Have you ever had a customer service experience where you could tell the person was just trying to get your task done and move on quickly to meet their quota? They were not at all interested in you or how the experience would impact you. You were a number to them; not human.

Sometimes when I talk with senior level execs about what’s next in their career, I can tell they are un-intentionally treating themselves as numbers – not human beings. They are thinking about how easily they can update their resume and LinkedIn profile, how many calls they can make to generate an offer, and how quickly they can get their butt in a “next” job seat to reduce the number of days not contributing to their 401(k).

Whoa. Hang on.

Yes, all these steps are required (updating the resume/LI profile; talking with people; getting an offer), but all for what?

You’re not in your 20s anymore. You have DECADES of experience and so much WISDOM gained from trillions of inter-personal transactions. You’re looking beyond the numbers and formulas and spreadsheets and financial return. It’s about people at this stage, and the ripple effects from the impact you can make. All of this adds up to the legacy you will leave behind. Not just for your family, but for your work and community, as well.

So, instead of un-intentionally treating yourself as a number, as you move through the process of exploring what you want to be when you grow up, pause and reflect on these two questions:

What is the impact I want to make the second half (or final third or final quarter) of my career?

What is the legacy I wish to leave behind?

Allow your insights from these questions to inform how you move forward in your life and career, with full appreciation for you as a human being – really a spiritual being in a material world.

And when you’re ready to listen to those voices in your head that have been telling you you’ve got to make a change, let’s talk.

Here’s to your Reinvention,

Erin Owen, MBA, PCC, JCTC
Executive Career Reinvention
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinowen/
To start your Executive Career Reinvention^TM program, apply for an initial call with me here.
Let’s talk! https://calendly.com/erin_owen/30min

Missed any past email newsletters? Kate recently updated our newsletter archive. And while they don’t go back the full 16 years I’ve been coaching, they do go back almost a decade to 2011. What? I know, I can’t believe it either. Check it out!

Where’s Erin?

Working with private clients in the Executive Career Reinvention^TM program, providing executive coaching to mid-level and senior-level executives who work for for-profit, NGO, academic, and private organizations, coaching women leaders at the University of Cincinnati, and also coaching MBA and Exec MBA students at Wharton.

Before I head back to Cancun for vacation mid-month, I’ll also be speaking again at The Wharton School of Business. This time to a busy bunch of Exec MBA students about how they can Access a Higher Gear using strategies I’ve taught for years – including some from my book Refuel Recharge Re-energize: Your Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Time and Energy. Never read it? Paperback and Kindle versions available on (you guessed it) Amazon.

You’re busy with gift buying and travel planning. And then there are the health issues in your family and friend group that are requiring extra time and energy. There is a never-ending list of things that require your attention. But, where do you fit in all of this? And what about considerations for your future?

Give yourself the ultimate gift this month: one hour of my undivided attention all on you, what’s going well for you, what needs to change, and the concrete small steps you will take to support your own goals. Only one hour. (How much time did you spend on social media or Netflix this past week? The least you can do is dedicate one hour to yourself.)

The early bird discount for the End of Year Assessment ends this Friday, December 13th, 2019. [no longer available]

Life will keep rolling at you like waves crashing onto the shore, so let’s put you in the driver’s seat for this one hour. Be present with yourself, clear your head and conscientiously reflect, then make a plan.
All with my support.

Hey, I’ve been doing this for nearly 16 years now, and I know for sure that “wherever you put your attention, energy follows.” If you continue getting pulled into what other people want you to do, then that is exactly where your time, energy, and attention will stay. There will always be something else or someone else who needs your attention.

And you know what I’m going to say next… put your own oxygen mask on first this time, so then you are in a better position to support others when the time comes. It’s time to take a deep breath, recognize that life is coming at you so fast, that you have to slow down for this one hour to get some perspective and take responsibility for your life. It’s time for you to take control.

Register now while discount spots remain. [no longer available]

Here’s to your reinvention!

Erin Owen, MBA, PCC, JCTC
Executive Career Reinvention
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinowen/
To start your Executive Career Reinvention^TM program, apply for an initial call with me here.
Let’s talk! https://calendly.com/erin_owen/30min

I contemplated some pretty big questions last week while on retreat on Whidbey Island, Washington. I arrived Sunday afternoon to The Whidbey Institute expecting a refresh on the practices I’ve learned related to the neurobiology of learning and change. I departed Thursday morning affirming that I am being called by LIFE to do my work. Read on to learn more…

“What is LIFE calling you to do?”

In one activity during the retreat, I directed my attention to focus on different centers of intelligence in my body in order to learn more about my sacred longing*.

First, I walked across the room with my HEAD leading the way: it said that I wanted more love and connection, and the words came out of my mouth in a very matter-of-fact sounding tone. Yes, love. Of course that makes sense since we are human and we all need love.

Next, I dropped my awareness into my chest and walked across the room with my HEART leading the way: I immediately started to shake and sob as I felt the energy from my body expanding outward 360 degrees on a horizontal plane as I ached for deeper love and connection in all areas of my life. I knew instantly that this sacred calling inside me is what sparked me four years ago to go in search of greater teamwork and collaboration in the work domain of my life.

The third stage of the activity was to focus on the area of the hara in the GUT (the enteric nervous system), and when I spoke the word “love” aloud I noticed my voice had dropped an octave and the feeling was very solid and grounding. The energy I felt in my core was warm and moving out in all directions, like a slowly inflating ball.

Finally, when I expanded my attention to the whole of my being, head + heart + hara + all inside and outside of my physical body, what became clear to me is this:

“When my sacred longing is no longer a longing, but rather my experience, then my desires dissipate.”

And in the words of Amanda Blake, who convened the retreat:
“What is being longed for is already here for you. It’s already in you.”

And so what I leave you with today is this:
The seeds for what you long for are already planted in you. What is next is for you to tend to them, to nurture them, with the sunlight of your attention, the water of your presence, standing in the nutrient-dense soil of your truth: who you are and what you know to be true for you. Be present with what you feel and are aware of within you, and allow the life that flows through you to guide you one small step at a time.

What is life calling you to do?

*Sacred Longing versus Desire
As described by my teacher Mandy Blake, and paraphrased through my own experience, a sacred longing is different from a desire in the following ways…

DESIRE: I “think” I want or need it. Primarily relates to something in physical/tangible form (e.g., a new mattress, a new pair of boots)

SACRED LONGING: I “know” and feel it deep inside, though I may not (yet) have words to name it or describe it. It is formless. Its source is life and the interconnectedness of all. It is “of spirit” and what is beyond my physical form.

If you feel life is calling to you, and you have that sacred longing to reinvent your career, let’s talk!

Here’s to your reinvention!

Erin Owen, MBA, PCC, JCTC
Executive Career Reinvention
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinowen/
To start your Executive Career Reinvention^TM program, apply for an initial call with me here.
Let’s talk! https://calendly.com/erin_owen/30min