Letting go<\/h1>\n<\/div>As a manager, home maker, or independent entrepreneur, you\u2019re constantly keeping various balls in the air. Like a professional juggler, you focus to make sure you don\u2019t miss any of the balls. It\u2019s therefore interesting that, at a juggling workshop, the first thing you learn is to drop the balls! More Balls Than Most provides various corporate trainings and I commission them regularly. Time and time again, most managers struggle with the first exercise: throwing up three balls rhythmically and then simply letting them fall to the ground. Although the instructions are clear, more than half the participants try to catch the balls. It is a reflex, and it would seem hard to repress. Fittingly, the workshop is called \u2018The Art of Letting Go\u2019. Everyone knows the principle: you\u2019re busy seeking a solution for a problem and it just won\u2019t work. The harder you try, the more you struggle. Then you go for a bite to eat, take the dog for a walk or take a shower and, all of a sudden\u2026 you\u2019ve got it! Precisely because you took some distance the solution seems to pop up out of nowhere. This stepping away consciously is also a form of letting go. Companies like Google and 3M know how important it is to arrive at creative innovations. That\u2019s why they obligate (!) their staff to do something completely different for 10-15% of their time: table tennis, golf, sleeping, computer games. It doesn\u2019t matter what, as long as it\u2019s nothing like work. In love we\u2019ve known forever: if you love someone, set them free. If they come back to you it was meant to be. If they don\u2019t, then they were never yours to begin with. This applies to the relationship with your partner, and especially if you have children: you know you\u2019re going to have to let go of them one day. Raising children is, in fact, letting go piece by piece as your kids start gaining their independence. Giving them the space to make their own mistakes. And here we arrive at a highly sensitive point that\u2019s applicable both in our private lives and in business. Who teaches us to make mistakes? Everything in our society \u2013 education, work, government \u2013 is focused on doing things right in one go. Mistakes are often punished mercilessly. But be honest: from what did you learn the most? From the mistakes you\u2019ve made! How much space do we give others to make errors? Our children, employees, partners? How about ourselves? Perhaps that\u2019s why letting go of notions and routines is so scary. It feels unnatural, we\u2019re scared of making a mistake. On the other hand, sport teaches us that trying to maintain control can have an adverse effect. If, on a mountain bike, you have to go through a huge hole and up the other side, the last thing you want to do is step on the brakes. It\u2019s the dumbest thing you could do as you\u2019re likely to fly over the handlebars. Skateboarding is also relaxing. If you tense your muscles you\u2019re going to fall, get tenser, and end up in a vicious circle. Some time ago, in a stressful period when I went horse riding, I was thrown from every horse. Even the calmest horse around went wild when I got on its back. So I stopped for a while. Years later, when all the stress had disappeared from my life, it all went far better. It works the other way round too: if you\u2019re so involved in sports that you can\u2019t think of anything else, all the stress disappears from your body. If I\u2019m involved in a tough climb on a climbing wall, there\u2019s not a brain cell in my mind thinking of my \u2018to-do-list\u2019 \u2013 my body and mind are fully occupied with the \u2018dangers\u2019 of the moment. In Cura\u00e7ao, while swimming my daily kilometer in the sea, I achieve a particular cadence, a sort of trance that helps me for a moment see everything from afar, and far more clearly. I have come up with my best ideas while swimming. Next time you have the feeling you\u2019re juggling too many balls, do an experiment and let go. It\u2019s exciting, against your instinct, but, who knows, may achieve some surprising results. The boat is safer anchored at the port: but that\u2019s not the aim of boats.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Want to become a digital nomad?<\/h2>\n
Do you want to become a digital nomad?<\/p>\n
Can you picture yourself traveling the world as a location-independent entrepreneur but don\u2019t want to reinvent the wheel?<\/p>\n
Then learn from my 35 years of entrepreneurial experience, including nearly 20 years of location independence.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m here to help with:<\/p>\n
\n- Free advice from Esther AI<\/li>\n
- My books full of inspiration and tips<\/li>\n
- The complete Digital Nomad workshop video series<\/li>\n
