How to Awaken Your Inner Wisdom by Scheduling PAUSES into your Workday

If you are like most leaders, you spend a lot of time running. We go from one meeting to the next with barely any breaks! As a result, we never have time to go to the bathroom, eat lunch or let everything catch up with us.

The problem is that it is hard to do the work of great leadership when you don’t have time to slow down and tune in.

Effective leaders need time to think, ponder and tune in. However, many resist pausing, stopping, or taking a break despite being overloaded, overworked and overwhelmed.

Most of us say it’s because we don’t have time to take a break. Yet, pausing is essential to developing confidence and becoming a stronger leader. You can’t wait for time to pause. You need to make time for it!

Learn to access your Inner Guidance System
​In this series of blogs, I’m introducing you to the steps in the Inner Guidance Cycle, which gives you access to your Inner Guidance System. Your Inner Guidance System is your inner wisdom. If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve heard me talk about the steps often, but it might be a good time for a review.

There are four steps in the Inner Guidance Cycle. They are

1. PAUSE — Step back into this moment
2. PONDER — Tune in to what is going on inside of you
3. PIVOT — Shift your thoughts
4. PROCEED — Move forward with intentionality

The first step: PAUSE
By taking the first step, PAUSE, you’ll start to awaken your Inner Guidance System. It’s that wise part of you that helps you to get a hold of your thoughts and then move forward with a conscious response.

From reacting to responding
​Most of us are so stressed that we react to whatever shows up. However, because of our stressed state, we can’t think clearly. As a result, we don’t take time to choose how we want to respond, engage or the kind of leader we want to be at this moment.

Pausing is stopping, pulling back or taking a break. When we PAUSE, our brain and body begin to relax, allowing us to get out of stress mode and think more clearly. Being more relaxed will enable us to respond and make conscious choices instead of reacting to every fire that pops up.

Pausing is part of journeys
Think for a moment about a road trip. Often when you are travelling, you take breaks. You pull over to the side of the road and stop. That might be a roadside turnout so that you can stretch. You might pause on your trip to stop for fuel. The point is that you can only way to refuel, stretch, or go to the bathroom if you stop.

Leaders need pauses too
In leadership, when we pause, the pause allows us to become mindful and present to what is happening. Rather than being present, most of us have a ton of racing thoughts whirling about in our heads. Those racing thoughts are usually about a future worry or passed incident that we are still stewing about.

Pausing settles your racing thoughts
When you pause, you are not in the future or the past but in the present moment. At this moment, you will find access to your Inner Guidance System. When you mindfully tune in to those thoughts, feelings, and sensations, you will find the inner wisdom that helps to guide you forward.

You won’t always remember to pause when you need to
Learning to make pauses a regular part of your routine takes time. Eventually, you may get to the point where there is a trigger that reminds you to pause. That trigger could be when you’re feeling:

• lost
• anxious
• irritated
• off-balance

Those might be signals to go for a little walk, take a deep breath or spend some time trying to figure out why you are so agitated. But often, we ignore those triggers. We push them aside because we have too much work to do. So, for now, don’t wait for the trigger. Instead, schedule the time in to pause.

You’ll need to prompt yourself to take pauses
You need to schedule your pauses in. Creating breaks in your schedule will help you to build a habit of pausing. So that you get used to responding to the triggers, it is important to start with establishing a routine of stopping and pausing. Remember, it’s this first step of pausing that is going to allow you to awaken your Inner Guidance System.

Plan to make these kinds of pauses
Look through your day and decide how you can add these types of pauses:

BODY BREAK — Having a physical break to go to the bathroom, for eating and move your body

SOUL BREAK — A mindful moment to take a few breaths, meditate or sit in peace

MIND BREAK — Time for self-reflection. Effective leaders need time to think, ponder and tune in. Self-reflection is the time for leaders to ask themselves:

• What am I feeling?
• What am I thinking?
• What’s going on in my body?
• What just went on with that person?
• What just happened in that meeting?
• What will help me be my best self in this situation?

Plan to make these kinds of pauses

Look through your day and decide how you can add these types of pauses:

🚶🏼‍♀️BODY BREAK — Having a physical break to go to the bathroom, for eating and move your body

🤍 SOUL BREAK — A mindful moment to take a few breaths, meditate or sit in peace

🤔 MIND BREAK — Time for self-reflection. Effective leaders need time to think, ponder and tune in. Self-reflection is the time for leaders to ask themselves:

• What am I feeling?
• What am I thinking?
• What’s going on in my body?
• What just went on with that person?
• What just happened in that meeting?
• What will help me be my best self in this situation?

Scheduling your pauses in
It’s time to schedule those breaks in. I recommend adding triggers to help you remember to do them, even when busy.

📆 Block time off in your schedule or day-timer. If you think you’ll remember to do it, guess what? You won’t. Schedule it in.

🛎️ Set reminders to notify, encourage and motivate you.

• Use the alarms on your phone, computer or watch.
• Leave sticky notes to remind yourself.

Reminders about WHY you must schedule the pauses in

👉 Because you will only do it regularly if you schedule it.

👉 Because even though you mean to, you’ll get busy and forget

👉 Because it takes longer than you think to establish a habit

👉 Because it tells those around you that you value balance

Awaken your Inner Guidance System: Step # 1 — Pause
Start accessing your inner wisdom and allowing it to guide you by pausing. By awakening your Inner Guidance System, you will be learning to get control of your thoughts and feelings. That internal control will help you become confident in your leadership abilities, bounce back when adversity hits and be your best self. Begin to awaken that Inner Guidance System by scheduling pauses throughout your day.

P.S. If you are ready to dive into all four steps of the Inner Guidance Cycle and use it to boost your confidence, grab Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system

Originally published at https://www.kathyarcher.com.