS: A new website is coming soon, slower than I expected :)