The Power of Pause: A Year of Reflection, Growth, and Gratitude
Gratitude.
Immense gratitude for my wife, partners, leadership team, doctors, therapists, friends, mentors, and coaches – all those who have played parts both large and small, volunteer and voluntold, free and paid.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of my sabbatical, a period that has profoundly altered my understanding of myself and the world around me. Over the last year, I’ve studied and experimented with an open mind on a wide variety of topics: neurochemicals, mind-body connections, sleep science, different types of meditation, energy chakras, reiki and energy healers, and even did a guided MDMA/psilocybin journey (which was a big, research-backed leap for someone who’s never even smoked a cigarette or done any cannabis).
A Year of Profound Change
Transformation is a term often over-used, yet this past year has fundamentally reshaped who I am—a transformation so profound that my team now refers to it as “Derek After Sabbatical.” I went in without a plan, to just let my body heal, connect deeply with my family, and be open to new experiences. Like a coach revisiting the game plan at half time, this pause allowed the door to be cracked open just enough for me to see I was playing an unwinnable game with rules I accepted without understanding the true cost to my health, relationships, and happiness.
The adage “you can’t read the label from inside the jar” took on a new, deeper meaning as I began to understand that the essential insights often lie not in the front-facing brand label but the one on the back with the ingredients inside—the core components of our being. Recognizing and deciphering the subconscious scripts and societal norms that dictate our life’s “rules” is challenging yet utterly transformative.
This is the source of my gratitude.
Igniting Change Through Clarity
Each conversation. Each session. Each article written. Each and every time I tapped into my unvarnished truth with others, I was rewarded with a mirror reflecting back the label on the back of my jar. The inner light of each person’s experience illuminating the guideposts on my path, one beautiful conversation at a time.
On the other side of these uncomfortable, even painful reflections, came much greater clarity. Clarity on what ingredients I will choose to be made of going forward. Clarity on what is most important in my life right now. Clarity that I am actually only knee deep into the vast ocean depths of self-awareness.
When I nervously hit send on my first email last year, my sole intention was to put a flashlight on the often unspoken realities of leadership—the doubts, the uncertainties, and the fears we all face yet all think we are the only ones. The overwhelming response confirmed that these insights resonated deeply, opening new doors of understanding and inviting fresh perspectives.
Witnessing the transformative moment when confusion turns to clarity—the sudden ‘aha!’ that clears the fog from the path unleashing trapped energy—that moment fills my bucket all the way up.
That moment is why I am excited to be offering up one-on-on coaching slots for three leaders. To help them find clarity on what it takes for them to live a life that is fulfilling AND impactful AND enjoyable, to start redefining and owning the rules of their own game just like my coaches have done for me.
Cultivating Leadership + Health + Meaning
Over the past year, my journey into deep learning has crystallized into an integrated model, which forms the foundation of my coaching approach, built on the three critical pillars you’ve been reading about each month: Leadership, Health, and Meaning.
Meaning – Confronting Empty Success
“A person uses the first half of their life building the container and the second deciding what to fill it with.”
This leader is saying to themselves or you…
- Is this really all there is to it?
- What’s it all for?
- I thought it would be different when I got here.
- Feeling discontent, dissatisfied, unhappy…and guilt for feeling those feelings for no obvious reason when my life is so good
Opportunity to define what is most important in this season of life through Purpose, Values, and Unique Ability.
Health – Diffusing the Ticking Time Bomb
“A person with their health has a thousand dreams; a person without their health has but one.”
This leader is saying to themselves or you…
- Why is my body failing me?
- I am completely tired and burned out.
- I don’t see how this is going to get better.
- Feeling discouraged, hopeless, despair
Opportunity to avoid requiring a crisis to institute positive change by creating small, maintainable habit shifts in Sleep, Diet, Exercise, and Stress to increase vibrancy.
Leadership – Breaking Through Stagnation
“What got you here won’t get you there.”
This leader is saying to themselves or you…
- I want to grow my business but don’t know how to get over this next hump
- If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
- I don’t have time to work on the business.
- Feeling stuck, trapped, disheartened, uncertain
Opportunity to Elevate Energy. Clarify Thinking. Align Actions. – first for yourself, then your team in order to move forward with confidence and break through organizational growth ceilings
This model assists leaders who might be grappling with feelings of emptiness despite success, chronic health challenges sucking the life out of life, or continuing to bang their head on the same leadership roadblocks.
If you know someone who fits any of these descriptions, I’d be honored if you would forward them this email to see if an introduction and 15 minute call would make sense as I am interviewing and selecting the right leaders for the 3 coaching slots.
Thank you for helping me spread the mission of helping leaders find the clarity on what it takes to create a life that is fulfilling AND impactful AND enjoyable.
Lead With Energy,
Derek
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