Thoughtful Systems: A Holistic Approach to Personal and Professional Growth
In 2016, I set out to combine the methods I'd used to manage the lives and schedules of busy executives and entrepreneurs with my own experience as a small business owner.
It sounds easy when you type it up in a sentence like that, but it's been almost 8 years of work to take the initial idea and develop it into the business and framework that exists today.
Those years of work, exploration, and creation become what I talk about today: Thoughtful Systems.
What is Thoughtful Systems?
Thoughtful Systems is a unique framework that offers individuals a transformative journey of self-discovery and self-improvement. With a whole-human approach, it combines elements of a cycle and a spectrum, enabling you to continuously evolve and embrace life as a process rather than a fixed destination. By nurturing self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-care, self-management, and the willingness to embrace change, individuals can unlock your true potential and lead more fulfilling lives.
The Cycle
Many of us grow up being conditioned that life is a series of "if I could just get here" then things would be okay. Achievement and growth is an incline that only goes up. While I would agree that growth is moving in an upward direction, it's more of a spiral. We often feel like we are going in circles when growing but this is where the power of perspective comes in. When we can pull back and see the big picture - all those circles were really a spiral upwards.
What does this have to do with Thoughtful Systems? As a framework, Thoughtful Systems is designed to be revisited because growth continues and when we complete one cycle, a new challenge appears pushing us through the growth and learning stages again.
The Spectrum
Thoughtful Systems is also designed to be looked at as a spectrum for each person because we all come to each phase of life (and growth) with existing skills and experience. Just like developing self-awareness helps better meet our needs, knowing our strengths and weaknesses helps us focus our efforts for more aligned growth.
Let's look at each stage of Thoughtful Systems in more detail:
Cultivating Self-Awareness
At the heart of the Thoughtful Systems framework lies the cultivation of self-awareness. This initial phase guides you in examining your life through the lens of time and energy tracking. By identifying patterns and understanding how you utilize your energy and time, you gain invaluable insights into optimizing your needs and well-being. Additionally, this phase delves into exploring your values, beliefs, and passions, ensuring that these guiding principles become the foundation for all your decisions.
Embracing Self-Acceptance
Once the time and energy tracking phase is complete and analyzed, you progress to embrace self-acceptance. Here, the framework acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual, celebrating your natural expertise, preferred tasks, and skills. By recognizing your limitations and acknowledging where they excel and find fulfillment, individuals are empowered to make peace with your inherent strengths and weaknesses.
The Thoughtful Systems approach also acknowledges the significant impact of the menstrual cycle on individuals' lives. Understanding and working with biological rhythms to help you create a more harmonious lifestyle.
Embodying Self-Care
Thoughtful Systems emphasizes the importance of self-care as an essential aspect of personal growth. This phase focuses on helping individuals identify the activities and practices that replenish your energy and foster well-being. Whether it's implementing regular breaks, rest periods, or adjusting daily routines and rituals, it encourages you to prioritize self-care to maintain sustainable progress.
Sustainable Self-Management
Building upon the foundation of self-awareness and self-acceptance, the Sustainable Self-Management phase equips you with the tools to take charge of your life and work effectively. This stage may vary based on your individual needs, ranging from refining personal self-management skills to incorporating self-management principles into your work and preparations for future growth.
Thoughtful Systems guides you in intentional scheduling, planning, and prioritization to optimize your productivity and find harmony in your personal and professional commitments.
Embracing Change
As life is dynamic and ever-changing, the Thoughtful Systems framework emphasizes the importance of embracing change gracefully. This final phase encourages you to develop a regular practice of reflection and revision. By understanding when routines and systems need adjustment to accommodate shifts in your personal and professional lives, individuals can adapt proactively to new challenges and opportunities.
Thoughtful Systems offers a holistic and empowering approach to personal and professional growth. By viewing life as an ongoing cycle and a spectrum, individuals are encouraged to embrace continuous improvement and development. Through cultivating self-awareness, embracing self-acceptance, embodying self-care, practicing sustainable self-management, and welcoming change, you can unlock your true potential and lead more intentional, fulfilled, and purpose-driven lives. Thoughtful Systems reminds us that the journey is just as meaningful as the destination, and growth is a lifelong adventure to be embraced with enthusiasm and curiosity.
