9 days. 9 days of thinking, re-thinking, asking, debating and slowly seeing some light. All this on my back, in response to the blind eye I had been turning on some of my body’s signs over the past weeks and months: I have been lying down, working my brain, resting my body, and assessing the rest. Temporarily losing my independence and mobility has taken me back to some essentials of life. I will stay away from what my French teacher at the time was calling “armchair philosophy” (café du commerce, [sic]). However, this exceptional time alone made me reconnect with myself as a person, and as an entrepreneur: there is a lot of substance right there. These 9 days have unexpectedly been feeling like a reset button pressed as heavily as the pain in my back at the beginning of my convalescence.

The full resetting part takes more than 9 days, undoubtedly. The shift in my mind is being boosted by some readings, courses, encounters, real-life (and work) roadblocks and live workshops (Friends and Family make me hang in there with their words of support too). It is a nice kick in my guts, and fighting them to pretend everything is fine is less and less of an option.

It is not about pushing the limits, or lowering them down. These 9 days of isolation became time of reflection, showing similar effects to the Face 2 Face project that I am / we are more than anyone thinks. Digging deep inside to reveal the reality of the body, and the mind, has reminded me of how I have maintained the foundations of my life, and business, and how more solid or fragile I can make them over the years. It is about perceptions, reevaluations and reconsiderations. What motivates and pushes me to that ideal part of my projects (and myself) is that desire to do well for others and myself, definitely to find and create harmony. There is no envy, there is no comparison with somebody else’s path. I may not walk fast just yet, I can concentrate my mind and efforts onto what matters for the next step.

I am pretty keen on stepping my game up and going from good to great, and from great to phenomenal. Since my back, which I momentarily forgot to watch, has re-taught me a lesson I thought I had kept in my memory cells, full satisfaction is still a distance away. It is my job, and responsibility, to reach out and get it. I can try 9 times, it can take another 9 days, I am ready. And I have promised myself and my immediate entourage to actually listen and pay closer attention to the basics this time: just to be able to walk, straight, before thinking about running.

Photo credit © Olivier Borgognon Photography – “The power of desire”