The Coach’s Corner Newsletter #82
2024 has been quite a year for everyone I know.
Babies, a national election, medical diagnoses, untimely death, relocation, growth, loneliness and bursts of joy.
Each person’s response to those events reflects where they are on their journey. I’m inspired and humbled as I observe the challenges colleagues, friends and family have faced – and what they will continue to face in the weeks, months and years to come. I marvel at how folks persevere, grieve and move through the mud.
As 2024 winds down here are the ways I have observed many of you thrive, no matter how tough your situation.
THIS WEEK’S INSIGHT
Wrapping up the year
Our year began with news that our oldest son and his wife were expecting twins – on the day their daughter turned one! Over the next six months, we made the difficult and rewarding decision to move to Texas, bringing our household with us but leaving many close family members and friends behind in Colorado. We are working to keep those ties of relationship secure, even from a distance. Sometimes better than others.
Throughout this year, we have witnessed close friends and family battling cancer and undergoing excruciating courses of treatment. We have grieved with loved ones who’ve lost the matriarch of one family and the patriarch of another. We are a divided country, waiting to see what the future holds as a new administration takes over in 2025.
I work with executives who are making huge strides. Others who have seen their teams shrink, or have been let go themselves.
I’ve observed folks reach their academic goals, get married, file for divorce, handle addiction issues, ignore addiction issues, reconnect with family and lose important relationships.
Maybe it’s a sense of awareness that I’m noticing – in myself, the people with whom I live and work and those I meet in a new location.
People are paying attention. As a result, they are demonstrating how to get through their worst nightmare and best possible outcome.
THIS WEEK’S TOOL
Three ways to hold on
Emerging from a season of hardship – here are three insights I’ve learned in this past year as I work with executives, listen to family members and lean on friends.
First – Take a deep breath.
Every time the tension of life hits you, this one thing allows you to clear your thoughts, giving you a sense that you have what it takes to reduce your anxiety.
Second – Keep moving.
Whatever that looks like for you. Even when you feel frozen in place, decide where you can chip even a single piece away to grow as you move.
Third – Ask for help.
Whether it’s your best friend, spouse, coach or colleague – there is someone who will be willing to listen. To sit with you. To babysit. To support you.
My takeaway
I am so grateful for each person who helped me hold on this year. You were and are there for me, thank you.
This journey on the Coach’s Corner, sharing coaching insights and tools, has also inspired me to take more risks in my work. On January 8th, I’m excited to share with you how my passion for people will be expanding to serve more leaders. How they show up: anywhere and everywhere.
The Coach’s Corner will be taking a deeper dive into leadership: mistakes to avoid, the cost of those mistakes and ideas on how leaders show up. I will use external data from leaders and personal experience as a coach and broadcaster.
I love full circles. My very first Coach’s Corner began with the question, “how do you show up?” Imagine that 🙂
May this season fill you with joy, no matter where you are in your life and work.
In closing, I’d like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from a woman I had the pleasure of knowing from Sarajevo. Jasna lived fully – sharing love, music, coffee and a smile no matter what she was facing. I miss her.
What other way is there to look, but up?
Jasna Spaic