- 1-on-1 coaching<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As a manager, home maker, or independent entrepreneur, you\u2019re constantly keeping various balls in the air. Like a professional juggler, you focus to make sure you don\u2019t miss any of the balls. It\u2019s therefore interesting that, at a juggling workshop, the first thing you learn is to drop the balls! More Balls Than Most provides various corporate trainings and I commission them regularly. Time and time again, most managers struggle with the first exercise: throwing up three balls rhythmically and then simply letting them fall to the ground. Although the instructions are clear, more than half the participants try to catch the balls. It is a reflex, and it would seem hard to repress. Fittingly, the workshop is called \u2018The Art of Letting Go\u2019. Everyone knows the principle: you\u2019re busy seeking a solution for a problem and it just won\u2019t work. The harder you try, the more you struggle. Then you go for a bite to eat, take the dog for a walk or take a shower and, all of a sudden\u2026 you\u2019ve got it! Precisely because you took some distance the solution seems to pop up out of nowhere. This stepping away consciously is also a form of letting go. Companies like Google and 3M know how important it is to arrive at creative innovations. That\u2019s why they obligate (!) their staff to do something completely different for 10-15% of their time: table tennis, golf, sleeping, computer games. It doesn\u2019t matter what, as long as it\u2019s nothing like work. In love we\u2019ve known forever: if you love someone, set them free. If they come back to you it was meant to be. If they don\u2019t, then they were never yours to begin with. This applies to the relationship with your partner, and especially if you have children: you know you\u2019re going to have to let go of them one day. Raising children is, in fact, letting go piece by piece as your kids start gaining their independence. Giving them the space to make their own mistakes. And here we arrive at a highly sensitive point that\u2019s applicable both in our private lives and in business. Who teaches us to make mistakes? Everything in our society \u2013 education, work, government \u2013 is focused on doing things right in one go. Mistakes are often punished mercilessly. But be honest: from what did you learn the most? From the mistakes you\u2019ve made! How much space do we give others to make errors? Our children, employees, partners? How about ourselves? Perhaps that\u2019s why letting go of notions and routines is so scary. It feels unnatural, we\u2019re scared of making a mistake. On the other hand, sport teaches us that trying to maintain control can have an adverse effect. If, on a mountain bike, you have to go through a huge hole and up the other side, the last thing you want to do is step on the brakes. It\u2019s the dumbest thing you could do as you\u2019re likely to fly over the handlebars. Skateboarding is also relaxing. If you tense your muscles you\u2019re going to fall, get tenser, and end up in a vicious circle. Some time ago, in a stressful period when I went horse riding, I was thrown from every horse. Even the calmest horse around went wild when I got on its back. So I stopped for a while. Years later, when all the stress had disappeared from my life, it all went far better. It works the other way round too: if you\u2019re so involved in sports that you can\u2019t think of anything else, all the stress disappears from your body. If I\u2019m involved in a tough climb on a climbing wall, there\u2019s not a brain cell in my mind thinking of my \u2018to-do-list\u2019 \u2013 my body and mind are fully occupied with the \u2018dangers\u2019 of the moment. In Cura\u00e7ao, while swimming my daily kilometer in the sea, I achieve a particular cadence, a sort of trance that helps me for a moment see everything from afar, and far more clearly. I have come up with my best ideas while swimming. Next time you have the feeling you\u2019re juggling too many balls, do an experiment and let go. It\u2019s exciting, against your instinct, but, who knows, may achieve some surprising results. The boat is safer anchored at the port: but that\u2019s not the aim of boats.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div> Do you want to become a digital nomad?<\/p>\n Can you picture yourself traveling the world as a location-independent entrepreneur but don\u2019t want to reinvent the wheel?<\/p>\n Then learn from my 35 years of entrepreneurial experience, including nearly 20 years of location independence.<\/p>\n I\u2019m here to help with:<\/p>\nWant to become a digital nomad?<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>![\"How](\"https:\/\/estherjacobs.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/DN-workshop-1024x1024.jpg\")
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