THE RESTING STEP™

The Resting Step™ is a hiking term - a step that hikers use on long and difficult treks, so that they can complete it without exhausting themselves. The step is so slow that the hiker has the experience of resting while moving forward. One foot is completely planted, before moving the next. Each leg is straightened so that the hiker's weight is supported by his or her bones, rather than muscles - enabling the muscles to relax.

Applying this metaphor to business (and life) means moving at a pace that is sustainable in the long run - able to rest on a supportive framework while moving forward, and allowing your will to relax. In addition to being a much more pleasant way to work, The Resting Step™ is also more effective, because it allows you to relax, and to be aware of opportunities as they appear. In this relaxed, open state you are more able to experience and work with a sense of flow.

The Resting Step™ is how you get to the top of a mountain! Although the concept is simple, it represents a fundamentally different way of being. You can expect to spend at least a year implementing the resting step, and three years to fully integrate it.

Elements of The Resting Step™

Making use of the following elements will give you a framework that allows you to "Rest" while moving forward:

• Start with Yourself
• Have a Clear Sense of What Matters Most to You
• Make Renewal Time a Priority
• Create a Strong Foundation
• Create Communities that Expand Your Possibilities

Start with Yourself

In order to use The Resting Step™, you need to find your own rhythm, by moving your attention from the outside to the inside. For harried business owners, this may sound like future luxury - in fact, it is essential now! Until you are in touch with yourself, it will be impossible to discern what is right for you, and therefore to build a framework that is effective. There is no "right" framework, only the framework that is right for you. For each of us, there are different ways to help this happen - it doesn't need to involve much time or money, just attention. It can start as simply as:

• Doing one thing a day that gives you pleasure - a shower with scented soap, for example
• Noticing your own natural rhythm, and working with it rather than against it - doing your most creative work when your energy is highest

Have a Clear Sense of What Matters Most to You

Use this as a tool to help make decisions. When you know what is most important to you, you don't have to stop to question yourself as each new opportunity comes up. This clear sense of priorities helps you discern opportunities that are right for you, even if not obvious, as well as opportunities that are not right, even if they look enticing. With this framework in place, you can focus your attention on each step, and increase your capacity to be in the flow. Creating this framework includes:

• Ensuring that your company's vision embodies your personal vision, so that your personal and professional directions line up
• Always starting something new with a "Purpose". Make sure this purpose is in line with your overall vision and is a true reflection of what you (individually and as a group) want

Make Renewal Time a Priority

Renewal time is the "resting" part of the resting step. However, renewal is not a reward, but an integral part of your schedule and your business! Spending time away from normal interruptions gives you more space to grow and learn. This, in turn, creates a greater reserve and focus from which to draw on during work days. The result is greater effectiveness, with less effort. As you become more comfortable with this process, you will see that working longer and harder is actually counter productive!

Here's how renewal time increases your capacity to be creative:

• It provides opportunities to be stimulated by different experiences, people, ideas
• It allows incubation time for ideas
• It builds enough slack into the system that there is room for you to act when inspired, or when exciting opportunities present themselves

Create a Strong Foundation

The purpose of the foundation is to reduce distractions and energy drainers, and to build the capacity for creativity in your business and life. This allows you to be more effective and focused when working, and creates more renewal time. Just as a hiker on a difficult hike needs to have the best - but no extra - equipment to support his or her needs, you too need to identify both the things which are necessary for you and those that are just extra weight.

In creating the foundation, you may begin to draw on other people's skills and strengths, e.g. contracting out or bartering for the things that you don't like and don't do well. However, to build effective partnerships and to get results you want, it's important to first clarify the outcome you want.

Each person and business is unique, and must create a foundation that is right for them, but some common elements to consider include:

• finances (reducing debt, increasing savings & earnings, creating reserves etc.)
• physical space and resources
• systems to handle routine events
• marketing

Create Communities that Expand Your Possibilities

Relationships are your most important resource, as a person and a business owner. They bring support, enjoyment and meaning to life, and are the source of income and success in your business.

With this in mind, it is important to identify and focus on those relationships that grow and support you as a person and as a business, and to let go of any relationships that don't.

To find out how to implement these principles, contact us.