The Coaching Corner with Michael Riegel: Awe-Filled Lessons from the National Park

As a child, my public educator parents opted for road trips instead of more traditional summer activities. I am ever more impressed with my mother’s ability to plan these excursions in the pre-internet days armed with resources from AAA, listings of campgrounds, and the freedom of a blank calendar. We explored huge portions of the United States, as the song goes, from sea to shining sea. My wife and I have replicated some of those adventures with and without our own kids.

This past September we spent time relaxing, exploring, and rechanging in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. The word that is most prominent for me is awe. Awed by the sheer grandness of the nature, inspired by the animals, and exhilarated by a feeling of connectedness. It was an important reminder of how small we truly are and yet how we are still part of something bigger. While hiking around Lake Jenny in the shadows of the Grand Tetons or watching Old Faithful erupt as it has done for generations, I thought about how this all connects to work, life, and family.

Freedom to Ponder and Imagine

At one level, it is a good reminder that work and career are merely one facet of our lives. The concept of work-life balance often gets lip service and it is easy to make work that first priority. After all, we spend more waking hours at work than we do at home. I allowed my mind to wander along the trails, freed from the constraints of a work schedule, even if some of those thoughts looped back to work-related topics. 

Find Your Place

I have clients who relate the impersonal nature of their organization or feeling like a nameless, faceless number. It is important to ask yourself “what do I want and why is that important?” Society often sends the message that we should want ever-increasing positions. There is a legitimate rationale for striving to reach a particular level and remain there. Once you achieve that goal, you can reassess whether that is enough to be satisfied. This is not a “one and done” process. It is incremental and iterative. The answers to those questions will change with your life circumstances.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones that you did do.” Mark Twain 

Watching a mother moose and her calf cool off in a stream or a bison basking in the sun or hearing elk bugling in the distance was a needed reminder that work is important but it’s not everything. It reawaked my awe at the world around me, the majesty of nature, and a feeling of renewal that comes with fresh mountain air.

Where do you regain your sense of awe and wonder? If you want a guide for your personal exploration, you can reach me at MRiegel@AECBusinessStrategies.com.

 Michael Riegel