Steve Schlafman @Schlaf - Twitter Profile

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7 months ago

Haven't posted here since March. Almost 10 months. I'm slowly returning and assessing how I want to show up in these feeds. But here's my fuller update. I'm currently in a season of radical simplification. Editing. Refining. Slowing way down in some ways and speeding up in others. In June, I made the difficult decision to stop running Downshift, the 10-week decelerator program I'd been running. We brought 36 founders, execs and creatives through it. People left with more clarity about what mattered and more permission to let go of what didn't. But I just didn't have it in me to try to scale it. Ironically, I had to downshift from Downshift. Over the summer, I took my first sabbatical since I walked away from VC. While I was in Portugal, something cracked open. I guess you could call it a spiritual opening. What followed was about two months of walking around in what I can only call a bliss state. Feeling connected to something much larger than myself. I'm still integrating and honoring what I experienced even though my feet are firmly planted on the ground again. I'm learning to hold both. The felt sense of something vast and mysterious alongside the dishes, the deadlines, the ordinary Tuesday. Right now, my attention is moving in four directions: 1. Coaching. I'm loving this and in so much flow. My practice is full. Supporting my clients navigating inflection points is becoming more and more nourishing. I've rebuilt my practice from the ground up. December will be my biggest month ever. I can't believe I get to do this work and get paid for it. So grateful for my clients. 2. Hakomi. Wrapping up year one of a 3-4 year certification with the Hakomi Institute. Hakomi is a body-centered, mindfulness-based approach to psychotherapy. You slow down, turn toward the body, and listen for what's already there. It's radically changing how I attune and hold space for everyone in my life, including all the parts of myself. 3. Buddhist study. Working with a Zen teacher whose wisdom is helping me deepen into the dharma and Theravada philosophy. I'm spending the next 12 months studying the Path of Individual Liberation by Trungpa. I'm getting better at seeing all the ways in which my ego keeps me stuck or suffering. That's progress. 4. Family. My girls are 7 and 3. Home is asking for more of my attention than ever before. For years, I resisted this, and I know this is where my biggest growth lies. Life keeps showing me that my real curriculum right now is here. In the early mornings. In the kitchen. At bedtime. With my daughters and wife. In the small, ordinary moments I used to rush past or try to push away. In this season, I'm not compulsively reading stacks of books, listening to random podcasts, scrolling social media, or trying to keep up with what everyone else is consuming. The inputs have narrowed and that feels right. Coaching, family, Hakomi, dharma. Four things. That's enough. Maybe more than enough. Not sure how much I'll post here. But I wanted to say hello. And if you're in your own season of slowing down, simplifying, or trying to figure out what actually matters, I see you.

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Steve Schlafman

@schlaf

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