How’s your motivation these days? With things opening up and Spring in the air, some people are feeling a surge of energy. Yet, for many of us the war in Ukraine has added a new stressor and emotional weight to our already weary lives. And for the CPAs who are in the thick of Q1 and tax season, they carry an additional burden due to the “busy season.” It wears on them, particularly when combined with everything else going on.

But we don’t have to simply accept low motivation in our work or our lives. Like so many things, it is something we can choose to influence and even create. And these days it is doubly important that we do.

As I’m heading out for the day, my phone alerted me that my battery level was at 20% and prompted me to switch to low power mode. “How could that be?” How could my phone only have 20% charge when it was plugged in overnight? Except that one of the kids had unplugged the cable from the wall adapter to charge their device! After the flash or frustration (!), I could feel that sense of unease that comes from going out into my world a low battery.

Yet how often do we do this – head out for the day with a less than full charge mentally, emotionally and physically?

The tree stump was massive, and the inner core had rotted over the 400 years since it had toppled. Yet the wood on the outside of the stump was still alive. How was this possible without having its own leaves to provide energy through photosynthesis? The answer: the stump had been nourished by the root system of neighbouring trees for over four centuries.

It was observations like this that led arborist Peter Wohlleben to write “The Hidden Life of Trees”. What he found was that in multitude of ways, trees nourish, warn and defend each other far more than we realized. They do this by working within the ecosystem they are part of; sending signals through the air and the fungi in the soil, and providing resources to neighbours via their roots.

Why would trees channel their energy to neighbouring trees who are struggling, when they are all competing for sunlight? It simple: they are stronger together. The trees need the forest to thrive;

You don’t have to listen hard to hear it. Behind the resignations, the overwhelm, stress and mental health, and behind the numbing out, there is a common under current. After two years of pandemic restrictions, uncertainty, societal change and climate angst there is a background feeling of “a lack of control”.

As a result, people are looking to regain control in their lives in some way, which is part of the increase in career change, relationship change, and numbing out. It also includes anger, frustration and resistance, as this too gives people a sense of control.

Most people are doing this unconsciously. That’s an important distinction. Most people are simply doing their best to survive a difficult time.

But there is a tremendous opportunity in this, both for us and the people we lead. For us as leaders, how can we create a greater sense of control in our lives by responding more mindfully and in more positive ways (rather than reacting)?

I hope you had a wonderful break over the Holidays and feel ready for 2022! The New Year is a time where people often pause to reflect: "How am I doing?", and "I'd like to do more, or be more _____ this coming year." Which often starts to look like goals for the year.

While setting goals works for some people, for most people their New Year's goals tend to dim quickly as they return to the normal bustle of life, defaulting back to their old ways before the end of January. Myself included.

How’s your motivation these days? Checking in with organizations, it is still common to hear that many people are tired, stressed, overwhelmed and unmotivated. This is easy to understand, given that there are many factors at play that make it hard for people. November is by its nature a harder month (darker, colder and greyer). While we have more freedom than in the past, we continue to feel the drag of the pandemic. Many organizations are struggling with higher turnover, and this creates more work for others. All of which can sap our motivation.

Email. Meetings. Tasks. Conversations. Zoom. Teams. Appointments. Commuting. Problem solving. If this sounds like your day, you are not alone.

Not that any of that is necessarily a bad thing. The problem is when it piles up on top of itself, like ice on the river in Spring break up, to the point where it feels constricting, constraining and well, overwhelming.

What's missing in days like this is some form of stillness to balance the busyness.

Time Magazine has deemed their voyage "the most storied epic of survival". The story is that of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men on The Endurance in a 1914 attempt of a Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Various books and movies have been made of this harrowing failed expedition.Due to unexpected wind conditions,The Endurancebecame locked in pack-ice early in their voyage (despite being the Antarctic ‘summer’) and remained there for nine months (including the Antarctic winter).The crew made repeated desperate attempts to carve a channel through the ice to open water.Eventually the ship succumbed to the pressure of the ice, forcing the crew

Speaking with various executives, senior leaders and HR leaders lately, it is clear that these continue to be challenging times for organizations and the people who lead them. The many challenges include: managing return-to-office expectations, managing conflict around vaccine mandates, keeping an eye on retention, embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and now a fourth wave of the pandemic.

At times, it starts to feel chaotic and overwhelming. Leaders may react to the stress themselves, and at times add to the chaos. At other times they may hunker down, becoming rigid and dogmatic. Neither of which is ideal.

My summer has definitely had its moments of frustration. A wrist fracture in June prevented me from riding on my family mountain biking trip in early July. Then too much trail running on the vacation resulted in a knee issue that has limited me further, while I’m also still healing the wrist!

We all prefer it when things go the way we like. Yet life is filled with small and big inconveniences and frustrations. There is so much in life that is out of our control and can surprise us in unsettling ways: health setbacks, changes at work, unforeseen home repairs, challenging relationships, navigating a pandemic, etc.

Some days we can roll with it. Other days it wears on us and takes away our energy, focus and joy.