So, I put myself in a box… 📦

A few times a year, I intentionally break the pattern of this newsletter. It’s a signal to myself that I’m taking a break. It’s a signal to you that nothing is fixed or permanent. Why do humans need change? It gives us the capacity to learn and evolve. Why do humans value routine? Reducing decisions saves us energy. It’s about peace of mind.

I value your time and energy and promise not to send a newsletter more than once a month. Usually it follows a common structure, with some of my own insights, some of my client’s celebrations, and some ideas I’d encourage you to think about.

I also value my time, and I carefully remind myself to tap the brakes, to take breaks, and not to break myself.

This is one of those moments.

Self-employment and my transition from being a full-time employee of someone else’s company was very much a decision to break old patterns and to better integrate breaks into my work, my life, and my day. 

It’s been 2.5 years, and I haven’t regretted it once. (Okay, maybe when navigating between the German and US tax and social security systems, but I’ve even found some joy in that…)

Becoming a full time coach was and is a way of valuing my time.
I want you to value your time, too. I want to gift you peace of mind.

I’d like to invite you to take a break with me. 
Come on, let’s be rebellious and break routine. 

I do one thing to break my routine every day: 6 minutes of meditation. 
I often hear from people who can’t meditate or think that they’re meditating incorrectly if they have thoughts while meditating. Noticing thoughts is actually the whole point for me. I set a six-minute timer on Insight Timer and sit with a glass of warm orange juice every morning. When I am conscious of my breath, I breathe a bit deeper. When I am conscious of my thoughts, I name that and let them go. When I’m conscious that my eyes have focused on something, I observe this shift and release the eye contact. That’s it. That’s my practice. Every day. Breaking the mind’s rhythm with a little more mindful awareness of what’s going on for me.

And, there’s one thing I do to break my routine when I notice that my head and my heart and my feet are not in the same place: self-reflective journaling. 

What does self-reflection mean to me? 
It’s often a form of “two-way prayer” that involves very little praying in the classic sense. I’ve adapted from writer Elizabeth Gilbert’s question “What does love (or a higher self or God or what she calls Source-Of-Unconditional-Love) want me to know today?”. I ask the question, and I listen for an answer, and I write it down, as it comes. But here’s the twist: when I think I have the answer and the insight is clear, I keep asking “and what else?” to help me uncover even deeper insights.

And that, dear readers, is what led me to package this and more than 200 other questions for you inside of And What Else? It’s a tool that gifts you a-ha moments, epiphanies, insights, and clarity again and again.

Over the last two-and-a-half years, I’ve asked the question, written and listened to the answers, iterated the questions, and done some reverse-engineering to reformulate. Along the way, I’ve collaborated with a talented designer and question-asker, Studio Mengke, and a publisher, metaFox Coaching Tools.

We arrived at 6 categories, 4 types of questions on each of 52 cards, and what I think is a beautifully designed and produced companion that you can take with you nearly anywhere.

As one of my client’s recently reflected at the end of our coaching journey, “so you put yourself in a box?”

While normally, I’m not one to put people or thoughts into boxes, yes, this time I did. 

I did my best to package my thinking and my questions into a box in a way that I think and hope will help you to unpack your thoughts with a little more depth and a little more insight, one question at a time. These are questions that have changed my life for the better, and it’s an honor to offer them to you.

If you’d like to carry a little more confidence, clarity, or self-compassion in your pocket with your very own copy of And What Else?, please place your order in the upcoming week. I’ll be able to ship copies in Europe immediately this week and then again in the second half of September. If you can’t wait while I’m away, you’re also welcome to order from the publisher or from Amazon (reviews appreciated!).

Then I’ll be off to the U.S. for some R&R&R (rest & relaxation & reflection). Other than the reflection part, the only “work” I’ll be doing is fulfilling U.S. orders, which can be delivered in early September. 

I’d love for you to be part of this.

The rest & relaxation need some planning; the reflection never stops for me!
I’d love for you to R&R&R with me. 

What if your to-do list said “Rest,” “Relax,” “Reflect”?
Take a break. 
Break the routine.
I’d love to help you with this.
Ask yourself a few questions. 
And listen for the answers.
Then ask “what else?”
And listen again. 

I’ll be listening to my answers and back to listening to your answers in two weeks. 

Looking forward!

In joy,
Stephen