Keep examining context during periods of change.
One of the things we included and knew would be important in the Fovea Community content was a section on how to keep going when things don’t work out the way we expected. We knew some of our Friends would need this and wanted to be ready to give a helping hand. What we didn’t know at the start was that I would be working through this for myself before helping others in Fovea!
Since closing the Community, we’ve now designed a revised framework and have just moved into a phase of putting this into action. I immediately started to feel that I was re-treading the same ground I’d walked not very long ago – revisiting and amending documents and text, re-watching our videos to see what needed editing or changing for the new Insights Programme format. My initial reaction was to feel disheartened that I was repeating the same work, but I quickly realised that although some of what we were doing was similar, the context (or environment) had changed; just like going on the same walk in the countryside, things never look exactly the same (the weather, the light, who we meet etc). What I saw was that not only were we re-building for a slightly different method of delivery and size/nature of group, but I wasn’t the same either. I’d learned some things from our initial launch, I’d changed my thinking on a few things. Focusing on the positive aspects rather than allowing my thinking to be consumed by thoughts like ‘what a waste of time’, is helping me to keep going and enjoy the journey.
You might be wondering what all this has to do with the Skydiving image. Well, I also did my first ever Skydive this week, along with my son who was doing his second jump. Some of the Instructors have jumped many times. From 15,000 feet, I saw a very different perspective on the area where I live and I thought about repeating what could seem like the same jump – surely each one is different? It started me wondering how often I have an unhelpful attitude to repetition in life instead of examining the context and embracing the opportunity to enjoy the differences and see a positive new outcome.
How do you feel about repetition? Would you benefit from a change in thinking about it?