New Beginnings.
It’s currently the 20th November 2024, and it feels special because I’m finally sharing more about the journey I have been on the last 4-5 months - a deep dive into my life and my work. Into purpose, and arriving at some answers around my pursuit these last 7 years. I love that today is the day I’m ready to share.
You see, deciding to take The Continuum Process (TCP) from a personal tool I used for 13 years to something I offer publicly wasn't about money. I already had a successful career and promising future. It wasn't a logical decision either – building something new in Germany has been a rollercoaster of challenges.
It was a decision driven by my heart and a deep desire to help others.
So this article covers:
The role TCP has played in my life, and those of my clients.
What is happening in the macro-environment that is relevant to this work - why are we struggling? And where are the options for help?
The real reasons why I am so committed to doing The Continuum Process, when actually, more times than I can count, it’s made sense to give up.
Ganga Arti, Rishikesh, India - 2018.
Lately, I've begun to see TCP as an offering to the world. It reminds me of those beautiful floral baskets with incense and candles that people set afloat on the Ganges River in Rishikesh, carrying a silent prayer. This realisation gave me a newfound sense of courage and responsibility.
It's not just about me putting this out there anymore; it's about the people it can help.
I know this article might be more detail than you bargained for, but I wanted to document this mostly for myself. There will be times when I falter, when fear and self-doubt creep in, or when crippling insecurity about my choices threatens to take over.
The process of pulling ALL this from my head, heart and soul, has reminded me of a recurring theme in my career. My leaders and team members often wanted to see "behind the curtain" of my strategic thinking process. They'd jokingly call it "boiling the ocean" or, as one boss affectionately put it, "the cogging" – a reference to the constant whirring of my brain.
What they were referring to is my ability to connect dots.
You may recall me mentioning that my top Gallup Clifton Strength is Strategic, specifically finding meaning in seemingly unrelated information. And since July 2024, I've been slowing down intentionally. I gave myself and my creation the space to breathe and use my natural tendencies - being strategic, connecting dots.
It's been a massive but rewarding undertaking.
How and why The Continuum Process has changed my life:
Looking back at the past 13 years of using TCP for myself, I've been reflecting on the times it's had the most impact. It's been instrumental in shaping my life, supporting my growth, and teaching me how to make courageous and aligned decisions.
Outcome: I found myself turning to TCP during moments of vulnerability, alone with myself. It helped me realise that I wanted more, better, different. But I also knew I couldn't expect others to understand or necessarily be able to help. It had to come from me. TCP gave me a place to map this out for myself, and determine the right, next best step.
I also wondered if TCP had directly helped me manage my 20-year battle with mental health challenges (panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, bouts of depression, and sleep disorders).
Outcome? Honestly, no, not directly. The credit goes to my amazing psychologist of 10 years, other allied health professionals I saw, and the various healing modalities I explored like yoga, meditation, and breathwork. However, TCP did help me push the boundaries of my own courage. Showing up to work every day, exceeding expectations, and leading a team while battling an anxiety disorder requires immense daily courage. TCP helped me build upon that existing strength and apply it to other areas of my life. The more small, courageous steps I took, the more empowered I felt to tackle bigger challenges.
I also delved into how TCP connected to a deeper sense of purpose in my life. I realised that purpose isn't something you think about, but rather something you feel - but you do need that mental power to communicate it! I found a common thread linking my corporate career, my personal passions, and my volunteer work.
Outcome? A significant part of my purpose is meeting myself and others with love, especially in moments of vulnerability. This resonates with my leadership style, the brands I've helped, my volunteer work, my Camino pilgrimages, and now, offering TCP to others. It's incredibly fulfilling to see all these dots connect.
Why did I walk across Spain twice? Like, what? (Camino de Santiago for those that don’t know).
Outcome? They have been transformative experiences. It’s a place where I can truly connect with myself, delve deeper into my soul, and feel more authentically me. The Camino has a way of stripping away the layers, revealing our true selves, it’s the best. And, where you cross paths with others in their own moments of life-vulnerability, connecting to the point above, that’s exactly where I like to be.
How and why The Continuum Process has helped my clients:
Clients often have the same "WOW - what IS this?" reaction during and after their sessions. Exploring this wasn’t about ego, but genuine curiosity. This response mirrors my own experience with TCP. Why is that?
Outcome? There's something powerful about seeing the contents of your mind and heart laid out before you. It unlocks a deeper self-understanding and connects you to the subconscious through the link between thoughts and feelings. Also, AI analysis of client questionnaires and feedback revealed an important insight - my clients often seek out TCP during THEIR moments of vulnerability, feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or lost during a life transition. Clients have consistently mentioned appreciating the calming, caring, and humorous environment I create during sessions, as well as the ability to gain greater clarity. Oh my heart.
Why, are my clients also drawn to doing it repeatedly?
