Turns Out, I was Doing it All Right...and Still Going Backwards

Amanda Crowell is the author of Great Work: Do What Matters Most Without Sacrificing Everything Else (now in its second edition), with accompanying classes, podcasts and journal. She is a Doctoral Lecturer at Hunter College in New York, who originally published this piece June 25th on LinkedIn. We cross-post it here with her permission. Thank you, Amanda! You can contact her via email.

My daughter recently became serious about swimming. She's joined a club, swims laps "for fun," and can now do all four strokes at a competition level.

I am amazed by this because I learned how to swim laps while preparing for the triathlon that I unexpectedly did in my thirties. I am pretty good at freestyle and backstroke, and no one beats me at the doggie paddle... but butterfly? Come on.

Breaststroke is the one that gets my goat. I like the kick (it's a little froggy thing that is a nice change from the flutter kick), and the arm pull seems easy enough.

I've watched the videos and I'm doing all the parts correctly! But, despite all that effort, I'm barely moving through the water. In fact, sometimes it feels like I'm going backwards. 👀

This is because (according to my internet research) the real key to the breaststroke lies in the glide. 

First you pull, then you kick, then you glide.

Gliding is where you hit a streamlined pose and let the work you've already done propel you through the water. If you try to skip the glide, you end up confused and fighting the water.

Are you skipping your Great Work glide?

I was struck by the universality of this problem: When it comes to our Great Work, how many of us have skipped the glide?

We work! We launch! We post! We hustle!

But when do we glide? When do we stop and reflect on how far we've come? When do we say thank you to the people who helped? When do we admire our own cleverness, appreciate our own effort, and return to the questions that launched our hero's journey in the first place:

• I wonder if I could...

• Wouldn't it be fun to...

• What would happen if...
  

Let this swimmer's parable be your sign from the universe.

Strike a streamlined pose and relax into your glide. It will be time to pull again very soon, and we want to be swimming in the right direction.

So before the next push: Pause. Breathe. Reflect.

Now is a perfect time to check in with your alignment to your Great Work: recharge your vision, revisit your accessible aspiration, and consider what could carry you closer in the next 90 days.

Want a structured way to pause, breathe, and reflect?

That’s exactly what the Great Work Journal was made for. With targeted prompts every quarter, week, and day it helps you notice what’s working, reconnect with your goals, and move forward with clarity, all without the scramble.

Use it to honor the effort you’ve already made and set yourself up for whatever comes next.

Listen In!

This week on the podcast, I got to talk with Shantel Love - author, speaker, and personal branding powerhouse - about what it really takes to own your value and build a legacy.

Here's a mic-drop moment from Shantel Love:

“Personal branding isn’t a vanity tour. It’s about economic justice and generational wealth building.”

Yes. That. 

If you’ve ever struggled to say out loud what you bring to the table (especially in spaces that weren’t built with you in mind), this one’s for you.

In the meantime: enjoy the glide, my friends,

Amanda

Original Post

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