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UK Scholar blog – Today’s word of the day: seep by Scholar Frith Hookway

Up until about 11.15 this morning I’d have said ‘seep’ was a bit of a weird word. Gross, in fact.

However, after hearing it put in a totally new way, all those squeamish connotations have gone and it’s taken on a whole new meaning.

The context? Learning.

To back up properly, I had a Marketing Academy mentor session this morning with the CMO of Santander, Keith Moor. Keith himself had recently completed the Academy’s fellowship programme and we were sharing the impact our respective courses can have on personal and professional development.

He noted that when taking on something that demands a lot of self reflection and growth, it’s important to allow time for themes to develop and learnings to cement.

“You can’t rush it. You’ve got to sit back, take time and let it all seep in”

Being someone who operates in overdrive most of the time, this comment really caused me to pause.

I realised that within the time of our meeting he’d mentioned a volunteer programme he works on, to which I’d thought “I’d love to get involve with that, I’ll email them this afternoon”. Before taking time to research something and reflect on whether I thought it was the right thing to do or not, I’d signed myself up mentally.

The more I thought about it the more it struck me just how much I do this. And that, just perhaps, some time with my foot on the brakes could be a good thing.

Often I come back from Marketing Academy mentor sessions or faculty days all geared up and busting to share what I’ve learned with my whole team. There’s a sense of urgency and a demand for immediacy.

“Do you have a vision? But you need a vision! Let’s sit down and create your vision! What about your 25 year plan? Let’s do that too! And where do you want to be when you’re 60! Let’s do your obituary while we’re at it!”

It’s exhausting.

Instead, as Keith highlighted, what we need is a bit of a chill period to process what we’ve learned, what messages we really want to take away and what, if anything, is appropriate to project onto others.

Creating time for this is important; even though it may seem counterintuitive, sometimes we need to stop in order to move forward.

I was with Keith for over an hour today and there were many others things we talked through. However, of everything this comment about pacing ourselves and understanding that personal development is an investment of time stood out the most.

Don’t be in a rush, don’t expect too much too soon and allow time to let things seep.

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The Marketing Academy Australia acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.