Yesterday was the Autumn Equinox, the day when the light and dark are of exactly equal length, poised for a moment in perfect balance before the nights lengthen and we head towards the inward, reflective time of year.
It’s a powerful moment to take stock of the year so far before moving into the autumn. How are your projects and initiatives progressing?
I invite you to take time today (on your own or with your team) to consider two questions:
What am I harvesting from the year so far?
Autumn is a time to gather the fruits of your efforts in the year so far. When I sit down and make a list of all the things that have come to fruition – some planned, some unplanned – I feel a much greater sense of satisfaction than if I simply focus on what remains undone.
Business culture isn’t good at this celebration – met your target this year? Let’s increase it next year! Caught on a treadmill of endless growth and increasing targets, the cyclical ebb and flow of the natural world – where expansion is always followed by contraction – can seem like a crisis rather than the healthy order of things.
For me a fruit of 2019 which has kept me busy over the spring and summer is this new website. Other fruits have been exciting new business collaborations that were nowhere on my radar this time last year (more on this soon….).
What am I ready to let go of?
As well as harvesting, an important quality of autumn is letting go. Nature puts forward blossom, leaves and fruit – then graciously releases them, creating maximum beauty at the moment of surrender. Any successful project needs a review stage – to celebrate success and release what no longer serves, turning it into compost for future growth.
I’ve chosen a digital declutter. Whilst I love keeping in touch with the latest thinking from around the world, subscribing to more than 50 newsletters is just too many! I’m pruning my inbox, retaining those newsletters that “spark joy” (which I hope this one does for you). I’ll still be an avid reader of others’ ideas and I’m creating balance by making space for my own writing.