In the Midst of Your Striving, are You Also Savoring?

Coaching Tip #30

When I accomplish a feat, my tendency is to look forward to what comes next. It’s a habit built over many years, probably formed when I was a child. But as the years pass, I am more aware of the need to practice savoring.

What good is striving if I don’t savor that which I work so hard to achieve?

This coaching tip looks at the art of savoring, and dips a toe into why it might be so hard for the habitual striver.

Savoring requires us to stop. For strivers, pausing can be challenging. Strivers pass over moments and accomplishments because there is always a next challenge. We know the effort it takes to accomplish our goals … and letting up on our efforts may feel uncomfortable, awkward, downright difficult, or riddled with anxiety.

Why might strivers not stop and savor? … Perhaps we are on “autopilot”. In my coaching practice I define this as “I do what I do because that is what I do!”

So how do we get off autopilot and into practicing the art of savoring? Start by having an awareness that savoring is beneficial.

This responsive approach can be defined as: “With awareness, I choose what best serves me, someone else, or the situation.”

I’ve been able to trick my brain into creating a striving goal around savoring. Once I understood the research* behind it and the benefit of it, I could systematically interrupt my patterns.

Savoring is an art, and will be unique for each of us. The experience we choose to savor can be from the past, a projection into the future, or focused on the present moment. I find the most challenging kind of savoring is stopping in the moment and acknowledging what is good, right now.

Here are 5 suggestions for stopping and savoring. They might work for you.

1. Set an alarm on your phone at random intervals. In that random moment stop and notice something good. Go one step further and write it down.

2. Define what you would consider a “win.” We have lots of little wins each day but because our definition probably only considers big wins, we pass by (or ignore) the little ones.

3. When you experience a little win, stop and acknowledge to yourself what you did to create it.

4. Move the art of savoring to your relationships. Acknowledge and savor those that are special to you.

5. Create a habit of taking 10 deep breaths at predefined times: when you wake up in the morning, when you have a snack in the afternoon, or before you brush teeth at night. Savor these moments. Savor being alive.

Melinda

* There is some great research on the benefits of savoring summarized nicely in this article “The Science of Savoring”.