1,000 Espressos

The subject of 1,000 Espressos this month is Connection. Relationship is powerful, but in our pandemic era we don’t always have the leisure, ability, or space to nurture relationship – be it with a friend, colleague, or a client – to its full power. Instead, we have to start by planting healthy seeds of connection. This is something we can do at a distance. We can share ideas, praise the strengths of our colleagues, and find common ground even when we are not in the same room. 

But connection can be fragile. Connection needs an instigator, a host, or a mutual understanding. This month in our conversations with colleagues we will explore the power of connection. We start with LJ.  

Whether your drink is an espresso, a Cappuccino, a latté, a cortado, or even a decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

Our topic for January was Vision. Conversations revolved around the importance of Vision in achieving personal and organizational goals, which got us wondering about the bigger picture—in terms of community and society.

Often the work of futurists is considered as something related to financial markets, but Future Studies - sometimes called futures research or futurology - is a much bigger field. Google describes it as “the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and work in the future.”

The construction of Notre Dame Cathedral is a good example of futurology. It took almost 200 years to complete. In other words, people initially dedicate to the project knew they would not see its end. The project demanded a kind of foresight an instance of “generational thinking” that seems to have been lost.

Martin Luther King Jr. expressed that kind of generational thinking when he said, “You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” 

Whether your drink is an espresso, a Cappuccino, a latté, a cortado, or even a decaf, pour yourself a double shot and join us.

This month our topic is Vision. Our guest this week is Steve Schleupner, a certified divorce coach who works mainly with men through divorce and onto recovery. “Habits have to work within the concentric circle of vision,” suggests our guest. “Vision without actionable, supportive habits is simply hope,” possibly without realization.

In our conversation this week, we discuss ways of knowing your vision is the “right” one for your life and how to go about making your vision a practice that becomes part of your daily reality. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us.

This month our topic is Vision. Our guest this week is Rick Blount, vice president of development and social responsibility at the Greater Burlington YMCA who gives his views on vision (puns intended) from the perspective of an athlete and a professional fundraiser. He adds that too much emphasis on vision can lead to magical thinking; just enough can bring satisfaction and fulfillment. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us.

This month our topic is Vision. January is a great time to look ahead and Vision is the art of looking ahead; it’s a way of thinking about the future with imagination, hope, and wisdom. In business we use vision and mission statements to set goals and make decisions and plan our course moving forward. The day-to-day stuff, the small steps, might vary but it is vision that keeps us on track. 

Margaret Heffernan has some great insights regarding Vision and looking ahead in her new book, Uncharted: How to Navigate the Future. Here are a few we find particularly compelling:

Vision “provides questions that lead you in the direction you choose.” 
“You cannot know the future until you make it.”
“Accepting that the future is unknowable is where action begins.”

We also quote Thaddeus Stegall, Residential College Director at NYU Abu Dhabi, who said “Vision creates humility by requiring patients.” 

How do you find, hone, and keep your vision for the future? 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us.

Our topic this month is reflection. The end of the year is the perfect time to look back on the year we’ve just lived. Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and create meaning. The meaning we unveil in reflection becomes learning, which can then inform future thoughts and actions. According to C. G. Jung, “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” 

What is missing from your life? Reflection brings the possibility of asking better questions for a more positive future. Our guest Amanda Everse describes 2020 as "a year of letting go of shoulds." 

Join us. Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup.

In our conversation with Erik Kolomaznik of CK Financial Services we discuss the power of reflection to spark better questions about the future. Even when circumstances demand that we innovate when once we relied upon tradition, reflection helps us control the things we can control.

Reflection helps us get above task management to view the bigger picture. Reflection gives insight into better course corrections. And it is in reflection that we can more clearly see ourselves in others. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us. 

Our topic this month is reflection. Winter is the perfect season for it. 

This week, LJ and Jane explore the components of reflective thought and the power of thoughtful reflection to shine light on your reality and bring clarity to areas for potential intentional change.

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us. 

In the warp up of our month-long conversation on gratitude, LJ and Jane discuss the difficulty of finding gratitude during difficult times. Small actionable steps are the path to agency.  By using your intelligence to choose where you expend your emotional energy—following positive or negative approaches to being—you can create the circumstances under which gratitude can flourish. 

Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us. 

In our continuing discussion of gratitude,  LJ and Jane talk with social media manager and mindset coach Megan Flanagan of 609 Media about how her practice of gratitude affects her daily life and her work online and with her clients.

Like mindset, gratitude is a muscle that needs regular exercise...we explore ways to work it out. 
 
Whether your drink is espresso, Cappuccino, latté, cortado, or even decaf, pour yourself a cup and join us.