Beach Time
Summer is finally here and it feels like the beach is the place to be. Beaches are so calming to be on that just imagining a beach for a few moments can be relaxing. I just let out a deep breath picturing a white sandy beach. Beaches have a very strong connection to business and life.
On The Beach
When on the beach, enjoy its beauty. How soft does the sand feel on your fingers and toes? What color is the sand? Beyond white, it could be black or red due to long ago volcanic ash. Some are orange, green, or even purple, among other colors. Ponder where you are – at the ocean, the edge of a great lake, the bank of a river, or an estuary? Is the beach narrow? How might the tide affect it, if at all? Is your beach man-made, or did it take thousands of years to form naturally?
Perhaps there are countless ways to be on the beach. We have been curious with our questions. You could be peaceful and calm, meditative, and even…asleep. If on vacation and it ends tomorrow, somehow you could be on the beach and yet anxious about work next week. It is all up to you.
In consulting, if you are on the beach, then your time is not billable to a client. It is an opportunity for rest, rejuvenation, internal work, development and training. Though it serves a purpose to be on the beach, you don’t want to be there too long. Your relationship with your colleagues who are not on the beach could get rocky. Best to keep things fine and have a plan to get off the beach.
Transitions
Maybe beaches are transitionary places. There is a body of water and then there is hard earth. And in between the two is a soft beach with its many waterlike characteristics – wavy, fluid, and made up of a bounty of smaller pieces – all while still on land. Maybe beaches are the places where two very different worlds compromise and co-exist? They are neither firm land nor gentle sea, yet allow you to see both. If you are an intern this summer, you are in a transitionary state and you live exactly what I mean.
If you have worked long enough, you see transitions in your career and in your life. Often, those transitions are disorienting and challenging. But maybe that in between time is your beach? Beaches can come in so many different ways and flavors after all. Rather than wishing to be fully immersed in water or totally grounded on earth, embracing the ephemeral beach time in your life allows you to reflect anew. Something novel can then open up.
Maybe it is summer where you are and – just for a brief period of time – the beach is your place to be. Enjoy.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers