Well, welcome to 2024.

You made it. I made it. Incredibly we all got through 2023, which was a ride. And this new year is coming in strong with some trends of its own, I think for the better.

Lately I’ve noticed a theme across my clients, and in the world generally as I scrolled through all the New Year back-to-work memes (hilarious stuff, thanks).

People are tired, T-I-R-E-D, of the linear growth model. They don’t want bigger, better, higher, MORE.

They want deeper, closer, richer.

Most of the people in my world are no longer striving for more responsibility, a bigger profile, or that next rung on the proverbial ladder. They don’t want the promotion, the increased workload, the travel. (I know, insane, right?)

Instead, they are eager to broaden their ground, to increase their influence and cultivate a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment right where they are. They want a richness in the smaller, more intimate or interstitial elements of life.

We could think of it as expansion over growth. The difference is subtle but, dare I say, important.

It’s breathing more fully into the present opportunities and circumstances.

It’s connecting more meaningfully to the networks and ideas they have been swimming in.

People are tired of strive-until-you-die.

And so am I.

Modern ideas of growth can elicit a psychological contraction, making us feel small and unworthy as we push for more and better. Because that means what we have is less and worse.

Not so.

Plus, how much is enough? Can we ever feel contented when the ideas of success always hinge upon more? How can we fully function if our imagination is always a slave to some grand cultural fantasy rather than a conduit for our deepest longings?

I welcome this shift.

We can move more freely when we aren’t trying to get someplace else, someplace different. I know that when I slow down into what is right in front of me – and I make that a disciplined practice – my life begins to open up in ways I thought were permanently in paralysis.

We can feel more secure and grounded when we cultivate the spaces we occupy, when we fully inhabit our present and presence.

I know I’ve talked about this before, but the belief that life is linear and should always chart “up and to the right” is a uniquely Western Judeo-Christian paradigm. Other cultures and wisdom traditions honor the circularity of life, it which there is always a “return.” Depth psychology has a similar foundation. There is nowhere to go that doesn’t connect back to where and who we are. There isn’t an unconscious belief that you have to permanently leave(job, relationships, home, self) in order to attain fulfillment.

It’s more about carving out a wider circle each time we spiral around the same areas of learning that seem to be part of our life’s particular journey.

One benefit of this approach to life is that the more we expand, the smaller our places of dissatisfaction and irritation become, and the more we are able to see clearly beyond those nagging points of friction. If we can see it(as we are highly visual creatures), we can create it more easily.

The task is to exist fully at the center point of our being rather than at the boundary. Only from the center can we expand. Only from the boundary can we contract.

You pick. You really do.

With all that said, I also want to shine a light on my expanding practice and invite you and your network to work with me in 2024:

In modern life we find ourselves trying to piece together our support systems, scattering our time and resources across various services, helpers, and platforms. It’s exhausting and can feel incoherent, fragmented.

In helping maximize their investment, my clients get to draw from a depth and breadth of experience that extends well beyond traditional coaching and into business and brand strategy, leadership development, analytical psychology, wellness practices, creativity, and communications.

I enjoy providing holistic and impactful support, ensuring a comprehensive experience that tends to you as a whole person as your needs evolve regardless of our starting point. This includes teams and business cultures.

If you need help with major transitions, career development, business strategy, leadership, and/or personal evolution, please reach out to inquire about the process, or share my information with someone who does.

Also, after 10+ years in coaching I’ve finally opened up a few 45-minute spot-coaching sessions each week to support those looking for quick help and clarity around something pressing without making a big commitment, available for new clients on an as-needed basis. Book a time here, or gift to a friend or colleague.

You may also have noticed that some of the work I do has evolved quite a bit. If you’re interested in non-traditional formats of self-inquiry to help you shift your worldview and thus change your experience of the world and your place in it – join me in these unique 1:1 programs:

Lone Hero Rehab: Individuation & Isolation – Tending to Loneliness and Belonging in Modern Life

Psychological TypeAssessment & Development – Understanding how your psychological makeup drives your life, how to develop inferior functions.

Yours in expansion (even through the contractions),

Erika

Work with me // www.erikaleighraney.com/

Get spot coaching // https://calendly.com/erika-leigh-raney/spot-coaching-45