Effortless Thursdays #2: Gratitude for train cancellations
Gratitude, eating for health, and resources for your leadership skills
Your train driver is “not available”
Monday morning. My alarm goes off. It's 5 am.
Lights on, wide eyed, out of bed.
And then my heart sinks a few moments later.
In between falling asleep and waking up, my 06:42 train to Manchester Airport had been cancelled because the driver was “not available”.
The train company had offered an alternative that I travel on the train that left at 02:00 - three hours before I had woken up!
I wondered whether this was the latest generation of artificial intelligence testing out the "irony" setting. Or, perhaps, "barely concealed schadenfreude".
I was annoyed and frustrated with yet another cancellation, and missing my flight. Yet I was calm.
Calmness is not something I would have experienced even a few years ago. In fact, I've been affected by so many train cancellations since June this year that I'm actually grateful for each one.
Gratitude for upended travel plans
You see, each cancellation has been a test of:
my patience
my ability to adjust plans at the drop of a hat
my relying on the very frameworks that I share with my clients about how to respond to challenging events, rather than reacting to them on autopilot.
But it has also been an opportunity to be grateful:
for the equanimity I experience when things don't go to plan
that I am able to choose to respond calmly with patience
that I can let go of the heated debates that I notice other stranded passengers having with station staff when they're angrily asserting their rights
for how much I've evolved from someone who would have had those angry debates into a better, nicer human being.
Most of all, it's a reminder of my gratitude for my GP who told me he couldn't do anything more for my worsening autoimmune skin condition, psoriasis.
It was my GP handing me the baton for my health that helped me reconnect with the foundations for health that allowed me to:
wake up with energy for the whole day - even at 5am
start the day with a calm nervous system that defaults to responding, rather than reacting
lift the brain fog I used to have so that adjusting plans at the last minute became simple, and feel effortless.
Of course, there are still some challenging situations that still can breach my "nervous system defences". Like most things that have a trajectory towards "even better", it's a work in progress.
When I think about my gratitude, I'm reminded of three of the foundations that have been most impactful:
eating for health, rather than convenience (see below for a resource to help you out)
maintaining a regular exercise and mindfulness practice, and
being intentional about where I place my attention
Eating for health sets up my mind and body in a way that exercise, mindfulness and intentionality become easier: I don't have to fight against lethargy, brain fog, or a low mood.
I'm not wishing for more train cancellations, but I'm grateful for the things other than the frustration and annoyance they also bring.
Over to you
What are you grateful for?
Explore
In this section, you’ll find resources to build the pillars of Effortless Leadership.
Eating for health
If you’re interested in what eating for health, rather than convenience looks like, take a look at this approach. It’s the one I apply 80-90%, it’s the one that helped me regain my energy, vitality, and lift the brai fog, so life felt more effortless.
Leadership Skills
I’ve been collaborating with the Thomson Reuters and their Practical Law team to share my insights on leadership that has health as its foundations.
Practical Law is the “go-to” legal know-how resource for business lawyers. It also acts as secretariat for the GC100 group of general counsel and company secretaries.
I went to Thomson Reuters’ offices at Canary Wharf recently to record two videos to accompany two of my articles published earlier this year:
Although you’ll need a Practical Law subscription to access the articles, for one week only Thomson Reuters are making available the videos without a paywall, so you want watch them without a subscription.
In the first video, “Leadership skills for lawyers: lead your team effortlessly”, I share my views on what leading effortlessly looks and feels like, and how you can experience this yourself so that life, and leadership, feels effortless.
Video chapters:
The concept of effortless leadership.
Overcoming scepticism.
Three pillars: health, mindset and environment.
Having the right mindset.
In the second video, “Leadership skills for lawyers: establish health-first foundations”, I highlight the health-first foundations that lead to effortless leadership and explore the environmental levers for establishing health-first foundations.
Video chapters:
Benefits of establishing health-first foundations.
Listening to what your body is telling you.
That’s it for this week!
As always, I appreciate your feedback on Effortless Thursdays. What did you think of this week’s edition? How can I make it more useful to you? Let me know in the comments, by email, or on Twitter.
To your health and success,
Eric
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We love gratitude! I’m grateful for my health and the health of those I love! 🧡
Hey Eric, I enjoyed this latest edition. Congrats on the video collab with Practical Law!