This year, my intention is to awaken fully! While I’ve always been an early riser, this mantra holds newfound significance as I navigate the shifts unfolding around us. Perhaps you’ve noticed these changes as our culture transforms, urging us to lean in, pivot, and sometimes undergo profound personal growth.
Nicholas Janni, author of “Leader as Healer,” shares a profound insight: “The simplest, most powerful tool we have is our attention.” I’m embracing this wisdom by paying close attention to my inner world. This inward focus already yields positive results, allowing me to be more present with those around me and more attuned to the subtle shifts in my environment.
So, how am I putting this into practice?
Living into Learning
I’m adopting a perpetual student mindset, especially as I immerse myself in a new European culture. Rather than jumping to conclusions based on my own cultural lens, I’m learning to stay curious. Instead of immediately crafting stories to explain what I observe, I’m embracing the question “que significa?”—What is the significance of this or that? This open-ended inquiry fosters a spirit of inquiry and receptivity, both in my personal life and our work culture.
Being Gentle
I’m learning to pursue my goals while holding them loosely. While I have aspirations for the year ahead, I’m mindful not to fixate on specific outcomes. By focusing on intentions and consistent habits within my control rather than outcomes dependent on others, I’m fostering resilience and reducing the likelihood of disappointment.
Speaking to Connect
Too often, I’ve held back kind words or compliments, assuming someone else would express them. Yet, a recent encounter reminded me of the power of simple human connection. Despite initial assumptions, a fellow traveler’s vulnerability shattered my preconceptions, underscoring the importance of reaching out and embracing genuine connection whenever possible.
As Janni reminds us, attention is a muscle—the more we use it, the stronger it becomes. Nurturing this ability to pay attention draws us back to our deep inner selves and empowers us to navigate the complexities of our ever-changing world with grace and insight. Let’s commit to cultivating this invaluable skill together.
Author – Michelle Santaferraro, InteraWorks Facilitator
About InteraWorks
InteraWorks is a global learning company on a mission to elevate the human experience at work. Specializing in professional development and performance enablement, we offer top-rated learning programs based on four defined conditions that must exist for individuals and teams, including Effective Edge, Best Year Yet, and the Essentials series. Our integrated learning framework and online tools generate immediate and sustainable breakthroughs in performance. Through decades of working at all levels in enterprise companies across many industries, we’ve built a reputation for helping people and organizations harness their focus, mindset, talent, and energy to produce results that matter most.
We’ve defined four conditions that must exist for an individual, team or organization to be effective within the arena of performance and development; Accountability, Focus, Alignment, and Integrity. We’ll continue to explore these and more in our blog and look forward to your engagement and interaction with us. Stay tuned as we engage the edges.