When Time Expands, What Leap Will You Take?

How often have you heard someone (or yourself?) say, “I wish I had an extra day in the week!” While we can’t regularly add an 8th day to the week, 2024 is a special year, a Leap Year, with an extra day full of possibilities. This extra day is a gift–a blank slate of opportunity to break free of the ordinary and to leap into something new, to dive deeper into something of interest, let go and have fun, or just relax. It’s an extra day that can be what you want it to be–to invest in yourself, your team, your family, and/or your community.

Leap years have been around for centuries and help us catch up with the Earth’s orbit around the sun. While we consciously experience this catch-up on a single day every fourth year (hello February 29!), in reality we’ve been unconsciously lagging behind just a bit in each of the previous three years! This “extra time” can be tempting to fill as any other normal day. While making progress and getting things done are important, you can also be differently intentional about what you do on this year’s Leap Day.

All of the ideas shared here are near and dear to my heart. As a coach that is centered on overall wellbeing, I know that investing in ourselves in intentional ways is invaluable to our physical, mental and emotional health. I also spent over 30 years within organizations as a human resource leader and I know that supporting employees in ways that meet their needs and create a healthy culture benefits the overall organization in retention, productivity and profit. 

There is nothing lost in personal investments, especially when they are made on a day that is not regularly available. Leap Day is that day–a chance to grow, to love, to create, to become the best version of yourself and/or your organization. How will you engage this gift of time?