Are You Your Own Worst Enemy? How Coaching Can Help you Become Friends with Yourself to Achieve your Desires

<In honor of International Coaching Week>

Obstacles. Hurdles. Barriers. Roadblocks. These are all common sights along the road to achievement.

 

If you have ever worked towards a goal that most people would label as “unrealistic”, then you have undoubtedly faced one challenge after another. In fact, when you reach the point where you feel like giving up, that is usually when things get even tougher.

 

Believe it or not, these external obstacles are actually the easy part. They are obvious. We can examine them and devise a plan to work through them or around them. For example, if you want to start a business but lack the funding, there are a variety of tangible action steps you can take to resolve your funding issues.

 

The real barriers to success are the internal roadblocks. This is where it gets difficult. This is where you battle your own self- doubts, worries and feelings of unworthiness.

 

You may have the best work ethic in the world. You may have the strictest discipline and self-control. But if your mind is listing all of the reasons why you shouldn’t have what you truly want, you are fighting a losing battle.

 

For many of us, these negative tapes have been playing the same disempowering messages in our minds for years.

 

If you are tired of the struggles and want to move forward, then coaching can be the answer:

Coaching is:

“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential (International Coach Federation)

A Coach:

Works in a partnership between a client(s) to provide structure, guidance and support for clients to:

  • Become more self-aware regarding their perceptions, emotions, motivations and responses/behaviors
  • Set realistic and relevant goals to work towards
  • Take actions that will lead to goal-achievement
  • Reflect on actions taken and elicit/use feedback to go toward their desired goal
  • Holds the client accountable for actions they set
  • Gives a listening ear, inspires and motivates to achieve set goals

Coaching isn’t therapy, as the coach is not there to tell you what to do; but they will listen openly and actively. You have the answers you seek – the coach is there to help you bring them forward.

Coaching is the gift that keeps on giving to yourself; it can be a great investment you make that can last a lifetime. Aren’t you worth it?

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Clients say coaching brings out their best by helping them focus, break down tasks and clarify their values.” – Fortune Magazine 

 

If you’re tired of the struggle, reach out today to learn more and get started living your best life.

 

 

 

Morning Rituals: Setting the Stage for a Serene and Centered Work-Day

 

When you get up in the morning to go to work, are you sluggish and hesitant to get out of bed, or are you energized and ready to face the day? Do you feel stressed or calm when you think of going to work?

If you answered the first part of these questions with yes, then it’s time to reverse this and get you motivated to start your day pm well. Stress can lead you to think and feel negatively and you won’t do your best.

There are better ways to start your day on a positive note so you will perform at your highest, and that is by having daily rituals that start your day.

Rituals can change the way you view the day and can improve your well-being and quality of life. Having a set routine helps to develop good habits and reach your goals and aspirations, while rituals can improve your mood and shape your beliefs. They will allow you to keep accountable and stay motivated on the days when you do not want to get out of bed.

 

Morning rituals are the best way to set your days up for success and stay in control of the day, regardless of challenges you may face. The way that you wake up each morning will dramatically increase your quality of life and balance your stress levels, allowing you to feel calm and at peace throughout the rest of the day.

 

What is a Morning Ritual?

 

Both routines and rituals are crucial to a positive state of mind and maintaining mental stability. However, it is important to know that they are not the same thing but that they complement one another. A morning ritual takes on a task that may be part of one’s routine and puts meaning and intention behind it.

 

Rituals are habits that an individual develops to nurture and build a strong mindset. They allow you to appreciate the benefits these routines provide in  your daily life and provides value beyond completing a task.

 

Rituals are self-empowering and allow a change in your perspectives  reality. They allow us to reinforce habits with reasoning behind them that can be very effective on improving our mental health and emotions. They are a great way to improve your outlook and attitude so your day becomes easy; you will learn to become calmer and deal with any stressors you face.

 

Here are some examples of Morning Rituals:

 

Gratitude

 

Gratitude reinforces happiness and can set the tone for a positive outlook on the day. It allows you to appreciate the little moments that occur throughout the day and finding ways to be grateful for whatever the day presents.

