Nature as the Differentiator with Chris Winfield and Jen Gottlieb Part 2 (of 2)
“Nature brings me back to who I truly am”
YOUR KEY INSIGHTS FROM CHRIS & JEN
The Power of pausing
“I had to learn the pause by basically breaking down and needing to realize that, Oh my God, I need to pause. It happened the hard way. A long time ago, I was obsessed with going, going, going, doing, doing, doing... I found my worth in doing and over exercising and over-caffeinating myself, and just always constantly on the go, and my body completely broke down and I didn't know what was happening and I didn't know why. And after that happened to me, I just started paying more attention to being where I am instead of always thinking of the next thing. It really is pausing and being just more mindful in what is right in front of you because especially here in New York, everybody's mindset, I think in the energy makes you think... Five steps ahead from where you are. Because it's just going, going, going, going, going, and going on all the time. What's the next thing? What's the next thing? Was the next thing, but you can't truly create if you don't give yourself recovery time, and if you don't actually take in where you are in the current moment and just take a breath.
So nature and getting outside of walking for me is the best time for me to pause and actually take in the current moment. I pay attention to my steps to my feet, to my toes hitting the payment, to a building or a person working by and really like taking it in. You have to pause to be present and you have to take time. You have to take time to be present in order to recover, to be creative, and create again.” - Jen Gottlieb
nature as the differentiator
“Being outside is a good reminder of what comes from that because I think of even recently where ideas and creativity come from... A lot of times also if I'm gonna talk to somebody or catch up with somebody, I'd prefer to walk outside and do that. I walk no matter what, when I'm on the phone, even if I'm here, I'm not a sit-down type of person. Now actually having this conversation I can see what comes from those walks and it makes me look at it even closer and more importantly.” - Chris Winfield
“I’m going to go back when I was a kid..growing up in a big barn with horse stables. I would spend every single day at this barn cleaning up horse poop and jumping over the junks on climbing trees, and just getting dirty and building things. That was a really important time in my life where I really was harnessing my creativity and being fully who I was. I tap into that little girl now, when I'm feeling lost or I'm feeling stuck or I'm feeling not creative, where I feel not good enough or I feel like I'm being really hard on myself. I go back to that little girl when she was at the farm, rolling around in the dirt and climbing trees and being like a boy and not caring what anybody thought of her... And that brings me back to who I truly am. Having those memories and going back to that time is what brings back the most free and creative feeling that I've ever experienced, and it's a way for me to harness it now.” - Jen Gottlieb
Simple and intentional practices
“When you know you work out your muscles so that they break down, it's painful and uncomfortable. The only way that we get stronger is by recovering and stopping. If you keep breaking down the muscles, and you don't ever take time to recover, you're never gonna get stronger, your muscles are never going to grow. They're never going to come back together and you're going to actually get injured. I always think about pausing now and taking time off and taking time to recover and reach hard because our brain needs that as well. If we're constantly over-doing it and we never take a minute to step out and be present and be one with nature and beyond this planet and recover and recharge…We're never gonna be able to get smarter, we're never gonna be able to get stronger and take that next step because we're always gonna be tearing it down.
If I'm gonna take a day off from the gym, I have to take a day mentally. If you don't have a full day, take five minutes, close your eyes and take five deep breaths, step outside, take a walk. I love taking whitespace days. So a white space day is basically taking a day and not having any agenda and not having any to dos, just allowing yourself to float, allowing your brain to be totally free... I'm telling you what to do, and every single time that I'm able to take a white space day it always involves walking outside always. And the next day I feel like a super hero. In video games where you get recharged re-booted, I feel that way after taking a day like that, so it's just proof that we need to recover in order to get stronger in our mind, in our body and in our soul.” - Jen Gottlieb
“For me, everything is it's all about the people that you surround yourself with. So if you have people in your life that are intentional and that are a good example, there's a good chance that you will be as well, and if not, and there's a good chance you won't be. So to me, it always comes back to that, like the Jim Rohn quote, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” So I think about that with everything. We live in New York City, you can not be intentional, you cannot take time and you cannot do any of these things... There are just as many people here as anywhere that do that, so I think it all comes back to that.” - Chris Winfield
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