Room to Breathe
Passage 10 - Tao Te Ching - Translated by Stephen Mitchell
As you probably already know in the world of business, things move quickly.
Have you ever realized things have become unmanageable and you’re not quite sure how it got that way?
When we move too fast it reminds me of an unkempt house.
I don’t know about you, but when I am working from home, it’s very difficult to keep the house clean,
meal prep, tend the garden, stay on top of laundry - all these can be done with ease when we have a rigorous routine.
When we have adequate time, energy and space, we can clean up messes right away, fold AND put away laundry as soon as it’s finished and even prep our meals a week early.
But, if you live with other humans (and animals), you already know that a routine can quickly become
irrelevant with the daily spontaneity of life.
It’s the same in business.
If we push ourselves to only achieve without stewarding what we are creating along the way,
soon we may forget what we are really achieving in the first place.
Here’s an example of achieving without stewarding -
let’s say, you have a goal to have twenty calendar appointments in one week.
So you push yourself (or your automations) to reach out to more people.
Maybe you reached the calendar quota, but because you only focused on attaining a number,
you let the responsibilities that come with calendar appointments, things like following up after the call
or qualifying the people who end up on the phone with you, fall through the cracks.
Now you have twenty calendar appointments (hooray!), but you have only one person
who's actually compatible with your services. (oops…)
That is a perfect example of prioritizing speed and numbers at the expense of completing a process.
When a process isn’t fully created to complete invisible intentions (like prequalifying people who are on a call),
we are vulnerable to acting like a machine.
This means we will judge ourselves by how much we do (or have) rather than our ability
to steward what we do or have.
Remaining on a virtuous path as the Tao teaches us, is the key to stewarding.
Remaining focused on our deeper intentions beyond business such as being in a particular mindset or maintaining a certain disposition towards ourselves and others, can help us remain steady in a world where speed is considered a virtue.
This passage from the Tao reminds us to remain flexible like a newborn, so let’s look at that more closely.
Newborns are born without expectations or self-limitations.
They instead take what’s handed to them in stride, with a willingness and ability to learn, love, and wonder.
They don’t see limits or dead ends. Only potential.
When we possess the flexibility of a newborn, we adapt with ease and welcome all outcomes.
This means being open to NOT getting the results you want and falling in love with the process for the sake of stewarding.
Are you so attached to a specific result that you’re pushing necessary work away?
This happens to all of us!
In these moments of wanting what you don’t have currently, take a deep breath
and release any tension you feel.
Doing this as you work will help you foster a disposition of surrender and acceptance for what is,
so you can make space to learn and love the process again.
As the Tao teaches, cleansing our inner vision so all we can see is light will bring us to a place of humility in business.
When we are humble we can lead with clarity and really feel okay with things as they are;
we’ll finally accept there is no “good” or “bad” place in business -
it’s just where we are and it’s all part of a journey.
Once we can accept the whole journey, we’re able to lead without exerting control.
And when we’re not trying to be in control, we’re able to be present with ourselves, our circumstances,
our results, the people we serve and our teams.
Holding them to expectations will create better work environments.
Ultimately, this will foster more empathy, creativity, mindfulness, adaptability
and collaboration without even trying because now, it’s who we are and not what we do.
By Arabella Davis
What lessons do you see in today’s passage from the Tao? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