 

One way to practice gratitude is through journaling. By making a list each morning of the things you are most grateful for, you will train your mind to look for moments of appreciation throughout the rest of the day. Starting your day off with a grateful mind is the best way to stay positive and full of joy each and every day.

 

Goals and Aspirations

 

Writing down your goals and how you will achieve them is the best way to stay motivated and keep yourself accountable. It is easy to say a goal out loud but writing it down and staying attuned to it each morning will make you more likely to achieve it and stick to it.

 

Along with your gratitude journal, writing daily goals will lessen any stress as you will know what to do each day, plus will be getting closer and closer to your goals. Goals that you think about each and every morning will keep you dedicated and committed no matter what obstacles arise.

 

Read

Take time each morning to read from a book; it could be a chapter or a few lines from a novel you enjoy or that motivates you. By doing so, you will be working on your personal or professional development and be inspired to get to work. Many people read Bible verses to start their day. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes, or read a page a day – soon you will have the book finished.

 

Meditation

 

Meditation is a great practice to keep your mind healthy and productive throughout the day. By clearing your mind for a short period of time each morning, you will notice the positive impacts that meditating has on many different components of your life.

 

Research has shown that meditation has direct links with happiness, reduced anxiety and depression, balanced emotions, and alertness. When you acknowledge and sit with your emotions, you will notice that they no longer follow you throughout the day and prevent you from completing your daily tasks.

 

Meditation has tons of benefits that will improve your perspective on reality and your calmness throughout the day. Meditating will also help you realize gratitude and focus on your aspirations while staying as productive and dedicated as possible. It’s important to remember that mediation is not taking your thoughts away but, with practice, you won’t feel compelled to do anything about them. Start with 2 minutes, then work your up to reap the benefits.

 

Creating rituals leads to more focus, concentration, and inspiration to face the day. These are only a few suggestions so take one and start using it, then do another and so on. Soon, rituals will be a part of you day you can’t miss.

 

If stress is taking over in your workplace, reach out to learn about services and programs that will help you to manage it so you can have a more productive team.

 

 

 

5 Benefits for Why Self-Awareness is Important to Manage Stress

 

There are many great ways of improving yourself. One of these ways is to look for the positive attributes you possess and appreciating that part of you. Another important way of becoming a better person is by acknowledging your weaknesses and actively working on improving. These two methods of self-improvement define what it means to be self-aware.

In managing stress or becoming emotionally intelligent (EI), self -awareness is the basis – you can’t make improvements if you don’t know why you do what you do, why you act or react, and the like. You can’t change what you don’t know.

Being self-aware can help you relate well with people and increase your ability to achieve your goals. These are not the only benefits of self-awareness, however. Here are some more reasons why it is important to be self-aware.

 

  • Increases your social abilities

 

Human beings are social beings who thrive on relationships. People who are self-aware are very successful when creating relationships. This is because they are able to realize exactly what they want in each person they meet. That certainty comes from knowing one’s own abilities and challenges. Self-awareness also promotes emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence helps us relate to the feelings of other people. Lacking this skill can leave us in conflicts with others. The best way to improve your level of emotional intelligence is by learning your own emotional patterns, which allows you to regulate them for more positive interactions.

 

  • Promotes versatility and open-mindedness

 

Knowing yourself can be very crucial to affecting the approach that you have on issues. Self-awareness in itself is the ability to actively seek to listen to the body and mind to know your natural response to change. This consciousness can thus help you have a clear focus when dealing with issues. You are also able to accept opinions, feedback, and criticism from other people without being subjective. Ultimately, you are able to have multiple solutions to a single problem.

 

  • Promotes productivity

 

People who are self-aware are fast thinkers. They understand themselves and are able to focus on the challenges of the day without hindrances. Without understanding yourself, there is a big challenge where you are held back by uncertainty. This results in time wastage caused by pondering over many different courses of action even when a swift decision is needed. People who are self-aware know their productivity levels – when they are most energetic and focused and maximize these times to get more done.

