Wind Change
My daughters are sailors. (This is one of many clues indicating
a rich gene pool.) They have taught me the concept of wind
change, which I find gorgeously useful as a metaphor for
dynamics that show up in everyone's life.
Here's how it manifests in sailing, as described by an
entrenched landlubber. You're tearing through the water like
nobody's business, knowing what you're doing, and feeling
totally on top of things. You're doing some of the best sailing
you've ever done. Life is grand. But now, suddenly, you've
slowed down to a pathetic little crawl, and none of the
brilliant maneuvers you've been wielding all afternoon are
making any difference at all. "Huh??" you ask. [This is the
tip-off -- this "Huh??" -- that you may be in that personal and
cosmological experience of wind change.] The wind's been taken
out of your sails, and not just for the moment - for the day.
But you're so preoccupied with trying to CATCH that wind at you
don't really get it. It's time to shift your expectations and
sail differently. Even the best skippers, my daughters tell me,
sometimes need to hear it from their crew: "The wind changed."
How does this look outside of sailing? It happens when your
context environment changes, but you're so entrenched in
day-to-day activity that you don't notice the big picture
change. The shift might be something as large scale as
international economic conditions or as personal and individual
as your own physical state, or anything in between.
I once worked with a client who owned a recruiting company that
had been extremely successful but was now foundering. This
dynamic entrepreneur had been working extremely hard to turn it
around, using all the strategies and methodologies that had
worked for her in the past, but to no avail. "Huh?" she was
asking, "I just don't get it." She was disheartened, exhausted,
and felt like a failure. She was like a sailor who keeps trying
to catch the wind, but there isn't any wind!
She had learned her business and brought it to success during
years when there was very high unemployment both in her
geographic region and in the industry where she concentrated.
Over the years, the economy had shifted - there was now
virtually no unemployment in that industry or in her region. The
wind had changed. Her market had altered dramatically, and her
business would have to change dramatically in response if she
was to succeed. She hadn't seen this larger context because she
was so preoccupied with her day-to-day challenges. Grasping that
the wind had changed allowed her to shift her approach.
One of the ways wind change impacts me is in the context of my
physical state. When I enter into a period of flow in my work, I
just let her rip - I open up all my biggest sails, and let that
energy propel me. I love that state. When I am in it, I might
only need to adjust WHAT I'm working on at any given time
(client work? writing? organizing?) or WHERE I'm doing it
(keyboard? phone? Staples? meeting?) in order to stay in flow.
But inevitably, one morning when I start in again, I'm
ineffective and disconnected. In fact, I'm feeling downright
lazy! I try different maneuvers, but I remain relatively useless
and woefully unmotivated. I berate myself for my inclination to
sloth. And then I get it: I'm exhausted. My brain is fried. I'm
toasted - used up. The wind has changed! The flow is not flowing
any more! This round is over.
At this point, I am learning, I need to scrutinize my schedule
to see where I can cut myself some slack. I need to find ways to
rest and re-nourish after this wonderful period of exertion. And
with any luck, I'll be out again when the next great wind comes
along. I am still very much in learning mode when it comes to
identifying a wind change, but the results are very motivating!
Here are some other examples of wind change in people's lives:
1. Your "little children" have "adolesced", and the parenting
style that has worked so well for so many years just doesn't cut
it any more.
2. Your professional reputation and your organization have grown
- and you are flooded with more business than you can handle the
way you're handling it.
3. Your marriage, which has been "on hold" for a few years while
you and your spouse focused on kids and profession, needs some
real attention.
4. The market where you have been targeting your business has
migrated into another sector.