MAKING IT HAPPEN BY LETTING IT GO
by Michele Lisenbury Christensen

I As I prepare to leave my business 100% for the next ten days, there's a voice in my head muttering, "You know everything's going to fall apart while you're gone. To keep things cruising, you've got to stay on top of them!" I'm guessing you've got a voice like that, too…She tries to sound like the calm voice of reason, but her message has an edge of panic and impending doom.

Calling her bluff on my indispensability is a leap of faith. The voice is right: I've got a lot of coaching clients, several speaking projects and new products unfolding, and many compelling reasons to stay right here at my desk. And that nagging voice is correct in asserting that nobody can do what I can do for my business.

But therein lies the rub: given that no one else can do what you and I can do, our well-being and serenity are among the key assets of our businesses. We can't afford to sacrifice our personal capacities to burnout. My very indispensability in the long run is the key argument for taking myself out of the picture and plunging my body, mind, and spirit into the Mayan culture, monkey-inhabited jungles, and turtle-hatching beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula. I know at a very deep level I'll be a better businesswoman for having left my business completely for a time.

I'm lucky, though, because I've had many experiences of leaving town or letting go in some other way…and seeing amazing things happen without my efforts. Often, when I come back from an extraordinary weekend of kayaking or a trip to Europe, I'll have several unforeseeably delicious opportunities waiting for me. And I always get a new client or three within a week of my return. I think maybe we're all drawn to people who're living in a way that truly nourishes them.

So I know that "letting it go" is a great way of "making it happen." But some of my clients don't have those experiences to lean on: their only evidence is the palpitation of their hearts when they think about leaving their business in someone else's hands while they go away for a much-needed break. I point to the possibility that they will serve better and prosper more WITH a break than without, but the voice of indispensability counters with voluminous and dire warnings about what will happen if they leave.

The "letting go" challenge also comes up every time our businesses reach a new level, because at every growth threshold, our role as leader changes. At these times, our business asks us to hand off a set of tasks or a whole chunk of the vision to other people. And that's scary! We think "No one can do it the way I can." Or "I can't afford this person's learning curve!" Clients often call me at the point in the process where it has become crystal-clear to them that the person or firm they thought was so competent is clearly inept and totally incapable of their new duties. And I've been at that spot myself, many times! That same voice that doesn't give us permission to go on vacation also doesn't want us to hand ANYTHING off to ANYONE else. So while we're settling into the new routine, experiencing the perfectly normal bumps and bruises of the process of learning and change, that voice takes every question and every miscommunication and every snafu as evidence: "I told you this would NEVER work!"

The invitation life is offering us is to delegate anyway. To go to Mexico anyway. To trust the higher source of wisdom that's guiding us to grow into the next level of our company's evolution and to keep ourselves centered and nourished. Our job is to continue to bravely "let it go," knowing that Ms. Responsible – or whatever you call that constant companion inside you – will never stop telling us it's a mistake. If we can turn the volume down on that voice, we can continue to receive the guidance, encouragement, and support of our intuition, our higher self, the spirit of our business, and Life itself.

PRACTICES FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN BY LETTING IT GO

The following practices have helped me and my clients make things happen by letting them go. E-mail me and let me know your experiences with them.

Until next time, may you learn to let it go, to feed your soul, and to allow more good to flow from you, through you, and to you as a result.

          Blessings,

Michele Lisenbury Christensen
Success and Spirit Coach

© 2005 Michele Lisenbury Christensen. All rights reserved. Feel free to or re-publish, with the following copyright and contact information attached:
"By Michele Lisenbury Christensen, MA, PCC, Success and Spirit Coach. Please visit http://www.successandspirit.com for additional articles, interviews, and resources for creating sustainable success and spiritual connection." (Please make sure the link is live if placed in an e-mail or web page)

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