The Art of Planting Trees
Making the most of the second best time
Autumn has arrived. I am fortunate to live next to a small wood, and there is a beech tree on the edge of it which is always keen to get on with her stunning autumn colour. This year she began back in the first heatwave of the year. She also dropped a limb, without warning, in the heat of one afternoon in June. (I saw it; it made a noise…) It turns out that her stunning expression of autumn colour is perhaps not so much a dazzling, but more a hint at underlying stress. There is probably an analogy there somewhere, which you may choose to ponder, but it’s not the reason I came here to write today.
As the memories of the heat of the second heatwave fade, it’s been over a week since the nightly temperatures dropped sufficiently for restful sleep. We are also a couple of weeks past that infectious ‘back to school’ clarion call, and the accompanying fretful busyness which affects so many, even if they don’t have school age children. I don’t know about you, but this week, the week ‘after’, comes with a better equilibrium. What stretches in front of us are a few ‘normal’ weeks, before the end of year fervour kicks in. (No C words here!)
Review for clarity
I love autumn and the sense of peaceful action as we prepare for winter. We need winter to make spring possible. At 7.53 on the morning of 23rd September, the autumn equinox occurs. Some people like to do a review to coincide with the equinox. I prefer to do a review to get some clarity to help me choose how I want to spend my time over those next few, ‘normal’, weeks.
Let’s begin with New year intentions... What did you intend to be doing in 2023?
It has been nearly nine months since New Year. How are those intentions shaping up. Let’s ignore the fact that some people will have grown a whole new human being in that time, and instead look without guilt, shame or judgy opinion at what you have achieved so far, before considering what you want to achieve before 2024. Let’s not forget that one of the glorious advantages of working for ourselves is that we get to choose what we want to do and how to spend our time.
There are numerous reasons why there is a difference between what you envisaged and what has happened so far. Mainly, you aren’t a clairvoyant soothsayer. Well maybe you are… but possibly you aren’t. Even if you did anticipate some of the events of 2023 such as a major deadline or a holiday, there is probably a degree or two of variation between how you pictured it and the reality of what happened.
The first step then, is to calmly assess that variance to find the basis for the difference between what you intended and what you have done so far. Perhaps there were unanticipated opportunities. Maybe you have done more than you thought possible. Perhaps someone surprised you with a trip away. Perhaps a work project got cancelled. Perhaps you were felled by a nasty viral infection in February and then you needed to take time to heal. Stuff happens – apparently part of the joy of life! (Maybe you have been growing a human in 2023?)
Whatever it is, this is a ‘no judgement’ analysis of whatever happened. Take time too to counter the human natural negativity bias by having a decent gawp at what you have achieved since New Year – I guarantee that the list is longer than you think!
The next step is to work out where the stronger and weaker corners are on the Vitality Triangle, remembering that this works at individual, project and organisation levels.
Over the next few weeks, what needs additional attention? Do you need to remind yourself daily of the ‘feel’ and energy of your purpose? Do you need to spend time connecting with people? Or nature? Perhaps you need to build your capacity by fiercely guarding your sleep hygiene. Or maybe you need to say a strong ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to something or someone. Only you know what’s right for you, and what you need. There are no ‘shoulds’ here – ‘shoulding’ is judgy and comes with yellow, orange and red flags.
In reviewing this, what have you actually been doing, from a development management (where you get to manage the progress) point of view? Yep. This is ‘monitoring and evaluating’. And it is a necessary part of a project cycle.
Beyond gathering accurate information, the critically important part of monitoring and evaluation is to apply the information and knowledge to your choices about how you will be spending the next few weeks.
- What can you achieve in that time?
- How will you work?
- What do you WANT to do?
- How will you play and replenish?
- Who will you be spending time with?
- Which boundaries need a little attention?
This could be a nip and tuck, or you may have a realisation about an aspect of your life that needs changing.
Or you could be realising that you simply forgot to plant a tree in January, and as the ancient proverbial saying goes, ‘now is the second best time to plant a tree’
and you are relishing getting that spade in the ground to dig the necessary hole, dropping in the manure and getting that tree set up for life. More analogies to explore on another day, but let’s just leave it that healthy plants love muck, or as a group of us devised on one meditation retreat when someone hilariously misheard
‘no mud, no lotus’ (the ancient proverbial saying):
'no muck, no lettuce’…
How is my year looking you might ask?
On a professional level I have got my embodiment coaching qualification (yay!) but I haven’t been recruiting new members to my ‘DO to BE’ virtual coworking community in the way that I had anticipated.
However, I have created that community and the small group of us that are in it are really enjoying getting stuff done in great company, as we work ON our projects and businesses together each week. As stepping stones go on my path of encouraging others to do their thing well, DO to BE is probably the greatest one I have created in a long time and it feels good.
The rest of 2023 is about doing more of the same and I am definitely on the look out for more purpose inspired changemakers to join me.
While you are here, have you followed me on my social media? I'm currently focusing on expanding my connections and I would really appreciate your assistance with that.
