Pathway #3 to Professional Resilience: Letting Go

LETTING GO

​Letting go is a creative process. When you let go of a thought, a habit, a belief or a behavior, you create space and the opportunity to allow something new to emerge. You also allow flexibility, openness and curiosity to flourish. You shake up your routines and expectations in a way that allows you to bounce back more readily when things change.
What are you willing to let go of?

The Letting Go Inventory
Below is an exercise that I ask my clients to do when life seems to be full of things that aren't working for them. Set aside 10 minutes and find a space that's conducive to writing, whether on a computer, in a journal or on a napkin. It doesn't have to be pretty.

When life is full of things that aren't serving your continued growth and success, take stock of what you can release.

• Actions:
• Beliefs:
• Habits:
• Relationships:
• Work:

After you've populated these categories, ask yourself, "Three months from now, what two things on this list would make the biggest difference?" Then commit to those two things.

Put your list away for three months and then check in with it.
     How has it changed?
​     What's been the impact of letting go?

Here's my Letting Go Inventory from June 2021. I let go of:

• Actions: Over-checking email. (It was pulling my focus and sapping my energy.)
• Beliefs: If someone wants to work with me, I have to say yes. (This was the hardest thing and the most important. It means now I take on work that is right for me and my clients. I do a better job and my clients get better results.)
• Habits: Assuming I'm not doing enough. (This thought pattern kept me cycling through tasks all day without thinking strategically.)
• Relationships: A long-term work friendship that didn't serve me anymore. (We'd both been making excuses to each other for a long time.)
• Work: My business Facebook page (It brought me no joy.)
  
  ​I'd love to hear what you learn from putting together your Letting Go Inventory.

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