Waking up each morning, one of the first things so many of us do is check our emails and messages.

What is the day shaping up to be?

What did I miss?

What am I going to be faced with when I get to work?

We look at our calendar and see the meetings, administration and other commitments that are required to run our business.

We have aspirations for greater sustainability and perhaps growth, but how does one achieve this amidst the running of the business?

…when so much of our energy and time is already wrapped up in what we do every day?

When I was younger I loved to dance. (Well I still do, but I actually took lessons and performed in my youth). What I admired about professional dancers was their athleticism, their grace and their superb amounts of skill. The way they could capture an audience and tell a story through movement.

What I learned was in order to get to be so skilled and master their craft, they practiced all the time and often practiced the basics. Like a musician mastering and warming up with scales. It’s the foundational steps and method that help them to hone their craft. It’s focussing on the foundations of their craft that built the muscle memory and capacity that they have today. The ballet dancers always came back to their pliés.

When I hear and speak to business owners and founders today who want to grow their companies, some of them have all sorts of plans and initiatives. I always love hearing about their plans and vision. It’s inspiring. Until I hear about their method…

I just had the pleasure of taking the weekend to do some hiking in the Cape Breton Highlands and let me tell you: If you’ve never been to Eastern Canada in the Fall, you’re missing out.

The leaves were stunning. Absolutely breathtaking.

It was walking through the woods, experiencing the quiet beauty and perfectly imperfect landscape of rivers and mountains that filled me with a peace that was so wonderful to experience.

It was there that I was able to be reminded of me; and what I’m wanting to accomplish. And how fortunate I was to be able to take these moments in a busy life to reconnect to that.

I’ve been working to create opportunities for more space in my work and calendar. Not only to work on projects that are important to me but to think more deeply about my work and how to improve on certain areas of my business. Particularly HOW I work.

What I’ve learned is space in my workweek leads to business growth…