Outcome? I noticed that it’s common to us all, to have these moments of Quiet Transition - that they absolutely swing around, again and again, and again. Where life can be ticking along normally, when suddenly, we’re unfilled and questioning things - again. Where we are, is not where we stay. And we need to continually meet ourselves there. It’s been wonderful and encouraging to see this start to happen with my clients, and helping them come back to who they are and finding the little silver threads to guide them to their next, most aligned, step forward.
You can read about some of the testimonials here.
What is happening around the world that makes this work needed?
This was crucial to understand.
When developing brand strategies for major corporations, we have access to expensive, robust qualitative and quantitative research. We also conduct in-depth macro-explorations of external influences on consumer behavior and emerging trends.
Here, I wanted to delve deeper: Why are we struggling? Is it different from the past? What support options exist in today's world? Are they working?
The research provided such valuable insights.
I learnt a lot.
The Current Landscape of Mental Health Support:
Allied health systems like psychology, psychiatry, and counselling are under immense strain in the post-pandemic landscape. Declining staff numbers, widespread burnout, budget cuts, workforce pipeline challenges, and escalating wait times have created an unsustainable situation.
The Royal Academy College of General Practitioners in Australia reports:
73% of psychiatrists have wait lists.
90% report the industry workforce crisis impacting service.
72% of GPs report mental health as a top 3 reason for patient presentations.
This translates to compounding problems for people, with help only available when reaching a critical stage. Scary.
Corporate Wellness Programs:
Once a cornerstone of support, corporate well-being programs need revitalisation as trust in companies and their offerings declines. It's encouraging to see innovation in this space, with technology and AI likely to bring further improvements.
However, the statistics aren’t great. As reported by Fortune Magazine:
A 2024 LinkedIn & Microsoft survey found 46% of people want to quit their jobs (up from 40% in 2021).
85% of US professionals are looking for new jobs.
9 out of 10 employers globally are concerned about retention.
Burnout, lack of learning opportunities, AI advancements, feeling stuck, and overwhelming workloads are driving this trend. Pay increases attempted in 2021 haven't proven effective in 2024. Yikes.
The Struggles of Gen Z and Millennials:
The group facing the most significant struggles is Gen Z and Millennials. The World Economic Forum reports that 40% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials experience stress and anxiety. A staggering 50% are experiencing burnout symptoms.
As someone who has also battled burnout, these statistics are heartbreaking.
These generations are now the world's largest, surpassing Baby Boomers. They are the future parents, leaders, and consumers who will reshape work, finances, and even parenthood itself.
A Life Designed for 100 Years:
Finally, I discovered a fantastic report by the Stanford Center for Longevity titled "The 100 Year Life is Here."
This report states that 50% of today's 5-year-olds will live to be 100. It outlines nine principles for restructuring our lives to accommodate health, finances, and human connection in a 100-year lifespan.
Our current life structure revolves around a 50-year lifespan:
Front-loaded education in the first 20 years
Work and family life taking up the next 30 years
Retirement following
We can all agree this is causing some problems, and is also changing.
While a long-term execution plan for this isn't simple, as a futuristic optimist, I find it fascinating.
And most encouragingly, one of the key principles explored is the idea that life transitions will become more frequent as we live longer.
You can read more about it here.
Please, please reach out to me to discuss this if it interests you - I’m so intrigued by it.
If you’ve made it this far - well done you!
So the big question is. How can The Continuum Process help ANY of this?
Well. This is what I believe:
I believe we all need more support than we’ve been conditioned to believe.
I believe that accessing support, should come earlier, and more frequently, and that it shouldn’t be a big deal or indicate that anything is ‘wrong’ with us.
I believe that there are invisible, silver threads and butterflies that are around us, waiting to be seen and captured to help us iterate and evolve along the continuum of our life, but that we don’t have a place to go to explore them.
I believe that accessing the right support at the right times in life, comes down to understanding where we are in that moment first. I.e. “I’m really struggling right now, or, I’m scared about some big decisions”.
I want my offering to feel like a warm embrace. After reading those statistics, I can't help but want to give the world a big hug. I am creating a really inviting space where you can grow and flourish.
A kind of greenhouse where the conditions are perfect for your wellbeing, especially in these increasingly challenging times.
Come on in.
Take a moment to relax and recharge. Reset. Realign. Audit your life, find the edits. Get the encouragement and courage to take some steps forward. There is no pressure here.
I’ve always been drawn to a big mission, and a big challenge.
With The Continuum Process, I hope to:
To encourage everyone, to turn inward, earlier and more regularly: If we can navigate the Quiet Transitions, it will help us with the Loud Transitions too.
To create a safe, warm, enjoyable environment to do this: Everything that is on our heads and hearts, matters. There are no first-world-problems here, there is no pressure to perform, it’s where our guard can come down and we can be us.
To offer innovate and genuinely helpful solutions that revolve around 3 x things - simplicity, structure, and small steps: Life IS complicated, simplicity helps. Transitions ARE liminal, structure helps. Making changes IS overwhelming, small steps help.
Thank you for being here.
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I genuinely care about what you have to say, so be in touch.
Cheering for you,
Alice
