How do You Start Living in Harmony With the Seasons?
In 2019 a shared vision for creating more community around A Kinder World of Commerce brought Monica Lenches and me together. In the process of clarifying our vision, we noticed that we also shared a common challenge around work/life balance. As often happens when our clients have audacious, abundant and beautiful visions, we find ourselves using all of our energy and resources to support them in this process.
Over time I started to realize that I wasn’t putting much importance on my physical and mental well-being. I simply hadn’t made time for resting, reflecting, and purging what was not working. To say that my life was out of balance was a huge understatement. Yet balance and beauty were the vision I had for myself.The problem was that I lacked the support structures and accountability partners that would allow me to take that vision from a daydream to my new reality.
I am a firm believer that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear” (Tao Te Ching). By no coincidence, an opportunity came my way via an invitation to attend a workshop. My Kinder World of Commerce partner and friend, Monica Lenches, knew I was ready to commit to freeing up time and focusing my energy and money on bringing more balance and beauty into my life. She thought this particular workshop would help me take the first steps toward that vision. Our teacher, Madeleine Marentette, is a wellness coach and the founder of Grail Springs, a wellness retreat center in Bancroft, Canada. Her invitation revolved around learning how to live a holistic and sustainable life in harmony with the cyclical energy of the four seasons. What she taught us was a guidance system for manifesting prosperity by being intentional with how we focus our energy in life and in our businesses. The system works for those who are seeking fulfillment in all areas of their lives. We call this fulfillment prosperity, and we feel it when we have achieved our definition of success.
The guidance system I discovered is exactly what I needed at that time in my life because I was yearning to move away from the depleting lifestyle that I had created for myself. When I committed to this framework, I was committing to saying “no” to my go-go way of life and half a century of eroding habits. Once I started living intentionally, Monica joined me, and we never looked back. I’m excited to share with you how we start the year planning for a beautiful, soul-nourishing new cycle of well-being.
The dictionary defines vision as an act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be. My vision consists of both a personal and an interdependence component that includes my chosen community of family, friends and work colleagues. Because my vision deeply influences how I navigate life, I have come to use my vision to bring more purpose and meaning to all aspects of my life. Visioning helps me get clear about what I want and how best to direct my time, money and capacity towards that end. By the end of December, I’ve reviewed and recommitted to my values and landed on a clear vision and set of goals for the upcoming year.
Around the second week of January a new cycle and a new season of our life story is being birthed. January, then, is all about planning for the future we’ve envisioned. It is the time to start initiating our intentional planning practices. By intentional I mean using my vision and values to design deliberate and purposeful plans and strategies that I will use to get to my goals. This includes looking at how I invest my time, energy and money in service of my vision. In other words, defining how I want to spend my time professionally and personally, with whom I want to partner and how I will carve out time to spend on the most important tasks or habits that will move me towards my vision. It also means making time to hold myself accountable with the commitments I have made. I prefer to do this with a partner, which makes the process so much more powerful and meaningful.
As I navigate my day in pursuit of my vision of balance, my values guide me in making conscious choices. These choices get me back to balance when I have over-committed any of my precious resources (time, capacity, energy and/or money). Conscious choices help me to be fully intentional in my life as I embrace the challenges and opportunities that the ebbs and flows of life bring me.
Today my life is a full and fulfilling one – one where there is a lot of prosperity in all areas of my life. I have the time to care for myself, time for friends and family, the privilege of working with clients who want to be supported in curating a fulfilling, purposeful life. I call this doing business beautifully. I invite you to discover the beauty of visioning, planning and taking action in pursuit of your most audacious, abundant and daring life vision. Here’s to going beyond ordinary business in 2023!
Claudia & Monica
Claudia Rucker is owner and founder of Beyond Ordinary Business and can be reached at [email protected] or 805.698.2358.
To learn more about her unique and transformational approach to business, visit: www.beyondordinary.business.