Tag: executivecoaching

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5 Tips for Getting Out of a Rut and Starting Fresh

Do you ever feel as if you are in rut – nothing seems to change, almost as if you are experiencing groundhog day daily?

If you feel like life has become predictable, unfulfilling, and boring, maybe it’s time for a fresh start. Deciding to make a change doesn’t mean you have to turn your life upside down, but it is an opportunity to stand back and revise your current way of life. With the next year upon us, this would be a great time to re-evaluate your life circumstances and take steps to break out of the ruts that are tying you.

Whether it’s a lifestyle, location, or career change, there are some simple things you can do right now to get out of that rut and get some positive energy back into your life.

  1. Work out What Makes You Happy

Have you ever sat down and ruminated about what makes you happy? What lifts your spirits and puts a spring in your step? What makes your heart sing and your energy levels skyrocket?

Some people feel happiest out in nature, while others prefer sports or reading. Maybe you love the arts, dancing, or helping people. Or still, perhaps you have skills and talents that make a difference in your work. Make a list of what makes you happy and take action so you can focus on bringing more joy into your life.

  1. Practice Saying Yes

Most people are so busy with the everyday life that they don’t make time to get out of their comfort zone and do something different. When was the last time you tried something new or challenging? Be open to new experiences, start saying yes to yourself, and choose to do things that feel good.

  1. Make a Stop Doing List

Once you start saying yes to the things that feel good, you need to practice saying no. You need a stop doing list! You’re probably well aware of the bad habits you’ve fallen into and the things you do that don’t bring you joy. While there are some things you have no control over, see what energy-draining tasks you can eliminate from your life. Write a list to remind yourself of the things you can choose not to do, and free up time for the things that make your heart soar.

One way to determine this is to do a ‘time study’ on yourself – track your actions from the time you wake up until you go to bed – this can help you determine not just time-wasters, but also your most productive times to take advantage of them.

  1. Declutter

Most people have way too much stuff in their lives. Look around you right now and see what’s holding you back. Clutter includes spending hours scrolling through social media, limiting beliefs, and bad lifestyle habits as well as all that junk in the kitchen drawer.

Purging is actually good for your mental health as it can cause stress and anxiety when living with too much unwanted ‘stuff.’ Get 3 baskets, one for keep, throw out, and donate, and then set a timer – say 20 minutes to start – and then get to work. You will be surprised at how free you will feel after.

  1. Say No to Fear

Perhaps the single most empowering thing you can do to get out of a rut is to walk away from fear. Fear will stop you from taking risks, big or small. It makes you too afraid to try anything new and holds you back from reaching your potential.

Identify your fear(s) and then look at one step you can take to start, as this will stop your fear-center from activating and holding you back. Slow and steady wins the race.

Coaching Tip:

Make a commitment to yourself to take back control of your life and leap into a fresh start. This is the perfect time to get prepared and ready to take action for the new year, that will set you up for success (if you can start now- great!).

 

 

If you’re struggling to move past your fear and get more out of your life, then reach out to get help – we’re here for you!

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

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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!

 

 

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Monday Success Tips: Feel Stuck? Use the Rule of 10-10-10

 

Ever feel stuck? When balancing work and life, keeping the focus on your newly set goals and desires – all the things you truly want – can be a bit frustrating in trying to keep them in your awareness and in being reachable.  It seems that we get programmed to think more on what we don’t want and we use language that speaks to this:

 

“I don’t want to have to struggle paying my bills each month”

“I want a new job but no one is hiring right now”

“I don’t like how I feel – I’ll start working out later”

 

Using words that are negative and detrimental to the psyche only will keep you down and doing the very things you don’t want to.  Here is a very easy exercise to get you out of the “muckies” and get you leaving them behind. If your situation(s) are truly frustrating you, then the answers should wake you up.

 

This is called the 10-10-10 Rule; think of your issue and the ‘pain level’ of not working on it, and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. If I don’t work on my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 minutes?
  2. If I don’t work on my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 months?
  3. If I don’t work on my current issue, will it make a difference in 10 years?

For example, if you are really unhappy in your job, and the pain level brings you sleepless nights, anxiety, anger, etc. asking these questions should help you to decide that even 10 more minutes of experiencing these symptoms is detrimental to your health and you will make the decision to look for a new job.  If you didn’t any action, do you want to be in the same place in 10 more months or 10 more years?

