jalléCafe

Five years after 40

Yesterday was my birthday.  I felt lucky to spend it in our first real days of summer sunshine with Mr. B at his invitation.  Wellness.  Mountain views. Good food.  Lots of conversation.  Easy and fun.

Tonight, tired, relaxed and a little sunburned, I read my journal from when I turned 40.  I was taking a year off, in Chicago, healing and learning from a stressful time in my life.  Now from Zurich, with my own business, I found these words:

The Day After 40

A good day standing solidly in my now

Mature shoes

Sun shines and a fresh breeze off of the lake

Pours into my soul and proclaims me a

Woman

Fully

Fewer storms of youth as I fight to

Evolve into myself

Surely dark gathering clouds will eventually

Dispel

And my inner, confident elegance rises

Try life

Pursue it

Make the next 10 years as active as the last

When I look back from 50

I will say

I learned how to ride waves

And roll with the tides

And smile in cool breezes

And know the many faces

Of a deep, cool, churning, sparkling sea

Week 15: Remembering to "look up"

Last week's Wednesday of Resilience seems to have met my goal.  I wondered at first if it really worked.  I felt too task focused and wanted to give my more creative, enthusiastic side a little recharge.

Proof:  I'm writing this blog having just returned to the office from a late lunch.  That makes it the middle of a working day here. A Monday, no less.

An odd Monday for sure.  Shortly, nearly everyone in Zurich will gather for a costume parade down the main street (Bahnofstrasse).  More than 25 "Zunfts" or traditional trade unions/clubs will stroll for more than three hours dressed in the clothes of the day nearly 100 years earlier.  ALL MEN MARCHING.  Women's role for this event is to sit along the street with baskets of flowers.  When a favorite man walks by, a woman runs to him with a flower and adds three kisses on the cheek (left-right-left Swiss style).  The one women's Zunft that exists is not allowed to march.  You can get annoyed by the sexism, but what do we expect in a country where women only gained the right to vote in 1971?  I'm satisfied for now to do my part in moving us into the modern world as President of the Professional Women's Group of Zurich. 

And anyway, the tradition is more about the ringing of the 6 p.m. bells to designate the end of work - and increasing daylight in the Spring.  Here's good explanation:  The Tradition of Sechseleuten

Equally odd: the parade ends with the burning of the "Booeg" or snowman at 6:00 p.m. (Like the Ground Hogs Day and July 4th in the USA combined.)  The tradition goes that the length of time it takes for the snowman to explode atop a burning bonfire designates the length of the remaining winter.  It snowed here last week.  I'm hoping for a quick burn.  Via the miracle of modern technology, you can get the idea via You-Tube!  Sechseleuten 2006

A band just marched down the small street of our office representing the meat cutter's Zunft which normally meets in the same building as the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce luncheon events.  Guys wearing red butcher's vests and carrying silver axes with red flowers tied on them.  I'll show you photos tomorrow.

For now:  It's time to participate in the community more fully.  With all of its people and traditions.  Some that I understand.  Some I will learn.  Some I will simply enjoy in baffled, but happy wonderment. 

Goal #3: Just when you thought I'd forgotten

My third goal is my business goal.  What to do with jalle and it largest client.  When I started the year, I saw separate streams of work.  I consulted with one; trained with the other.  I looked forward to building a consulting approach that could eventually be separated from my training.

The goal: "streamline" the offer of my business and "do what I know is right" with my time for my largest client.  I debated if these ideas represented two goals.  But how can you really have two big equal goals for one business? Intuitively and strategically, I find two entirely separate goals inelegant.  They should work together.

Then just lately over the weekend, I came to a surprise realization.

Now that I see how it works with a team, it's the consulting model that I find most effective and rewarding.  When you see a project through with a client and it works, it's satisfying to know you made at least a little difference.  This time last year, I believed the opposite.  That a consulting model was too energy-consuming somehow for little real influence on outcomes. 

Sure we cannot change the big wheels of corporate politics, but we can impact a few people positively - an increasing number of people over time. That's where they are working.  How they earn their livings.  Where they spend a lot of their time.

I have to admit it remains interesting to me.  A challenge.  A space for creativity in communication. 

Let's see how I define "streamline" by year-end. The exact path remains to be cleared.

So why do you suppose my symbol of this goal is a river (other than the fact that I've always loved rivers)?

Resilience Day!

Before I could return to my blog again, it seems I needed a break.  A change of rhythm.  Of view.

So I spontaneously took Wednesday off. Well, spontaneously if you consider that I originally held this entire week to go to Spain.  Zermatt seems not so far in the past; I wanted an away day, not an adventure.

After a relaxed cup of coffee, a little internet and a few phone calls, I landed here:

The Panorama Hotel and Spa.  Truly one of my favorites anywhere.  And fortunately in this case 30 minutes from home.  Check out that view from the heated outdoor swimming pool.  Lake Zurich from the other end.  I'm not a big swimmer, but its worth the slide to the water's edge. 

Sandra O inspired my RESILIENCE day.  She leads a seminar for us on the topic - an exploration of why we don't do the things we know to do to manage our energy better.  Her philosophy is that we should take steps to help ourselves before we hit burn-out.  We already know lots of ideas for how to do this.  We just don't take the time, make the commitment, simply do it.

What did I do with my day? Not much.  I read a book about writing, a magazine with an article on the perfect hair cut and my journal from Zermatt.  Jogged 3 kilometers on the tread mill.  Heated up in half a dozen saunas.  Spent a few hours withdrawn inside myself.  Then enjoyed a long dinner with a girl friend.

Today, I was ready to write again.  That was the point.  Mind wandering to bring creativity back into bloom.  A day off, a little hot steam and a prosecco with a good friend did the trick.

Sandra was right: we know exactly what to do.  A little doing it went a long way for me.

Return to the page

I slipped into a "blog recession" these last few weeks. 

Thanks to Mr. Ness, I have NOT let a sharp downturn of an entire month hit my posts.  Talking with him today - well, not just his words, but really more his spirit as a friend and colleague who has been with me since the beginning of my business two years ago - compelled me on-line. Right now.

Reminded me why I write.  What is great about communicating.  Where I started.

What really has happened since early March is that I've purposefully moved into single-mindedness.  There's something I sense is at the right moment to move forward.  I want to be there to catch the moment and spur it on if I can.  (Ironically, this is actually related to Goal #3 that I havn't yet published.)

My sole view for a period of time is about establishing a growth trend with my largest client and making it sustainable.I feel a change in the momentum. The energy has been fun and rewarding because I'm sharing it with a team.

The rest of my energy has been invested in Goal #2.  Tonight Goal #1 gets a deep breath. (Thanks to Mr. Ness, who didn't even express frustration when I admitted I hadn't yet read his recently published article when I know he'll be one of the first to read this post. Really sorry. A good kick deserved and noted.)

In fact, periods of single-minded focus can also be creative.  Problem solving.  Moving forward with drive. Discovering new ways to meet a goal.

What one risks with singular focus is that while constantly drilling deeper and deeper into the goal, you forget to look up once in a while. And the next thing you know, you raise your head for a moment in the sun to find that everyone else has moved to a new beach.

OK I'm mature enough by now to pay attention often enough.  And if not,  by now I thankfully have good friends who remind me.

I feel happy and somehow recentered to have returned to this page.  More soon!