How do we evolve?

Three years ago, on the final morning of a nine-week road trip in our camper van, I watched the sun rise over a beach in Kent, England.

We’d been reacquainting ourselves with a country we’d left 18 years earlier for a new life in Ukraine, Russia and, eventually, France. Sitting in the warming sun of a brand new day, looking out at the open expanse of sea, I could feel that something in me was shifting.

I couldn’t yet say what that was, but this photo reminds me of the peace I felt in that moment. Whatever was to come, if I wanted it to be the best it could be, what I most needed was to make way for more moments like this.

Stepping back into my busy life, I vowed to do this.

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Evolving, I’ve realised, is what happens when you create the space to let go of outcome.

Have a direction, yes. Make plans, by all means. But don’t march towards a defined future. Let it be something you discover.

Darwin wrote that animals “best adapted to their conditions of life” were the ones that survived.

Human beings do not evolve personally in quite the same way. Yet we, too, are continually shaped by our relationship with our surroundings.

Adaptation is not a skill; it’s a capacity we grow over time. There are many different ways to grow it. All of them start with giving ourselves the space to notice what’s happening - outside us and within us - and consciously choosing to move towards what feels hard.

For most of us, because of how our brains are wired, pausing in any given moment is the hardest thing of all. Once you master it, everything else is easier. A reliable technique for training yourself to pause in just one minute is here (12-minute view). And here’s a summary of it:

Right now, in this moment, press an invisible pause button somewhere inside you: in your chest, belly, throat, belly, or somewhere else.

Place your hand there. As best you can, focus your attention there too.

Now tune into your breath. Breathe consciously in and out. Imagine your breath flowing in and around your pause button.

With each in breath, imagine you’re creating more space there.

With each out breath, consciously release any tension.

Pause, focus, breathe.

That’s it. Once a day for the rest of your life. Starting now.

In three weeks or less, you’ll notice that something in you is shifting. You may struggle to put it into words.

In six weeks or more, you’ll find yourself rushing less. Conversations are slowing down. You’re listening better. You’re less distracted; more present.

Over time, you’ll find yourself seeking out more moments of peace.

And you’ll become more attentive to the environment around you - and more able to notice how you’re responding within it.

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Evolving happens quite naturally when you let it.

Create the inner space. Breathe. Release all tension. Let the rest play out.

As the world races exponentially into an uncertain future, your capacity to thrive depends on generating your own inner capacity for calm, clear thinking and translating that into calm, clear, courageous action.

In leadership and in life, this kind of evolving is essential. But without the space to cultivate it, it’s practically impossible.

With love from the mountain,

Sally-Anne