Project Pregnancy In Your Business
Extraordinary Woman Dilemma:
Sometimes a particular business endeavor or project captures all of your attention and for a period of time, you're obsessed with it. It's all you want to think about, all you want to do, everything else recedes into the background and this new thing that you are creating is like a big glowing light in front of you that you can't take your eyes off of. You wonder if this is healthy, yet at the same time, there have been periods of time in your business when you haven't been able to shake this state of mind.What There Is For You To Know:
After you've had the spark of a new idea for your business, you oftentimes go into an intense phase of creation where your brain and heart are transfixed and you can't help but put most of your energy and focus on the new project at hand. I call this phase Project Pregnancy. Most of us go-getting ladies get down on our selves during times of Project Pregnancy. We think we're being too intense, imbalanced and obsessed with work. But what's really happening is a larger rhythm, and if you can recognize and respond to it, then this time of intense focus and "obsession" is not unhealthy at all...Insights From The Delivery Room:
Take a moment to picture a pregnant woman in the very middle of the birthing process. Notice how ridiculous it would be to expect her to be able to pay attention to anything other than the business at hand. You wouldn't pop in and say, "Hey Jean, you really should be more balanced about your focus right now - you've not only got this birth, but you've also got laundry and bills to pay and oh yeah, your mother said to give her a call when you get a chance."No way, instead you just let that lady do her thing! And it's the same way when you're giving birth to a project in your business. When something new and important is coming to fruition, it is oftentimes next to impossible to focus on anything else. And that's okay. We tend to blame our selves for being workaholics or for being off-balance, when in reality we are in the middle of a Project Pregnancy that doesn't last forever, but is right now calling for much of your attention in order to be birthed into the world.
When you can recognize the larger rhythm that is happening here, then your behavior and the intensity of it all begin to make sense...
Try It On The Fly:
The most powerful thing you can do here is to build your muscle of recognizing Project Pregnancies as they are happening, or even better before. So take a moment to notice any current, past or upcoming Project Pregnancies in your business. The thing to know about Project Pregnancies is that they take up a lot of your attention and energy while you are "pregnant" with them, but the larger rhythm is that this intense focus is only temporary until the "birth", and the intense focus comes in waves.By paying attention, you can notice when the intensity ebbs, and use that time as an opportunity to put more energy into the other things in your life. And during the intense phases, you can be a little gentler on yourself if you're not able to be as present with the kind of quality that you like to have with loved ones or other aspects of your personal life. You can know that the Project Pregnancy is temporary, and after the "birth", you'll have a natural period where you're inclined to rest and give attention elsewhere. Most of all, by recognizing a Project Pregnancy, you are bypassing the "I'm-an-obsessed-workaholic" and "There-is-something-wrong-with-me" perspectives, which are subtle, yet huge emotional energy drains.
Play with noticing your Project Pregnancies as if you're a child on the playground - curious and open to see what you weren't seeing before. And let me know how it goes!