Winter Focus

Using the gift of winter to slooowww down.

The days are getting shorter here in Boulder, and the nights are dropping to a chill. Although it still might technically be fall, winter’s gaze is definitely upon us.

In nature, winter is a time of darkness and rest. Animals hibernate. Resources are rationed. It’s an important time for a reset.

Wait, why am I pushing myself to launch a business in the winter? I’ve been asking myself lately.

I’m so used to our modern culture of go-go-go all the time. Always ideating. Always creating. Always launching. Always SUMMER.

I still hold a belief that if I’m not producing, I’m failing. I’m falling behind — behind of the progress I “could be” making if I was only doing/working/producing more. It’s a feeling of never fast enough.

How exhausting!!

I decided it was time to take my own medicine again.

Release my New York City startup mindset, and sync with the rhythms of nature.

So instead of setting aggressive goals for myself to launch this and that thing before the end of the year, I am adopting the slower pace of the darker winter months.

I am choosing to take this time to focus on relationships in my personal life, to be with those I love, to nourish those around me, and invest love and good energy into those I care about. This feels like the right energy for winter.

In my work life, I’m using this time as a recalibration. I’ve been learning so much these past few months, talking to so many people, dreaming up big ideas, and now is a time to integrate, reflect, make plans, and prepare for springtime, when things will bud and eventually bloom.

This decision has given me so much inner peace. I no longer wake up each day wondering what more I should be doing, and instead I settle deliciously into acceptance that this is WINTER! A beautiful gift from nature for us to remember that we all need time to rest.

This is the natural order of things.

Not just outside, but inside too. We are part of nature, remember? We can’t escape these seasons! They are a part of us, whether our minds like it or not.

I invite you to reflect on the areas of your life where you’re pushing yourself to do, and use winter as a beautiful opportunity to be.

Be with yourself.

Be with your family and friends.

Be with your ideas. Let them marinate within you, so you can cultivate the clarity and conviction needed to plant seeds in the spring that will fruit in the summer.

And hey, we’ve been through a lot this year. You deserve a rest.