Threading the Needle

Career Focus
01 October 2024

Today I want to help you thread the needle.

Say what?

Thread the needle.

No, not the yoga pose I did in class this week with the same name that relieved my shoulder tension, caused from sitting at a desk.

I’m talking about how to thread your needle so you can fulfil your potential.

Getting In Your Own Way

You are the biggest obstacle in reaching your potential.

Why? Because you place limits on yourself.

While it’s true that many people externalize their limitations (“the economy isn’t good, the world isn’t ready for my idea … “), more often than not, the clients I meet in coaching have internalized them. I can sum up this internalization in one phrase that takes many forms but has the same meaning: “I’m not good enough.”

Acceptance is Necessary

Realizing your potential starts with acceptance, accepting the unvarnished self – what makes you you – by understanding that you contain both light and dark.

The work of finding who you are and what you want and then doing it is what each of us is called to do. In Catholic school, we called this concept “finding your vocation.”

You have a purpose to serve. As you build self-awareness, you see the value in using your inborn talents instead of looking outside yourself to acquire new ones.

Don’t misunderstand me. I appreciate learning and gaining new skills. The difference I’m proposing is the attention you pay to the inner self versus the external, public-facing one. Focus more on the internal and the external will take care of itself.

Discernment not Judgement

Potential, acceptance, and service are woven together by the thread of discernment so you can sew – or should I say sow? – something magnificent.

Threading the needle requires you to correctly identify the difference between judgement and blameless discernment.

Take a moment to feel the weight behind those two words.

Judgement. Discernment.

Each carries its own energy – one is negative and one is positive.

Shifting from negative judgement to positive discernment allows you to see more clearly. Think of a horse with and without blinders on. Much easier to see without blinders, no? That’s the gift of discernment, seeing “what is” instead of “what’s not.”

(For coaching on how to shift from judgement to discernment using PQ reps, click here.)

(In)sight

Fulfilling your potential requires vulnerability, self-empathy, and access to your creative self. In fact, judgement and creativity cannot co-exist. Don’t believe me? Try being creative when you’re feeling judged, are judging others, or are judging circumstances.

Imagine judgement as a knot you need to untie in order to pass the thread through the needle’s eye. As you untie it, practising blameless discernment, you gain insights you would not have otherwise through access to the right brain, where creativity and pattern recognition live.

I encourage you to take your time untying your knots, one by one and sometimes in bigger tangles, by talking it out, contemplating, and reflecting as you seek to fulfil your potential.

For guidance, here’s a visualization you can try or a writing/conversation prompt like, What would X [friend, mom, celebrity] do in my situation?

Untangled Knots

As you know, life gets knotted but you can untangle it. One of my favourite creatives, Julia Cameron, is a former alcoholic, who describes how AA “makes tangled lives smooth again.”

Fulfilling your potential is the joy of life. Knots are inevitable. Threading the needle requires untangling knots again and again. Each time you do, you make the thread a little truer, a little smoother, and then, one day, it’s no effort at all. Unconscious competence. Actualized potential.

Best wishes to you.

Header Photo by Олександр К on Unsplash

You have to be open minded in order to grow. The coaching that Laura gave me opened my eyes to what and how I was doing things and allowed me to see the bigger picture. I am not done yet but I already see the changes in my everyday life.
MM

I think coaching is a great way to help you clear your mind when you get stuck with overwhelming situations or when stepping into changes in your life.
MO

Coaching is life changing. It pushes you outside your comfort zone and challenges your perspectives. It is highly motivating and the exercises and techniques used are both fun and informative. I think the main benefits of coaching are to see yourself, others and the world more clearly. I think coaching is valuable to anyone regardless of where you are in your life or career.
LE

I honestly never thought I’d need a coach. I thought coaching was for CEOs and industry VIPs. I didn’t think it was for the “little guys” (i.e. me). Now, I’m of the belief that everyone – yes, EVERYONE – needs a coach. Coaching has really benefitted me and I’m so grateful to have had that time with Laura. It’s changed my life!
VB

Laura is very patient. She took the time to understand what was causing me to be stuck where I am today and help me build a better vision so I can continue to grow.
MM

I think Laura’s coaching was what I had been waiting for. Laura was so approachable, kind, and open. Her willingness to help and support made a difference for me. I found in her coaching new strategies, ideas, and perspectives that I could incorporate into my goals and objectives that I didn’t see before.
MO

Laura is an incredibly intuitive, positive and caring coach. Her techniques helped me recognize both my strengths and areas I might want to explore as I embark on the next chapter of my career. The exercises she employed were instrumental in providing self perspective and challenging my frames of reference.
LE

Laura is a natural coach. Her probing and compassionate questions helped me learn about myself: my value system, interests, goals and strengths.
LM

Coaching sessions with Laura gave me new perspectives on how to process specific feelings and situations in life. She showed me how to sit with my emotions, acknowledge them, and then use visualization strategies to move through them. I now feel more confident and in control of how I choose to walk through life.
CP

From the beginning, Laura put me at ease, creating a safe, open space for me to talk and share freely without fear of judgement. I loved the variety of approaches she used depending on the topic we were working on and it was fun being able to try out things I wouldn’t have considered before! With Laura’s coaching, I substantially grew my confidence in the workplace, overcame fears, dealt with issues I’d been carrying around for many years and, most importantly, learned to value myself and define a path forward into the future.
AG

Laura’s coaching was a breath of fresh air and EXACTLY what I needed at that point of my life. I didn’t realize how impactful coaching was going to be, but by the end of the sessions together, I left feeling refreshed, inspired and genuinely curious about what my future held for me. Because of Laura and her coaching, I believe I became a better person – someone who is more open-minded, someone with a clearer focus, and someone who is willing to explore opportunities and possibilities far more than I ever did before.
VB

I engaged Laura for coaching as I took on an expanded role leading an asset management company in Canada. As a female, I knew I would be a role model and had high expectations of myself. I was feeling overwhelmed and anxious.

In our first few coaching sessions we worked through exercises that allowed me to reflect on my purpose, leadership style and what mattered most to me. I continue to be grounded by the clarity I achieve in my coaching sessions – allowing me to be resilient and confident when challenges came my way.
OS