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Amy Swift Crosby

the story is in the telling

The Power of Disengagement

May 9, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

db268e1c-d333-4f16-bfe2-6382a91d95abFull engagement looks a little something like this:

Working side by side with your business partner, husband, staff, assistant- for months on end with little to no breaks. You work diligently on a proposal, then a project, then a wrap up- all at full speed with no stops. You write, blog, post, measure, create — for weeks and months — and then repeat. And yet again, not too many pauses. This represents all of our stories- or all of us who work hard at being great at something.

When you’re in full throttle engagement, sh!t gets done. Things move. The pieces come together and do what they’re meant to. But when engagement has no end in sight, it’s like holding a bridge pose in yoga for an indefinite length of time- with a teacher talking on her cell phone outside the room. In other words there’s no horizon- you can’t measure output because you don’t know how to manage it in service of an end point. We love when there’s someone holding the “end” for all of us — so no one has to wonder.

There is a lot of power in engagement, but there is also a lot of power in disengagement- like a vacation. I took one recently and had several epiphanies I’m normally too busy to acknowledge or explore. What’s even better was that I wasn’t busy making notes about how to make this place better, which I’m often plagued with at restaurants, on airplanes, in meetings, etc. The Auberge Resort experience took me out of my day-to-day mind. It was transportive. That counts for something when your life is big, with lots of moving parts.

Have you disengaged lately? I recommend it — not only because it’s fun and makes life interesting, but because it’s good for business, too.

 

Amy

 

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About Me

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I’m a brand strategist and copy writer. I mostly work with partner agencies or directly with the leadership or founding team at a brand. My primary mission is to connect design and messaging solutions to business missions. I work with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, across beauty, hospitality, wellness/fitness, CPG and retail. This blog reflects my personal writing and explores our humanity – often as it relates to work, space, time and language. You can review my portfolio here or connect with me here.

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The Brandsmiths Podcast



Brand Strategists Hilary Laffer and Amy Swift Crosby tackle business questions with candid, (mostly) serious and definitely unscripted workshopping sessions. Guests – from small business owners to CEOs, executive directors and founders – bring their head-scratchers, hunches and conundrums to Hilary, the owner of a boutique creative agency in Los Angeles, and Amy, a copy writer.

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