Why Do We Benefit from Stepping Back?

It feels good to be home after travelling for 3 weeks with my son in Costa Rica.

We joined 11 others, all looking for an adventure. And we certainly got that - it felt like ‘Race Across The World.’

Whether trekking in cloud forests and volcanoes, canyoning, zip-lining, white water rafting, early morning and late night wildlife-spotting (seeing turtles lay their precious eggs), kayaking in mangroves, surfing Pacific & Caribbean beaches - it was clear that by the end there was something else going on.

We’d become witnesses to one another’s lives.

There were conversations about careers, families, hopes and disappointments - often in tropical downpours.

One member of our group had just accepted a fantastic new role at 51.

An 18-year-old is preparing for an exciting Rolls-Royce degree apprenticeship in Bristol (it’s been a pleasure to help him find somewhere to live).

My son and two other teenagers were counting down to GCSE results day.

We lost a couple of days to food poisoning.

But everyone had stepped outside their normal routines for long enough to see themselves differently.

When we’re no longer rushing between meetings, school runs, emails and obligations, the conversations become deeper.

We ask better questions.

We listen more carefully.

We notice what really matters.

Each of us returned with wonderful memories of Costa Rica.

But I suspect we also returned with something less visible.

A slightly different perspective on our own lives.

When was the last time you stepped far enough away from your normal life to see it more clearly and maybe think about making changes?

Thinking differently about what you want from your next decade?

The Redesign Project helps you turn that thinking into a clearer way forward.

Start with a conversation.