Contrasting creates space

E69: How do you create space away from the daily hustle?

It’s because the sunlight feels different this morning, I think.

There’s a bright stillness in the air.

The little fat robin that sits on the garden wall singing each morning sings again.

“Have you got your passport and phone?”, the taxi driver asks me.

There are no cars or cyclists or buses crisscrossing ahead on the road today.

A frizzy-haired elderly gentleman walks out onto the zebra crossing at Latimer Road.

I look left at the Grenfell Tower covered in plastic sheets of shame.

I think of the people who perished and the people who survived.

I feel the hollowness in my stomach, and a quiver down my legs.

I am on my way to Heathrow to catch an 08:05 flight to Aberdeen. 

The colours are popping. The silence is golden. 

And I have space.

I wondered what it was about this morning that gave me space.

I’m a regular driver along this route and often notice what is happening outside the car. 

This time it wasn’t simply that I was noticing what was going on.

I was also contrasting.

Contrasting is when we highlight what features or characteristics set apart this situation from other situations.

This morning was different because of the sunlight.

The different hue of the morning light allowed me to see and experience everything with different eyes. It helped create a space to think, slow down, and reflect.

The idea of contrasting is something we experience when we are being coached. To some extent, a coaching session creates its own space and time and culture. 

For example, when I am being coached, I can:

set aside the daily pressures of working

being “on” or 

figuring out how to handle someone in “predatory listening” mode.

Indeed, it’s the one thing that comes up regularly when I ask my clients what they gain from coaching: 

Space apart from the daily hustle.

Space to connect with themselves and others around them.

Space to reflect, to be open and honest.

Space to have the courage to change

Space to rediscover the joy for what they do.

Space to be the leader they want to be.

👉 Over to you!

What features or characteristics allow you to create space?

ps If you’re an entrepreneur, a lawyer or another high-flying professional - who’s looking to create space, get in touch and let’s have a conversation.

That’s it for this week!

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To your health and success!

Eric