Brittany Gowan, Pause with Plants
Please tell us a little about your company:
Pause with Plants is a nature-centered experiential wellness and coaching company focused on empowering people to intentionally include nature in their daily lives. The Pause with Plants Method to connect, move and meditate with nature strengthens three key elements: your mental toughness, positive response to stress and mind/body connection.
Living in New York City, I’ve always valued taking breaks from the rush of the city to intentionally connect with nature. It has helped keep me calm, focused, positive and better able to deal with stressors. This daily personal practice evolved into Pause with Plants and the Pause with Plants Method.
I lead 30-60 min Pause with Plants and nature-centered coaching sessions. I offer group sessions for organizations, companies, and communities and I work one-on-one with individuals.
What do you love about your job?
I love to be helpful to others and help them create a sustainable path to achieve their goals.
Why do you think failure is so important?
I think these moments of “failure” can enhance our internal strength and resilience. These moments also force us to look inward and truly address what went wrong or didn’t go as planned and craft a new plan that hopefully will lead to even greater success.
Why do you think failure has such a negative connotation, when it’s truly vital to success?
I feel that the word failure can instantly rag on your mental state. “I failed” just feels so bad.
But if we can switch the internal narrative to viewing this failure as an opportunity for future growth, then what felt negative can be positive.
What do you wish you would have known earlier in your career?
I wish I didn’t try to make a service completely perfect before putting it out into the world. The reality is that you will always need to tweak or change something you do and I’ve come to value the idea of having things “completed” rather than “perfect”.
What wisdom would you like to provide others currently experiencing failure?
My advice is to believe that things can turn around, because they can and will. Our lives evolve and change everyday, which I find truly hopeful. Nothing stays exactly the same and because of that, we always have the potential to recreate.
What’s your favorite word of encouragement?
Probably a word like “onward”. For me it acknowledges that something has occurred and yet expresses my desire to keep going and move forward. I find this word triggers mindful awareness of the situation, while still being purposefully hopeful.
What is your favorite failure mantra?
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho
If you could do it over again, what would you do differently??
I would stop trying to please everyone or create products/services that everyone will like. The reality is that you can’t please or work with everyone and through my setbacks, I’ve come to terms with that. My personal growth and success is measured by how well I keep my business in line with myself, my beliefs and mission. I feel so much more authentic when I’m not constantly working to please others. By pleasing myself first, it’s working better.
How do you pick yourself back up again after failure? Any specific habits or tricks?
I take a moment or several to “pause”, return to my breath and the present moment. I encourage myself to let go of what has happened, not worry about the future and just center myself in the positivity and hopefulness of the present moment. It’s that current moment that I can control, not the past or the future and I feel there is so much power in staying in this mindset. I definitely encourage others to try this too.
A lot of my ideas that help bring me forward are created when I’m breathing and staying present.
What’s the best way to embrace failure?
I believe the best way is to embrace it with gratitude. Gratitude for the opportunity to learn, reinvent, and renew your core values and beliefs.
Even just saying the words “I am grateful for this failure” can change your thoughts and feelings about what is happening.
@ihavethisthingwithurbanjungles
My name is Kirsten Böhme and I’m the VP of Digital for UWIB NYC, marrying my two great passions of storytelling and social media.
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