Ordinary People Taking Action

Transitions.

Transitions come in the form of tiny beautiful things.
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Yet, it’s these tiny, beautiful things we often miss.
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It’s an interesting time for me, the end of a school year. This year comes with change all around me. My own son is ending his middle school days and will be starting high school next year. He’s experiencing a lot of “lasts”, like his last middle school soccer game today. Similarly, my friends who are parents of high school seniors are experiencing a shift in their families, with their children graduating and transitioning to life post high school. Many are heading to colleges – some local, some afar.

Writing is a tricky thing. I am beginning to believe that all writers go through several phases of thinking, and therefore believing, they are not good enough. It’s a feeling I often get when I read over an article of mine. Then this morning, a colleague reached out for advice on how to get started writing more – and added that he thought my articles were really good. Perspective shift.

In writing these articles, I consistently balance my commitment to maintaining the privacy of others and sheltering a bit of myself – my family, my life. There is some measure of vulnerability in sharing personal stories. That said, today I am choosing to write about experiences with my family over the last week, as I think many will be able to relate.

​Over the past week, I coached four extremely smart and successful executives. When I share with people that I coach high-level executives, I’m often met with surprise, as if people don’t quite see the value in what I do for a living. To explain, I often use the analogy of a professional athlete. Professional athletes never engage in a game without their coach, nor would anyone expect them to. Executives, like professional athletes, have reached the pinnacle of their career. They, too, are at the top of their game. So, why do we continue to be surprised that executives might benefit from coaching as well?

The other day, I had a really good day. My friend had a really bad one.

On any given day, some people you interact with are having a great day and some are having a horrible one – with most falling somewhere in between the two extremes. My point? Everyone we encounter is having some sort of day.

Take my friend and me. We each experienced our days completely differently, despite doing very similar things. We both went to work. We both drove our children to practice. We both did the “mom” duties, the “friend” duties, the “daily” duties.