Hi, Leader. Welcome. Happy you are here. Hi. I am so excited to be sharing some time with you again today. I am looking forward to talking a little bit about rituals today. Rituals. I think it's so appropriate, especially as contemplative leaders, that we create rituals, intentional rituals or habits, you can call them habits, that number one, fulfill us, right? These are intentional actions that we want to take for the purpose of an outcome, right? That's what we do in rituals. We create a ritual. It serves us. It serves a very specific purpose. And the outcome from that is something very positive to us that not only impacts us, but we get to then impact others because of these rituals. And so- We're going to talk about that in just a moment. But before I forget, let me remind some of you out here that July second on Wednesday, I am having a private Zoom meeting live with you. It's sixty minutes. It's for us to go deeper into the five principles of contemplative leadership style and the three modalities. Now, listen, I say an hour. Maybe longer than that, actually. We've got some interesting things to talk about. And although you have been following here and listening and learning about contemplative leadership style, we are going to go a little deeper. Actually, ten layers deep, to be specific. Ten layers deep come Wednesday, July second. So you're going to want to register. Head over to drdeniessimpson.com forward slash July second. It's what we're doing one time only this month of July, and you're going to want to join me and others so you can learn more about this very unique leadership style that is on the rise. Later, let's turn our attention now to rituals. Now, how many of you out here have rituals? You call them habits, whatever. I call them rituals because they're just a little more spiritual for me. These are a little more sacred things that I do intentionally to recalibrate and to reconnect to my divine assignment. So for me, it's a ritual. And now for you, it could be a habit, right? So many out here have great habits like walking meditations or a sit down meditative practice. Some of you pull cards. A lot of you have affirmation cards, maybe even tarot cards, but you are out here doing some things to help you recalibrate or realign with your purpose, with your higher calling. Contemplative leadership style counts on creating rituals. This could be the foundation, really, that we stack all those principles on top of. There are only five principles, but we need a strong foundation. A contemplative leader obviously has some very strong rituals that they have intended to use, to structure, to discipline themselves around because of the output, right? So I always look at, well, what's the input, right? What are you inputting? What are you putting into your mind, into your heart, into your spirit, into your body? Because the input will determine the output. And the output in this context is your leadership impact. And so leaders, it's important that we consider some of these rituals, right? What is it that we are wanting to create moving forward? Now, listen, I like to use seasons as a start and stop for some of these habits or rituals that may have served us in that season, but you're now a different human. If you don't think you are, ask your kids. You're different. You've changed. You've evolved. There are some things that aren't the same. and so I want for you to stay conscious of that as a season ends that should be the the alarm in your head to ask yourself okay well what am I going to leave there what didn't work or what did work. And then now let me move it into this new season intentionally and on purpose. Like for me, I ended some interesting habits that I thought were creating space in my spirituality that were helping me move forward, but they actually weren't. They were taking me two steps back. And here's the thing about those rituals. If you experiment with them, and sometimes they work, but overall they're not working, then this is an opportunity to say, okay, we're going to leave that behind. And now I'm going to move into this new season with some new ideas. So my new ritual that I just started a week ago is voice journaling. I am using my voice now to empty out some emotions that are either stagnant, they're ruminating, they're hanging out, they're in my energetic body. And for me, the throat chakra is so important. It's how I'm designed. It's how many of you out here are as well. But for me, the throat is very important and it's tied directly to my solar plexus and the emotional authority that I use every day as I lead my clients, as I lead my team or come on here to serve you. And so for me, clearing the throat is an important ritual because that impacts how I show up every day. Again, impacts my team, impacts my clients, even you all who I'm serving every single day here. So for me, voice journaling was an idea that I got. when I went onto Google and said, I'm looking for some new rituals to tie into my spiritual practice, but specifically so I can be a better leader. And I had all these really great ideas. Yes, meditation was on top of that list. Of course, contemplatives, we meditate a lot. some of you are traditional meditators some of you are not so traditional I'm more of an active meditator and that looks like some nlp work it looks like self-hypnosis it looks like emdr it looks like other modalities that we didn't have access to like a few years ago. And so for