Welcome,
This is a practice for rising above the noise,
For shifting your perspective from the urgent,
The truly important.
Begin by closing your eyes and finding your breath,
Allow the rhythm of your breathing to guide you into a state of calm awareness.
It's I,
I want you to visualize your current workspace,
See your desk,
Your computer screen,
Picture the constant flow of incoming demands,
The emails pinging,
The notifications flashing,
The list of immediate tasks.
See these as small,
Crackling fires,
All around you,
Each one demanding your immediate attention.
This is the reactive space,
The world of firefighting,
Acknowledge it without judgement.
Now imagine that your point of view begins to slowly and gently lift upwards,
As if you are in a glass elevator or floating effortlessly.
You begin to rise above your desk,
The small fires of urgency get a little smaller,
Continue to rise higher,
Floating up through the ceiling,
Seeing the layout of your entire office.
You can see all the people,
All the movement and all the little fires,
But from here you can also see the pathways between them,
The connections.
Now float higher still,
Moving up above the building,
The details inside fade away.
You can see your building in the context of the street,
Neighborhood,
City.
The individual fires are no longer visible at all.
Go even higher now,
Rising up into the clouds,
Until you are looking down upon the entire landscape from a place of vast,
Quiet clarity.
The noise is gone,
The urgency is gone,
All that remains is a wide,
Expansive view.
From this high-altitude perspective you can see the whole picture,
You can see where your organization started and the horizon towards which it is moving.
You can see the great patterns,
The major currents,
The real opportunities for growth and positive impact.
From this strategic viewpoint ask yourself what truly matters right now,
Where can I place my energy to create the biggest positive ripple?
What is the one thing I can do this week that will serve our long-term vision?
Don't search for an answer,
Just float here in the quiet clarity and allow any insight to emerge naturally.
The perspective is the answer.
Now,
Slowly,
Gently,
Begin your descent,
Floating back down through the clouds,
Seeing your city,
Your building come back into view as you float back down towards your office.
Carry this expansive strategic perspective with you,
You are bringing the wisdom of the high altitude down to the ground level.
Settle back into your body at your desk,
The small fires may still be there but they now seem different.
You can see them not as chaotic mass but as small parts of a much larger landscape that you now understand.
You can choose which to address,
Which to delegate and which to let burn out in the on.
Take a deep breath,
Integrating this feeling of clarity and perspective.
When you feel ready,
Open your eyes,
Prepare to engage with your day from a place of strategic goal.