The Quality of My Own Practice

The quality of my work depends on the quality of my own practice.

It's easy to collect ideas about transformation. Books, podcasts, frameworks, and certifications all have their place. But none of them replace putting yourself in situations where those ideas have to become real.

Last week, I spent three days and nights alone on the South Dakota prairie as part of a traditional Lakota Haŋbléčeyapi, or vision quest. No food. No water. Just a little patch of prairie, a blanket, a tarp, a knife, a whole lot of prayer, silence, and solitude, and one serious thunderstorm.

It was tough on the body and mind, and at times wildly uncomfortable.

I didn't go because I needed another adventure.

I went because if I'm going to ask people to step away from the noise, I need to keep stepping away from it myself. If I'm going to ask people to trust what they already know, I need to keep putting myself in places where I have to do the same.

That's one of the reasons I keep going back to the wild. Not because it's an escape, but because it strips away everything that isn't essential. Every time I come back, I trust my own work a little more. More importantly, I come back a little more myself.

Most of the people I work with already know more than they realize. They usually don't need another strategy. What they need is enough space to hear themselves again.

I'm not going to ask someone else to walk a path I'm unwilling to walk myself.

That's the practice.

Fortunately, I love this stuff 😃