 

Hopefully, the answers will lead you to see that you need to make some big changes; looking at the ‘dark side’ of your situation will no longer be an option.  You now have the decision to do something about your life and the direction you want it to go.  10-10-10 is a simple but powerful tool to move you forward and get the end results you want in your life.

Your Weekly Action Plan

This week, list all the things you don’t want (job, finances, relationships, health, etc.) and assess them for importance; assign a number for the level of pain – how frustrated you are – to them.  Now, apply the 10-10-10 questions to see which one(s) pains you the most. Write out exactly what you DO want in clear terms and what steps you need to take to get it – put a date to start and to achieve.  When you feel tempted to give up because ‘it’s too hard,” keep the 10-10-10 questions in mind – they should help you remember the pain and spur you to keep taking action,

I hope you have a successful week – If you need help in your leadership role, or for your team,  why not get some help; stop the struggle and call today to get started. I’d love to help you get the confidence you need and create a culture your employees will love.

 

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The Art of Being Thankful

 

Being thankful for all that we possess is essential to opening our hearts and minds, as it takes the focus off of all that we believe we don’t have and shows us that we do. This practice alone has been rated as the #2 way to raise happiness, for when we focus on our negatives we can’t ‘see’ any positives; and we will attract more negative in our lives.

 

You can blame your left brain for this; isn’t it time to get into the right where positivity and optimism live?

 

This is why gratitude and giving thanks is crucial. But it needs to be done consistently so it will become a good habit.

 

When we take the focus off of the negatives, and put it to seeing the positives, this is where the magic happens.

 

Being positive and optimistic creates good feelings to emerge and your focus will go towards now seeing only the good; the negatives won’t seem so catastrophic and you will do what it takes to handle them.

 

The Solution

One solution is  cheap and easy to do:  create a “Gratitude Jar.”

 

You might be asking, what this is and how will it lead me to being more positive; well, because we often tend to focus on the things we don’t want or don’t have in our lives we are actually attracting them.

 

This can lead to having a ‘victim’ mentality, as if life is unkind or throwing you lemons and not lemonade.

 

Creating a Gratitude Jar, that you fill daily, will show you that there is good in your life; you will now be more appreciative of them and work to keep them and/or improve upon them. Your brain chemicals will alter, leading to enhanced feelings of appreciation, happiness, and optimism.

 

It doesn’t matter if you use a jar, a box (my preferred method), a basket or other vessel to capture your thoughts.  The important thing is that you do.

 

To create your gratitude jar, here are some steps to begin – it is actually a fun activity (your kids might love this):

 

  1. Get a jar  and decorate it by using paints, markers, pictures or stickers.  Label it, either “My Gratitude Jar”, “My Daily Thanks” or “My Thankful Life” as suggestions.

 

  1. Have small slips of paper – I use post-it notes – and a marker; these are where you can write down your daily thanks.  It is important to remember to give thanks for all that you have, no matter how big or small; it could be as simple that you have life or that you ate the salad instead of that piece of cake.  The little things help to make you more aware of all good in your life. Be sure to also write down what you are thankful for about you – compliments you hear, strengths, skills, or natural abilities, or positive actions you take towards others – these will lead to increase self-love and confidence.

 

  1. Put these in a place that is accessible and visual to see; this will help to get you in the mode of filling the jar as well as enhancing your awareness of your great life.

 

The only other step is to commit to taking action on this and being consistent; I recommend writing at least three things daily or as you are more aware.  One thing that is in my box – I am thankful for all of you and feel blessed to have you as a part of my life.

 

 Action Plan

 

Make this week your official “Gratitude Week.”  Make your jar and begin filling it on a daily basis.  Pay it forward by passing the idea on to those in your circle so their lives are equally enhanced.  Be sure to pay attention to how your attitude and your life changes.

As a client of mine, who has been practicing her gratitude says: ‘Gratitude makes everything turn into a gift.”

I hope you have a successful week – If you need help gaining clarity on your business or career goals, or in developing your action plan, why not get some help – stop the struggle and call today to get started. I’d love to help you build the career and business of your dreams!

 

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