Do you feel like you should be more productive this fall, but all you want is to do less and rest?
You’re not alone.
We often associate fall with a time to “get back to work,” and that’s what many of my clients are doing. We’ve created actions plans to help them meet Big Vision goals before the end of the year.
But I also have clients who are feeling the pull of the shorter, colder, darker days. They’ve either been through a big change recently, or have been working at an unsustainable rate for years. As much as they want to keep moving forward, something physical, emotional, or spiritual is telling them to rest. Even though it might seem counterintuitive, doing less will actually take them closer to their Big Vision.
Farmers allow fields to lie fallow so the soil can replenish its nutrients. Why can’t people do the same thing with their Big Vision? If you’re feeling drawn to let your Big Vision lie fallow for a week, a month, or even a season, listen to that call. Our Big Visions require action and rest, darkness and light, beginnings and endings. As the wonderfully wise Parker Palmer wrote:
“But in a culture that prefers ease of either-or thinking to the complexities of paradox, we have a hard time holding opposites together. We want light without darkness, the glories of spring and summer without the demands of autumn and winter—and the Faustian bargains we make fail to sustain our lives.”
Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
Sometimes part of my job as a Big Vision coach is to give clients permission they won’t give themselves: permission to follow their inklings, to take time for their Big Vision, to do things they love. But because our culture, at least in the States, is so much about doing, sometimes they also need permission to rest and do less. If you need to let your Big Vision lie fallow for a little while, allow yourself to do so. It will be ready and rejuvenated when you return.
Don’t walk the path to your Big Vision alone.
Header photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash