challenge Archives - Greatness Magnified

Fellow overachievers, recovering perfectionists, and aspirational friends…gather around, I have a proposition for you.

And it’s probably not what you think.

I’m inviting you to slow down, stress less and connect more. I’m inviting you to the unchallenge challenge of #75EASE.

I’m a sucker for a challenge, in the best sense of the word. I’m not suckered into a challenge, I just love the idea of being in a community with other folks striving towards the same goals. Goals are kind of my jam (and I know they’re yours too). In fact, in a recent Clifton Strengths coaching session with the author of the new Best Day Ever book Jessica Potts, I learned my top two strengths are Achiever and Activator; I can amp it up fast and see it through. In other words, if I take on a challenge, I’d better be really clear it’s the right thing for me because I’m all in.

Generally, this is a pretty good strengths duo. However last year, they were my kryptonite.

I’ve been pretty honest about the burnouts I experienced last year. And I know I’m not alone. It sure feels lonely when you’re used to being able to do a million things and still have the energy for more. “Less is more,” they say? Ha! “More is more!” Until it isn’t.

I don’t think there is anyone among us who hasn’t experienced extreme strain or health issues or life just being so darned turned upside down, that it’s taken it all out of you. If you’re still there, and I’m trying so very hard to stay out of that place (I still have caution tape around my ambitiousness), another thing on the plate is not what we need. We need more ease.

Not all of us need it. Many of us do. If that’s you, read on.

The UNchallenge Challenge

I’m seeing all these super cool challenges. It’s like having to sit on my hands with tape on my mouth to no do anything when I see them. To sit back, say “huh, that’s cool” and do nothing for 72 hours (that’s my rule now…if it still appeals to me in 72 hours then maybe it’s truly about what I need versus a cool idea in whatever mood or state I’m in at the time). This curious place has allowed me to sit back, get out of my own goal-oriented head and witness the joy of others engaging in challenges I’m a part of. The amazing Leanne Hughes, podcaster, facilitator, entrepreneur, running 2020 miles in 2020. Michelle Collins, rockin’ #75HARD with her hubby. These women are kicking butt and taking names! With the challenge not being about me, I can quietly cheer them on. (And if you know me, quiet isn’t usually my go-to place).

Given the craving is still there, just like a smoker needing to wean off with nicotine patches, I need an interim measure. That’s where #75EASE was birthed. To harness the community and intention and clarity that a challenge brings with it being cushioned by so much ease, by having the focus on joy and self-care, that it’s not an extra thing to do, rather a celebration of what you do (and maybe a slight nudge to do more of what heals you). And maybe, just maybe, it’s enough to get that achievement chemical dopamine rushing through our brilliant brains too.

Welcome to #75EASE

The guidelines are suggestions. The goals are gentle. The focus is simple. It’s built on the belief that you are already greatness ™️, so I’m willing to bet you do all or at least most of them. And that’s the whole point about these. We’re consciously celebrating and noticing self-care, self-compassion, and kindness more intentionally.

Every day for 75 days:

Stretch every day for 10 minutes
Share one self-care ritual you practiced
Drink 8 glasses of water
Read one chapter for pleasure (print, ebook and audio all count)
Give one compliment (to yourself or others)

That’s it. So who do you share these juicy things, especially your one self-care ritual? Text someone, talk about it at the dinner table, post it to our yummy Facebook Group Great Happy People, or wherever else you “play” already!

Remember #75EASE, it’s all about ease!

Why am I so confident that I, you, and anyone else you want to invite to join us will be successful. Because I will say it again, you are ALREADY greatness ™️. You don’t have to be anything different. You have EVERYTHING already within to be successful because you already are.

What do you think? Are you in for more conscious awareness, intention and celebration of self-care, compassion and ease in 2021? Share this challenge and let’s grow our community, needed now more than ever.

BTW, my last post of 2021 will be celebrating all the things that we normally gloss over and go uncelebrated, and am excited to share many of the small extraordinary acts we normally miss that are hidden as ordinary things. I can’t wait to see what you share so that this inspo will fuel the juiciness of this post.

Who’s in?

For more ideas on how to take great care of yourself, check out these blog posts:

I do a lot of traveling for my job and one of the things that I like to do is to sit back and watch how and what people are doing in their jobs, whether it’s at an EnRoute service station, a hotel or even the airport (I get bored easily…I need something to do!) Sometimes you see behaviour that is less than, well, service-oriented. Some of us immediately think that person should not be in the service industry. I have learned over time, that’s not always the case.

In fact, I start to look for clues to the contrary. I can tell pretty quickly if someone is having a bad day, or if, in fact, they actually feel unsupported by the people that they work for, there seems to be a lack of teamwork and cooperation, or even if they have not been properly supported to learn their job. I bet you’ve seen this too.

Visible leadership is a big part of this equation. How would leaders know someone is struggling, team relationships are breaking down, systems aren’t working, or that they don’t have the right people in the right roles if they’re not around?

And I get it. Supervisors and middle managers are busy. They have meetings and schedules and projects and reports. In fact, sometimes we bombard very humanistic leaders with so many things that pull them away from their people even if they want to be available and visible they feel they cannot.

Either way, the customer should not be caught in the middle.

Here’s why we need more visible leaders:

Customers notice
You can get on top of the revolving door of issues coming into your office (and take less of your time)
You can address issues before they become huge (such as a formal complaint)
You show staff you care by rolling up your sleeves to help when they really need you
You can better understand what staff and customer experience is by walking in their shoes
You have more credibility when you introduce changes or improvements
You can see first hand who your top performers are (and what it will take to retain them)
You can recognize great work on the spot without delay

You can probably add many additional reasons.

Case in point: My family and I were on route to a funeral then we stopped at a Tim Horton’s in a service station just off the highway. The line was out the door. Now, I wouldn’t have waited, but my husband needed a coffee to keep him going for another three hours.

So we waited. And we waited. And we waited. There were three staff members, run off their feet, and I could see a supervisor in his office in the back. He came out a few times, but never to help out. I could see this really irked the staff (as well it might). And as a customer, it irked me.

By the third time he left his office, I said “excuse me” and he had to stop what he was doing (I am the customer – his staff maybe didn’t feel they could say anything but I could).

“You have a very long line, and I am sure you’re very busy, however, your staff are working as hard as they can and still they’re drowning. I think they need your help.”

He got a “look” on his face when I said that (and yes, I consider myself about to read “looks” having done my Masters of Family Therapy and being the mother of two teenagers). He was not happy. However, he did pitch in. And the line moved faster.

By the time we got to the front (I kid you not, 45 minutes from when we got in line), the cashier said “thank-you so much for saying something. I was just about ready to walk out.”

You don’t want to lose your best people (causing you more work in recruiting). You don’t want to make your customers angry (causing your profits to dip). You don’t want complaints on Yelp and Glassdoor and Facebook? Be visible, be responsive, be supportive.

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Want to check out more resources about how you can recognize other’s greatness? Check out these articles:

The Self-Care Non-Challenge #75EASE Challenge