Wherever you’re at in your business or life journey, you’re probably undergoing, in some way, a transformation - one that’s leading you toward a new way of being.

Perhaps you’re stepping into a new relationship with your business, one where you are showing up and learning to act from a place of strength and sovereignty instead of hiding out. Maybe you’re breaking through old ways of thinking that have been keeping you anxious or playing small and are practicing voicing your wants out loud. Or you might be learning to lean into your intuition and let that guide your actions instead of relying on rote habit, straight logic or programmed behavior.

Whatever it is, you’re working on a change.

And often when that happens, it can take a while for the analytical mind to catch up to this new way of thinking. Your mind can look at something and despite clear, indisputable evidence to the contrary, spit out a word or phrase or idea that is in complete contradiction to your new reality.

You fail to believe what’s right in front of you.

The Certificate of Life

Morocco was a French colony until 1961. When my husband and I lived there for three years, I learned about this peculiar piece of leftover French bureaucracy called a “Certificat de vie,” which means, Certificate of Life. The document reads “We (the issuing authority) hereby certifies that Mr./Ms. So-and-So, born on said date, whose address is XY and Z, is, after having appeared before us today, alive.” An official form completed would be signed and stamped.

Any time you needed to get any type of document from the government – ID card, registration, driver’s license, etc. – you needed to present (in person, at the time) the requisite documents, which often included this Certificate of Life.

There were stories where, after having driven to local offices, waited in lines, shuttled between various departments to obtain the required documents, someone would arrive at the authorities to file their papers, only to have the official declare “C’est essentiel votre Certificat de vie.” You need to present your Certificate of Life. “But I’m alive! I’m right here in front of you,” someone would say, trying to reason with him, “Here’s my ID!”

The bureaucrat would huff and wave him away.

Not Seeing What’s There

We laughed at the insanity of it all. There someone is, breathing, clearly alive. Do they not believe it? Did they really need a Certificate of Life?

This is exactly what happens to us sometimes, even or maybe especially as we’re undergoing change – we fail to believe what’s right in front of us.

I was talking to a client this week, who in the course of our conversation talking about an employee said, “I can’t manage people.” Screeeech. I paused the conversation and then asked her how long she’d been in business.

“10 years…” she answered.

“How many people work there?”

“About 20…” she answered, starting to chuckle, “Many, a long time.”

She’s in the midst of transforming her relationship with her inner wisdom and her business.

And she’s still carrying around a thought that was bubbling below the surface that she can’t manage people. Despite all evidence right there in front of her, that she’d been running a thriving, blooming business for years, with many long-term, happy employees.

This happened to me too recently. I’ve been wanting to spend more time with my creative writing, since, well, hmmmm, pretty much since the late 1900s (lol). I recently uncovered the fact that, despite the fact that I control my own schedule since leaving my job in corporate marketing in 2018, I hadn’t somehow fully realized that I could make time in the first part of my work day to work on my writing.

It honestly never occurred to me that I could do this, despite the reality right in front of me. If I didn’t find this so funny, I’d be embarrassed.

Is There Something Else to See?

So how about you? Is there is an area of your business or life that you’re working on changing? Perhaps there’s some evidence around you that you’re aware of that can support you.

Here are a few things you can do to help identify what may be hiding in plain sight.

1. Talk to a friend

   Have an open-ended conversation with someone. This is always something that’s helpful, to do and can be especially so if you talk to someone you don’t normally talk to or that has a very different background or way of looking at the world than you do. For example, my plant science research husband has such a different way of looking at the world, when I talk to him about things I’m working on, I’m often surprised by what he sees.

2. Write it down

   Try journaling in response to a question or creating an inner dialogue. Something about the process of writing things down can help objectify a situation. It could be the fact that you are taking something out of your head and turning a thought or situation into something tangible by finding the words to talk about it. You can often find perspective that’s missing.

3. Ask to be shown

   During your daily stillness time, ask to be shown what might be hiding right in front of you. Staying open and curious to what might arise will often open surprising doors. Another related thing you can do is to set an intention before going to sleep to dream about the situation. Writing the intention down and putting it under your pillow, and then when you awake, jot down a few notes before you completely leave your dream state.

When you suddenly see something that seems like it’s been there all along, it’s important to find the humor and/or compassion in the situation. I do forgive the bureaucrats in Morocco. They have their process to follow, after all. And I forgive myself for taking so long to fully understand how much control over my schedule I really have.

If you’re going through any type of transformation with your life or business, you might be surprised to uncover what’s around you that you might not immediately see.

Sometimes getting a little help to see your life or business clearly is a gift.

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Photo by David Hepworth on Unsplash