The long break in between academic years is a golden time. As the rhythm of teaching and meetings falls away, there’s a lot more freedom, but also the underlying pressure that the summer be productive.
“I am drafting this chapter in May and even now I hear academics (including myself) voice that they fear that the summer is going too quickly,” writes Barbara K. Seeber in the chapter on ‘research’ in The Slow Professor.
If you know that feeling, or have arrived at the start of a new academic year tired and dissatisfied , it may be time to approach your summers differently.
Stretching across the full duration of your long break, our work together supports you being present and purposeful throughout the summer. Intentions for work are held alongside those for rest, pleasure, and time with family and friends. Contingencies and bumps in the road are expected, even welcomed.
You’ll emerge at the start of a new academic year content and energized.
We will approach the break as a cycle with a beginning, a middle and an
end, that itself contains several smaller cycles. Within this model,
you’ll learn to manage your energy rather than your time.
The entire duration of your summer break will be the duration of our work together. It’s all part of it: tiredness, stress, things not working out, holidays, spontaneous change of plans. This is the point: to include everything and find a balance of intentionally and flexibility in moving with what occurs.
At the heart of this work is our joint commitment to your agenda.
Your commitment is to yourself, your growth, and your deepest intentions. Mine is: to be always on your side. I will hold a bigger vision for you, help you locate and cultivate key inner resources, and hold you accountable for following through on your word.
The below is based on 12-week summer break from the moment your duties for one academic year end till the moment your duties for the next one begin. If yours is shorter or longer, I can provide a customized proposal.
A 3 .5-hour online retreat at the very start of your break. This allows you to catch your breath after a busy time and begin designing your ideal summer.
6 coaching sessions of 1 hour each, in which we work in partnership to honour your intentions, work through stumbling blocks, and celebrate your victories. I will draw on the whole range of my training and experience to support you. I will show up with honesty, presence of mind, and fierce commitment to what you want from this summer.
Mental fitness training, guided by the high-quality app and video content from Positive Intelligence. When coaching is connected to the training of mental and physical habits, results are faster, deeper and long-lasting. Six weeks of intensive training and six weeks of extension will boost your command of where your attention goes and your ability to keep unconscious self-sabotage at bay.
This is both a results-oriented process and a learning journey. What you’ll gain will serve you not just for this summer but will increase your productivity and enjoyment in every summer to come.
Coaching only works if the coach and the client are a good match. Together we need to be able to bring out that bigger, more fully-alive version of you – the version that can create what you truly want in your work and life. So before taking you on as a client, I want to meet and work with you during a 90-minute free session. I will then tell you honestly if I believe I can serve you powerfully and effectively as a your coach. If we are not a great match, I will where possible refer you to other coaches or related professionals in my network.
If we are a great match, and if you commit to yourself and the work at hand throughout this summer-long process, I have no doubt that you’ll get your money’s worth, and more, from our engagement. If you do not find yourself looking back at a well-spent summer at the end of this, I will refund your full investment.