Miles to go before I sip...

(Or 'A journey to coffee' :-) )

A few days off work. Everyone else busy, wife working, daughter in college and friends busy.

What to do? I could tread the habitual path… same sights, familiar sounds and recurring thoughts.

No! Today a change is needed, something new to be experienced. Very quickly a thought came to me. I like coffee, how about a coffee in Galway. Ludicrous! I’m in Dublin. 180km for a coffee! The more absurd it sounded the better I liked it. Almost like making your dream or goal big enough to inspire you to action… but… the inverse of that. I wish I could guild your ears with a delicately written and artful description of the trip. I can’t. Every attempt would be skirting the edge of the experience. This is as good as I can do it.

So up I got as if for work and I packed a note book, pen and my curiosity. The sun had come out as if to give my decision a blessing. My mood was buoyant even before I had started the journey. I took the main trail to Galway, the M4 and settled in, excited at the prospect of starting a journey. Something in that.

The long meander of the M4 gave way to the M6. Wind turbines, birds of prey, sheep untroubled by the world and even a distant Ringsend-like chimney floated by. As did my thoughts. Work, family, friends, health, news…. all appeared and faded, mingling with the sheep and the turbines.

As I got deeper into the heart of the journey I could feel a slowing down. The sights around me held my attention, my instincts took the wheel of my thinking… all thoughts receiving equal treatment, none usurping another – equal weight – easily held, easily let go. Pat Kenny and others whispered in the distance. And I had a smile on my face, easy and effortless. Where did that come from?

Looking back and now writing these words I can tell you that the worries and concerns that I had, all became lighter somehow, more easily understood and not so insurmountable. The sheep were now in on it, the big chimney on the drifting landscape was part of it too. A cartoon view. I liked it.

I did arrive in Galway, crawling through its medieval streets to find parking with flittering doubts about what I was doing. But I was easy in mind. I put this easiness as the reason I found the best coffee and sandwich in Galway. A Cubana Toasted Sandwich with a Crafted Coffee sitting at a window watching the cast of the city act out their lives.

Now you’re probably thinking… What is he on about? I’m laughing as I write this bit. Yes, at first glance this is a ridiculous use of time. A five hour roundtrip for a cup of coffee. I could have walked to the café down the street. But this wasn’t about convenience. It was about space. It was about shifting my environment and in turn shifting my perspective. The further I travelled from my routine the clearer my thoughts became. I noticed things that usually get drowned out by busy lives.

As a Leadership & Transformation Coach, I know how easy it is to get caught up in the momentum of daily life, endless meetings, responsibilities and deadlines. We often push through stress, thinking the only solution is to keep going.

But growth requires moments of stillness. We often believe we need more time. What we truly need is more space. That journey from Dublin to Galway gave me that space. The changing landscapes, urban sprawl fading into open countryside, the grey blue of the Atlantic inching closer mirrored my own shifting mind-set. With each passing mile, I felt layers of tension dissolve.

By the time I reached Galway, something had shifted. As I sat sipping my coffee I realised that the journey mattered more than the destination. The coffee was just a symbol, a reason to step away.

For leaders, professionals, and anyone navigating change (which is just code for ‘life’) this is a reminder: take your journey. It doesn’t have to be 180km. It could be a walk, an hour in a quiet space, or an afternoon unplugged from the world. The important thing is to create that space to reflect, gain perspective and return recharged.

Because sometimes the best way to move forward is to step away first.

So where will you have your coffee?