me, active meditation is something I gravitate to. I can't sit quietly without a thought. That's impossible for me and for many of you out here. So I'm not a traditional meditator in that way. However, I have incorporated my own meditative practices because it's me. I mean, no one's like me and I'm not like you all. And so I'm going to find unique ways to make this work. Because I'm intentional and because I'm doing this to create an outcome, right? That's the point of a ritual. You are intentional in creating a behavior for the purpose of a specific outcome. And contemplative leaders, we're always looking for ways to be better leaders so that we can have a stronger impact. But the inputs have to be priority. And the inputs, we get to do that through our rituals. So voice journaling is something I've taken on for the season. We'll see by fall. It may work. It may not. And we'll keep experimenting. But there's some other things that I'm keeping on deck, like walking ten thousand steps a day, like moving my body every day. Aside from the steps, moving my body in either strength training or some days it's cardio, some days it's cycling, some days it's yoga, some days it's doing a hike. But every day for me, part of my spiritual practice is actually moving my body because I know how important this vessel is, right? This vessel contains the soul. This vessel contains my mind, right? Obviously, it holds all of my organs, including my brain. So I want the container. I want to make sure that the container is taken care of. And I do that through my rituals, right? Again, or habits, right? But this is more of, you know, when I think of rituals, again, I think of spirituality, but I also think of a deeper presence so that I'm intentional in what my body is being used for. I'm intentional in how I'm using my mind. I'm intentional in how I show up with my emotions on my sleeve. I'm very intentional. And for me, that is a spiritual practice. And it's part of my contemplative leadership style. So as we're entering this new season, start asking yourself, well, what am I going to leave behind? Or what am I going to take with me? What am I going to bring with me into this new season? And then start asking yourself, well, what do I want more of this new season? Do I want to have a deeper connection with my staff? Do I want to have more fulfillment? Do I want to be more present every single day? Do I want to have less worry and doubt and more appreciation maybe? Maybe a little bit more gratitude, baby. What is it that you're wanting to shift? What is it that you're wanting to create in this new season, in particular, your leadership practice? Then you create the ritual that is going to help you do that for yourself. So what will that be for you? What will you keep? What will you drop? What is something new that you want to create? Could it be having lunch every single day out in the courtyard? Could it be swimming every morning before heading to work? Could it be sitting with a rosary and praying? Could it be you in a Joe Dispenza meditation? And by the way, his meditations are wow, wow, wow. um, prepare, prepare for like an hour or two with his stuff. It's insane. Incredible. But if you've got the time, you do that. Try it out. How about journaling for you? So a few seasons ago, like as in a few years ago, I created my own leadership planner. I have my own leadership planner. I created it with my graphic designer. She's spectacular. Jackie, she's probably watching. She's so incredible. I helped me design this incredible planner that I use every single day. So for me, pen and paper, pen and paper and markers and washi tape and all the other planner stuff is important to me. That's part of my spiritual practice. I've always said that pen and paper saved my life. I've always had a journal. I've always have written out my thoughts and my emotions because There's a lot, a lot happening here. And this has been part of my energetic body since I was a little girl. So it's something that helps me cope. And these are very important coping strategies for me personally. So journaling may not be for you. Planning may not be for you. Structure may not be for you. So what is it for you? What will work for you in this season? Because you're not the same human you were last season. Trust me, you have evolved. Trust me, there has been a degree of change. Maybe a slight degree, but you have changed. Listen, if you're listening to this podcast and you've been following me for a while, I assure you, you are the kind of person that takes information and puts it into practice right away. Listen, I am in the business of leadership training and development, and this is what I do. And these are the people that I attract into this podcast. So if you are listening to this, know you're not the same person you were just last season. And that's a fantastic thing. Listen, it's a fantastic thing. If we are changing for the purpose of evolving, that's important, right? Don't do it because you're bored. Don't do it because you're trying to find ways to shame yourself out of being imperfect. No, we change because suffering is no longer... a choice we're not choosing suffering we're not going to keep going down that route of shame and guilt we're actually going to evolve and do something about all of this pain and suffering So that's who you are. These are my people. And my people who are watching this are contemplative leaders. And here is a great idea. Let's