Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a client retreat. After my part of the agenda was complete, I was invited to stay on and enjoy the other speakers. I’ll be honest… I was tempted to hop on the first plane back to the office. But something encouraged me to stay… and thank goodness.
The second day of this client’s event was led by a skillful facilitator from The Energy Project (Tony Schwartz’s firm dedicated to renewal). Their premise is that humans are built to: a) spend and b) renew energy…. and the problem is that we tend to be much better at a than b.
During the day, the discussion of how we fail to address our needs – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual – caused me to reflect on all of the conversation and media attention right now around ‘leaning in’. Perhaps instead we should be focused on ‘leaning out’.
Might we be more successful – and healthier – if rather than leaning in by ‘powering through’, getting up early and staying up late, we leaned out and got physical exercise and slept properly?
Might we be more successful – and happier – if rather than leaning in by forcing another deliverable or meeting, we leaned out and worked harder to cultivate positive emotions and focus?
Might we be more successful – and more satisfied – if rather than leaning in and chasing our tails, we leaned out and followed our clear and individual sense of purpose?
Could leaning out be the new leaning in? (I’d love to hear your thoughts. But, I won’t respond until next week. I’ll be leaning out and taking an energy-renewing vacation with my family.)