Letting go lessons can be found in the most unusual places. This past weekend my husband and I traveled to South Carolina to watch our daughter, Cassie, and her teammates (Go QC Boston!) play in the Quidditch World Cup tournament. There were 80 teams from around the country (and Canada, too) vying for the number one spot. In two days the teams played anywhere from 5 to 10 highly energetic and physically taxing games.

All teams had spent many months preparing, practicing, and participating in other Quidditch tournaments. They arrived at World Cup ready for the ultimate challenge to play the best of the best.

This was the lesson. I don’t know if it was like this for all the teams, but for QCB, it was about letting go of the outcome. They approached each game with the best they had. They enjoyed working as a team, supporting one another, staying focused and in the moment. While they played to win, as each game ended, they let go of the outcome and focused on learning more from their wins or losses. It was quite extraordinary to witness.

How often do we invest so heavily in an outcome that we miss the joy that’s part of the process? Maybe we’re so concerned with the outcome that we prevent ourselves from potential learning and growth.

“How often do we invest so heavily in an outcome that we miss the joy that’s part of the process?”

— Linda Samuels, CPO-CD®, CVPO

I’d love to hear your thoughts. How does letting go of the outcome change your perspective?

Life includes both holding on and letting go.

Loss is often associated with letting go. In these past weeks, my heart has ached for my friends, family, and colleagues that have lost their loved ones. I’m thinking of Judy, Steve, Laurene, Karen, Gail, Kathleen, Stacey and Deb who have laid to rest their father, mother, aunt, brother, son, and friends. As they’ve been covered in a blanket of sadness they’ve also found comfort and strength in sharing treasured stories with their community of friends and family.

Losing our loved ones is the most direct, visceral type of letting go. It is painful. Yet even when someone’s physical being is no longer with us, we’re able to remember and feel joy through the memories we have.

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? You know the feeling. Our sea of to dos, projects, and lists overwhelms and paralyzes us. We feel deflated or defeated before we’ve taken action. No matter how much we’ve accomplished, we’re convinced we’ll never get organized or be done.

Last week I wrote about the value of taking a breath and pausing. Let’s add another strategy, the idea of going “smaller,” to our conversation about next.

Do you want to feel wonderful instead of overwhelmed? One effective technique is to make “next” smaller. Hold the big picture in view yet focus on that next tiny action step that will bring you closer to your goal.

Let’s say you want to organize all the papers in your home. They’re around the house in piles, bags and bins. The sheer volume is overwhelming. Break down the large project into smaller ones. Organize one room at a time. If one room is overwhelming, go smaller. Try one drawer or stack at a time. If that’s still too big, think even smaller and decide about one paper at a time. Make the next step small enough to motivate forward movement.

Here’s what will happen. With each decision you’ll get closer to your goal and experience a mini success. Do that happy dance. With each decision, you’ll feel better (wonderful in fact,) and less overwhelmed.

How do we eat an apple? If we attempt to devour the entire apple in one single bite, we’ll choke. Instead by taking one small, manageable bite at a time, we’re able to enjoy our snack with the energy to continue on.

What will next look like for you? How small can you make your next step? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.

There’s busy and then there’s busy. We all have days or periods of time when we get away from purposeful action and instead feel pulled by emergencies or other people’s agendas. We get caught in that whirlwind of activity, but not necessarily activity we’ve chosen.

Perhaps we’ve lost sight of that “white space” in our schedules. In fact, not only have we lost sight of it, we’ve completely lost it. There is none. We’re scheduled from morning until night. We’re on the go with no time to think or regroup. We can function like this for a while, but soon overwhelm, exhaustion, and confusion sets in.

It’s time. It’s time to pause. It’s time to stop and take a few deep, long breaths. Before doing that next thing…stop. Before making that next decision…stop. Just breathe. Nice and slowly. Breathe. Regroup.

Next will become clearer. Next will become more purposeful.

Have you experienced the power of breathing? Has it helped you reset where you are? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.