 

  • Improves leadership skills

 

One of the most important attributes of a good leader is swift decision-making. A leader should also be impartial and confident. All these are things that we gain by becoming self-aware. Knowing yourself removes internal fear and you are able to focus on important matters. Self-awareness also includes listening to one’s intuition, along with knowing what skills need developed that leads to being a successful leader.

 

  • Promotes Overall Objectivity

 

Being self-aware promotes objectivity. People who are self-aware are also self-confident. This means that they can easily make decisions without being clouded by poor judgment. They also have empathy towards others and are able to implement boundaries for what they will accept from others as well as what they will give; they are not afraid to say ‘no’ when needed.

 

  • Gives the Ability to Manage Their Stress and Other Triggers

Self-awareness allows for one to know the source of their stress, or triggers, and what leads to feeling overwhelmed and unable to handle situations they face. Triggers can include people, habits of others, or those that go against one’s values, such as a coworker who procrastinates on their part of a project or not doing their work on time. Knowing these triggers allows you to find solutions to face them calmly, detach from the outcome, and stay in your own lane, thus decreasing stressful feelings.

 

Being self-aware takes effort – self-assessing, noting your habits and patterns, and then delving in to uncover reasons for your behaviors. It is only through being self-aware that you can build on your strengths and skills which leads to confidence and increased self-esteem. It takes some level of bravery to delve into one’s behavior but it’s the learning curve needed to lead a more positive and productive life.

 

If you’re ready to do the deep-dive in learning more about yourself, and how this relates to positive changes in your life, reach out to learn about our services and programs – get started today!

 

 

How To Stay Positive In Stressful Situations

 

Sometimes nothing seems to turn out the way you had planned, no matter how hard you attempt. Regardless of where the stress is stemming from, it is essential to equip yourself with resources to rise above the negativity and stay positive. Maintaining a positive attitude can help alleviate stress and assist in accomplishing your objectives.

In difficult times, it can feel impossible to think positively when things are falling apart. However, negativity breeds negativity affecting your emotional and physical health. The more you view your situation in a negative light, the more stress and anxiety you will feel.

When you feel like you have hit a dead end, and start to sense any negativity, stop! Here are a few tips on how to remain positive even when you are in challenging situations:

 

  1. Count your blessings

Regardless of how rough things are, if you think about it, you have lots of things to be grateful for. Whether it’s having a job when a lot of people are jobless, having a supportive family, or simply being in a good health. By revisiting everything you have in your life, you can’t hold on to the negativities. You will feel confident, proud and positive.

There are countless things in your life that you can be thankful about, many you may dismiss as important. Five years ago, I participated in a 100-day gratitude challenge –  it was so impactful that it lasted for four years and the blessing were many to my outlook and things I attracted into my life (one was a new car). Every day, write down at least three things you are grateful for each morning and evening – you can work up from there.

  1. Reward yourself

When you achieve something, regardless of how little it is, pat yourself in the back for the job well done. The list of ways that you can reward yourself is endless. You can reward yourself with new opportunities to explore or learn something new, such as taking up a new hobby or going to places you have been wanting to (theme park, art gallery, restaurant, etc.).  You can even take your friends out for coffee. A positive attitude can hardly arise if you don’t even feel great about yourself.

Begin to notice people and events in your daily life and recognize actions that either you have taken towards someone else or that are done to you, no matter how small; examples include someone letting your out in traffic, holding the door for you, giving you a compliment, or helping you out in some way. This helps to recognize your worth that needs to be remembered and recognized.

  1. Exercise regularly

Another great way to manage stress and remain positive is by exercising on a regular basis. If you don’t exercise, try to find something that you enjoy doing such as swimming, biking, playing golf, playing tennis, or going for a walk. Breathing exercise can also help alleviate stress; breathing has been proven to help manage stress, and is one of the best ways to calm the brain and body quickly. Movement has also been shown to ease stress and anxious feelings quickly; easy ways to move, especially if your are at work, is to march in place or take a short walk.

