Limits

I often come across people who are in career transition, or perhaps have substance use disorder issues, or maybe are trying to grow a business, and I want to help them by sharing my own experience. I have been through a lot of this stuff and have meditated, read, prayed, and otherwise just pushed through various flavors of this stuff, and I always believe that I can be of service to them. In recent weeks I've had a client and a good prospect who are in the middle of looking for their next roles, and I've held myself out as a resource.

But then, in fact, as I wrack my brain for how I can actually, concretely help them with contacts etc., as opposed to with general exhortations ("get out and talk to people, have faith in yourself, keep going, read this, everybody's been through it"), my stable of resources is somewhat thin on the ground.

Right now, that's largely reflective of the fact that I haven't been out and meeting that many new people myself, I haven't been in the streets as much. On the one hand, that's no big loss. Intrinsically, and I've blogged about this before and have read about the phenomenon in both Daniel Pink's When and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, there's no particular reason for me to want to be out meeting more people. People's desire to do this winnows as we age. I know a lot of excellent people, and I don't have time to adequately fulfill all the roles that I have allowed to settle on me and keep in touch with all of them.

I've also been trying to focus on physical health and being at home with my kids and Mary, as we have launched Natalie into the world and I'm all too conscious that Graham is on his way to the bigger world. And I just feel fat.

But there is something about being in the streets, about looking for angles new things, meeting more people, that is invigorating, and opens new pathways in the brain.