I found this sweet spot on an artists studio tour in the Adirondack Mountains. It was a beautiful day to travel from studio to studio and get a behind the scene view. Can you imagine having a seat like this on a river to pause and reset your emotions? How often would you take time to sit and reflect?
How often should you pause? How long of a pause do you need to be your best self?
As leaders of our inner operating system, we should be pausing all day long. Our inner operating system is our mind, body and emotions, which is a complicated system to lead. Our mind and body construct our emotions, sometimes we need a pause to understand where the emotion is coming from. Anytime we're aware of being trigger to REACT, we should pause and reflect:
Should I take a breath?
do I need something to eat?
Should I take a walk?
Why am I feeling this emotion?
What do I need in this moment to respond by living my values?
In an Inc. com article on 13 Signs of Hid Emotional Intelligence, the author Justin Bariso gives a good definition of a pause:
"The pause is as simple as taking a moment to stop and think before you speak or act. (Easy in theory, difficult in practice.) This can help save you from embarrassing moments or from making commitments too quickly. In other words, pausing helps you refrain from making a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion."
I encourage you to take the time for yourself and journal about this. Have you paused lately and did it support you to be your best self?