start incorporating some rituals so that we can be better leaders, so that we can realign or remember or reconnect with our divine assignment. Because as leaders, we have sacred responsibilities to ourselves, to our families, to our children, to our community members. to our constituents, to our followers, to our team members, to our peers. We have sacred responsibilities. This is called leadership. This ain't called followership. This is called leadership. We are leading the way and you have to have sacred responsibilities to be called a leader. Yeah. And when we get those first two principles down, divine assignment, reconnecting to it, and number two, understanding your sacred responsibilities, then we can do the other three principles. Yeah, there's five total. There's five. And by the way, you want to learn all five, you're going to want to go deeper with me on July We're doing a live Zoom private room so we can talk about these very specific principles of a contemplative leader so that you can go put this into practice right away. And the three modalities that help us embody these principles. Oh, it's going to be so exciting. You're going to want to join me. So by the way, head over to drdeniessimpson.com. forward slash July, or head to the show notes wherever you're watching this or listening to this so that you can go register for the seat. No recordings will be sent out, so you're going to have to be there live. So keep that in mind. But back to rituals. right? These rituals help us embody these principles. These rituals help us become better leaders who instead are, you know, the leaders who are commanding and controlling, who thrive in chaos and crisis. Oh no, no, no, that's old. And we're not doing that to our adrenal glands or our nervous systems anymore. No, no, no. We're contemplative leaders. You see, We take a pause. We take a moment. This is deep presence. This is deep resonance. This is where we reflect with our divine assignments and our sacred responsibilities. This is where we take the time to align. It's like interior alignment versus external validation. Yeah, this is where we get to align with ourselves first and foremost instead of seeking external validation like so many of us leaders have been programmed to do. We're high achievers. We want the accolades. We are going for the gusto. We're going for the gold. And guess what? We lose ourselves along the way. And contemplative leadership style allows us to take these rituals and help us reconnect with this higher purpose, with why we were called into leadership to begin with, why we were born leaders. Yeah. I said it. You were born a leader. This is why you're in leadership. Now you have sacred responsibilities to yourself and to others to be better, to take the time to reflect, to contemplate, to meditate, to pray. Yes, dare I say pray too. Listen, that's the kind of language, that's the kind of information we're going to share around here. So if that bothers you, then keep scrolling. Just know that contemplative leadership style, let me remind you again, just know it has nothing to do with religion. This has everything to do with your spiritual alignment and growth. integrated into your leadership mastery. Because I don't know about you, but I want those self-serving, egotistical, narcissistic leaders to step aside once and for all, and for the contemplative leader to emerge, the selfless self. those of us who are serving others for the greater good, because we know our sacred responsibilities are to transform the people that we were called to lead. Those are the leaders who are emerging, and those are the leaders that I want to support. So as you are going through your day today, ask yourself, What do I want to do more of? What do I want to be more of? How can I be more impactful? How can I lead differently so I can reconnect with my higher purpose? Because I've lost myself along the way here, you see, and now I want to reconnect. Answer those questions for yourself and then create rituals around the answers to those questions. The rituals are going to help you produce or perform or create those results for yourself. And then watch your leadership transform and the people that follow you transform as well. That's ultimately what we want to do as leaders, don't we? And that's what contemplative leadership style does for you. but you have to work. You got to work it, right? You know, the work works, but you got to work it, right? You got to do the work so that you can see the output. You can see what you've been creating. So leader, use this time as we are changing seasons. and officially moving into summer to ask yourself these questions. And then again, create those rituals intentionally and on purpose. And then join me July second, seven PM central time for a private zoom meeting with me and other leaders. So we can talk about these five principles of the universal leader, all founded on the contemplative leadership style. So head over to drdeniessimpson.com forward slash July to register right away. All right, leader. I'm looking forward to learning more about your rituals. As always, you can reach me on Instagram or LinkedIn. I'm there. Do it. DM me. Let me know what your rituals are or what you're incorporating or what you're leaving behind. All right, leader. I want you to have a fantastic day ahead. Take good care of yourself. And I look forward to serving you on our next podcast episode. Take good care. Bye for now.
