 I was lying in the MRI machine, listening to the thumps and hums as I stayed completely still.
I was hoping for an answer. Something to tell me what was wrong. I had already had an x-ray and an ultrasound, which hadn't given me anything to work with. They hadn't shown anything. No tears. Nothing broken.
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 When an opportunity presents itself to you, how do you know whether to say YES or NO?
Last week, I was invited to attend an event put on by the Riviera Business Club, as a way to network and meet fellow business owners. I have attended some of their events in the past, but over the last few years I haven't done much in-person networking. (That little thing called Covid got in the way, plus I got a bit lazy.) I also wondered how fruitful it would be, given that 90% of my business is global, rather than local.  For many of us, the opposite of talking isn't listening, it's waiting. Do you consider yourself a good listener?
What are you listening for? What aren't you listening for? These questions came up recently when I was working with a group of coaches and leaders.  Yvon Chouinard started Patagonia on a fluke.
He never intended to be a businessman. He was a climber. It was his passion for climbing that compelled him to start making climbing gear for his friends, which then turned into apparel, which then turned into the multi-million dollar business of Patagonia. As an avid climber and outdoor enthusiast myself, I have worn and loved my Patagonia gear over the years.  Although I like to play sports more than I like to watch them, growing up in my family (and maybe as an American in general), it's hard not to get embroiled in some team rivalries. It's almost like the air we breathe.
In my family it was around American football. The Greenbay Packers versus the Chicago Bears. As someone who grew up in Chicago, there is also the rivalry between the 2 Chicago baseball teams -- the White Sox and the Cubs.  This probably sounds hypocritical coming from a woman who has centered her entire business around reading books on personal and leadership development.
Please hear me out. We all make choices every day about what we are going to do and what we are NOT going to do. We make trade-offs.  When I first met Vincent Musolino at an online OD conference, I thought he was trying to pick me up. (I later found out he thought the same of me.)
My thinking stemmed from the fact that while we were in the middle of a session, he started private messaging me in French. I responded and was kind of like, "Who is this guy? How does he know I speak French?" I am pre-diabetic.
As a thin, fit vegetarian woman, this was news to me when I found out 3 years ago. Yes, I had gestational diabetes with my second child, but there was no way that I, the former fitness coach and still athlete, could become diabetic. At least, that is what I told myself. When I got the news, I decided to take on the infamous KETO diet, which many people use to lose weight, and is also used by many to curb high glucose levels. I didn't want to take meds. Food is medicine. And at first, it worked.  What will be different for you in 3 months after participating in this book circle experience?
This is the question that I leave most book circle participants with, especially when I don't know when, or if I will see them again in a future book circle. Three months later, I follow up. Over the last 6 weeks, I took a complete sabbatical from all non-fiction reading.
Instead, I immersed myself in the fictional lives of others. I walked side-by-side with teens struggled with racism in a small town, daughters caring for their depressed mothers, sisters navigating corruption, friends reminiscing as they faced the first in their circle to die, neighbors supporting one another through their struggles, police offers trying to solve a crime, etc. In total, I read 21 books in the last 6 weeks. |
Hi there!I am Theresa Destrebecq (I dare you to try to pronounce it...) |
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