  1. Take time out

If all you think about is work, you can easily be overwhelmed by stress. Be sure to give yourself time off and read a book, listen to music or do whatever it is that you find relaxing. You can also go out with your family and friends. Give yourself permission to veg on the couch of take short breaks during the day – go eat your lunch outside or ideate.  Having time-outs will help you remain focused and positive when you are at your work station so you can dive into the work in front of you with more ease. You will ultimately thank yourself for it.

How to always stay positive in a challenging environment takes awareness of the stressors and retraining the way you think. While you will not alleviate stress overnight, following these simple steps will help you develop and maintain a good attitude about your work and your life. The benefits will be many.

 

If you or your team are feeling stress, why suffer – reach out to learn about our stress management program and services to live stress-free. Take control today to avoid problems in the future.

 

 

Got Stress? 5 Ways to Feel Calmer Quickly

5 Way to Feel Calmer Quickly

Feeling panicked and over-worked? Stressed out all the time and struggling to focus? You just described pretty much the majority of the population.

Unfortunately, being stressed and burned-out is rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’ in a world where we have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. The good news is that with the ubiquity of this issue, there is also a large array of options when it comes to treating and solving it. Here are five ways you can feel better almost instantly:

Breathe

One of the best ways to feel calmer is to breathe – deep breathing, or belly breathing – as this calms the mind and body quickly. When under stress, we often will take in short breaths which stops air flow and leads to panting and more stress. Also, cortisol is released which increases anxious feelings. Taking your breath in, using the 4-7-8 method (in slowly for a count of 4, hold for 7, then out slowly for 8) becomes an instant calmer; the more you practice, the more automatic this becomes.

Organize

You can go Marie Kondo on your home, or you can just do a little spring clean. Whichever you choose, you’ll find that having a more organized space can instantly help you to feel better about your current predicament.

It’s been said that when our space is messy or disorganized, it can lead to anxious feelings so clearing out can help you feel more in control and relaxed. If you only have five minutes, then just clear your immediate area. It’s often enough.

Eat

If you’re feeling very anxious, it might well be because you have allowed your blood sugar to drop. Something as simply as eating a meal can help to boost it back up and significantly improve your mood again. Our moods are tied extremely closely to what we eat, due to the link between our blood sugar and the release of cortisol and serotonin (the stress and feel good hormones respectively!).

There are some foods that help to regulate blood sugars and help our brain, such as fish, fruits and vegetables, turkey, and sweet potatoes. Just watch on using food as a coping skill.

Go for Walk

Walking helps to engage the ‘default mode network’ – the network of brain regions that spring into action whenever we’re not doing something highly active. The result is that your mind wanders and you feel calm and creative. Fresh air and scenic views will do the rest. A five minute spin around the block is all it takes. If you can, walk in areas with trees as they give off oxygen, which helps as a relaxer.

Meditate

Just five minutes of meditation can be more than enough to help boost your mood and help you to feel better. The aim of meditation is to calm your brain by focusing on something other than the negative thoughts you’re currently experiencing – even if that ‘something else’ happens to be nothing at all!

Meditation is not to take the thoughts away but it is geared so you don’t have to do anything about them. Just set a timer for five minutes, and make an effort to focus on the ins and outs of your breathing. It’s that easy!

Exercise

Another way that you can overcome stress and anxiety is to exercise. This stimulates the release of serotonin, not to mention being extremely good for distracting yourself!

Again, five minutes might well be enough. Just take a moment – do leg lifts in your chair, dance, push-ups, arm curls with light weights, march in place; these are all great ways to get the blood circulating and feeling better in no time.

When you start to feel stress creeping up on you, use these five methods to relax and feel better quickly; the more you keep doing them, the more mastery and good habits you will create to take back control and be able to handle those stressful days.

 

“It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.” (Hans Selye)

 

 

If you’re ready to get your stress under control, reach out to take back the control. We also work with leaders and teams, and do training on stress management and well-being so call today to get started (before it’s too late).

 

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