New Beginnings

Change is good. However, new beginnings can be scary. Most people are uncomfortable with change and it can cause us to often stay stuck even if it’s not the best thing for us. Our job as human beings is to grow and develop our potential. Either we are growing or we are dying. That sounds like a bold statement, but if you think about it you’ll agree it’s true. There is no middle state, even though it may sometimes feel like that. With each passing day, if we don’t use the gifts and talents we were given and we don’t push ourselves in someway to learn, to produce, to give, to share or to contribute, we are dying, not progressing. It’s similar to the idea of making choices – when you make no choice that is also a choice. As Jim Rohn says, “Happiness is not in the getting, Happiness is in the becoming.”

Since June I’ve made enormous life changes and while I’m a huge fan of change and variety, I think I went a little overboard…all at once that is. Getting married and moving to a new city and new country was a massive change. Leaving behind family, friends and community was another massive change. I am immensely grateful for the reason behind the change –my new husband, however, I never really anticipated ALL of the change that went along with it. For instance, new address, phone number, bank, post office, doctors, lawyers, accountants, grocery stores, product brands at the grocery store, gas stations, mechanics, car registration/plates, medical insurance, drivers license, where to park my car, and the list goes on and on and on. Every single day, all day, in the beginning at least, every single act was new. Figuring out how to get to the simplest of destinations was a major accomplishment – successfully getting back home without getting significantly lost was monumental!

I’m blessed to be able to make new friends easily and yet it’s still not something I want to do all day every day. I’d wanted some consistency, some redundancy…oh, how I would have liked to be bored for just one day or two. No, that’s not what was meant for me.

I’ve been there, done that – stagnated, I mean. Felt bored and uninspired. For over a decade I worked for a Fortune 500 company and had great opportunities to grow and move up the ranks. There was never a dull day and the pace was chaotic – but eventually I burned out. Fortune smiled on me and when the company restructured and I was packaged out, I took the advice of my trusted advisors and ventured out on my own. For the next two years my career once again was infused with change, newness and growth. But, despite all of that, I was still relatively safe and content. I was working within my comfort zone, in business streams I knew well, venturing out little: literally and figuratively. Working from home I could hide and isolate when I didn’t feel particularly chatty or collaborative. I could focus on the solitary tasks of entrepreneurship and get absorbed in them for hours rather than face the necessary sales calls that were required to drive my business forward.

Then I moved, got married and everything – I mean EVERYTHING – got tossed up in the air and shuffled around.

It’s November and the dust has somewhat settled on my new life…I’ve established a pleasant new routine, I know my way around, have made new friends and am building a wonderful relationship with my new husband. These past 5 months have been full of enormous change, new beginnings and growth, yet on some level they were still within a relative comfort zone because I could control much of it to the extent that I participated daily or stayed hidden in my home. I could control the amount of contact I had and the number of changes I wanted to tackle every day. The changes themselves were completely out of my control and boy oh boy did I learn and grow from that alone. As the serenity prayer so aptly says, “G-d, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” – I think I’ve finally learned to at least recognize the difference. Learning how to accept and having the courage to change me?…those are still works in progress.

I’m so grateful for good friends and family for their support, love and encouragement during these months as I’ve gotten settled in to a wonderful new life.

Now I’m ready for more. I know that if I sit around and get comfortable in this new life I’ll be bored in no time. I can’t contribute fully this way. I can’t make a difference for myself or for others. I can’t challenge myself and I can’t see what’s possible.

I decided that the best way to get back in to action is to get back out among the people. My business is easily done from my kitchen table without much real estate needed. But that’s too safe, and too isolated, and not the best way to keep me uncomfortably out of my comfort zone.

After a great deal of research and inquiry, I chose to join a shared work arrangement at WeWork in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The neighbourhood (yes, I still use Canadian spelling) is busy yet quaint, the waterfront is within a lunchtime walk, it’s a short walk to and from the train (believe me, driving in Brooklyn is not where one wants to spend key hours of the day), the location is filled with 4 floors of diverse and interesting businesses and people and there is excitement, diversity, sunlight, open workspaces, peace and quiet and the ability to focus and be productive.

That said, it was a culture shock when I first arrived. It’s been 3 years exactly since I sat in a public workspace. When I went to put my coffee mug in the ‘dirty bin’ I had a major flashback to my corporate days. I once again need a key pass to get in and out of the doors, printers are shared, bathrooms are shared, the fridge is shared…all good things, but not what I’ve gotten used to.

I now travel to get to work by train, schlepping my bag, my laptop and my lunch. I forgot my key pass the first today but by day three I was a pro. My office mates are quiet and focused on their work. They don’t work for me and because they are self-employed, they are busy actually working in order to pay for their expenses and this wonderful shared space. In other words, the environment lends itself to focus and productivity – two things I’ve been desperately missing in my daily routine.

For some it’s comfortable to have everything fully ordered and structured. I’m not that way. I love change and variety – but I know one truth – that there needs to be a balance. I teach this to project managers, Innovators and Entrepreneurs. Often these folks want to move quickly without any rules or structure. I believe that we need a solid and sound foundation based on good processes and principles in order to be able to navigate the ambiguity of life and business. For 5 months my life has been full of wonderful change and newness but lacking in structure and order. The foundation was being built brick by brick, day by day and now, gratefully, the final stone is in place and I’m ready to take on the world from a position of strength and stability.

Here I sit, in my new workspace, getting acquainted with my new work environment, my workmates and my new iphone (yes, why not change everything all at once?). I am focused and organized enough to be able to actually sit and write my first blog post in ages. I’m building a dynamic and bold business plan – a strategic plan – filled with specific goals and action steps needed to propel me toward the dream business I desire.

New beginnings: what a wonderful way to experience the world. They push us out of our comfort zone and propel us in to the world of the unknown and discomfort. And who knows what surprises and rewards await us. Fear stand for “future events appearing real”. We can’t know what lies ahead, but if we stay present, have a great foundation and we’re open and forward facing, the possibilities for growth are limitless. With a smile on my face and a spring in my step, I’m excited to greet this new beginning with open arms.