Friday Review: STRENGTH
What are your strengths? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.”
You never conquer a mountain
“You never conquer a mountain. You stand on the summit a few moments. Then the wind blows your footprints away.”
—Arlene Blum, American mountaineer, writer, and environmental health scientist
Image from Unsplash by Charlotte Karlsen
What personal and professional mountains have you climbed? How did you feel standing on their summits? How long did you remain at the top before returning to base camp? How long did you retain the sense of accomplishment before the inevitable let down from these peak experiences?
Over the past two years, I’ve noticed many people — including myself — experiencing a loss of excitement and vitality in their days. We seem to be climbing fewer mountains and many are seeing their paths blocked by various obstacles. The winds of change can often be in our faces and have blown many of our former footprints away.
EXERCISE:
Where is it time to strap on your boots to make some new footprints on the future mountains you seek to climb?
How will you fully embrace the journey and standing on the summit as you set forth on your next expedition?
Let tomorrow come tomorrow
“Let tomorrow come tomorrow.”
—Author Unknown
Image from Unsplash by Brian McGowan
To what degree are you a clock watcher? How often do you check your watch, cell phone, wall clock, or your digital assistant to determine the time? When you do, how often are you seeing how much time is left before your next item on your schedule? How often do you determine how long you must wait until an upcoming event that you desire or dread?
A frequent example for many people is to check the time at night during what is supposed to be a restful night’s sleep. How often do you find yourself doing a bit of subtraction to determine how many hours and minutes before you must rise and hopefully shine to begin the day?
Hitting the pause button on today or fast forwarding to tomorrow are best used for your digital recording devices. How can you simply enjoy the show and savor the passage of time you have?
EXERCISE:
What alternative approaches and strategies can you employ to more fully experience your todays and let tomorrow come tomorrow?
It is good to have an end to journey toward
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin, Late American speculative fiction author
Image from Unsplash by Neal E. Johnson
What are your most important goals for 2022? To what degree have you progressed toward them and how do you feel about your efforts?
How do you expect to feel when you reach the end of your journey and stand on the peaks of your achievements? What then?
Another goal and then another. How is it possible to remain energized and not be let down soon after we actually hold the prize?
Numerous experts on personal and professional development suggest we focus on growth versus goals. This shift in perspective supports us in gaining satisfaction from our efforts and milestones along our paths instead of just the pots of gold at our journey’s end.
EXERCISE:
Where would adopting a growth versus a goal mindset enhance your motivation, momentum, and levels of success?
Which small irritation are you ready to let slide
Which small irritation are you ready to let slide? Why?
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan
In the early 90s, Thomas Leonard and Coach University were pioneering forces in the coaching industry. In his teaching and in his book, The Portable Coach, he introduced an exercise that involved reducing or eliminating the people and things in our lives that we were “putting up with.” He called them “tolerations.”
The exercise began with an inventory of the items in our world that occupied our minds and caused annoyance and dismay. The next step was to begin removing them one by one to free ourselves up to focus on more important people and things we welcomed and enjoyed.
EXERCISE:
Create a list of your own tolerations and remove or reduce the ones you can. If you are unable to do so, which are you willing to let slide? What will be the benefits when you do?
Friday Review: Uniqueness
FRIDAY REVIEW: UNIQUENESS
What makes you unique? Here are a few uniqueness-related posts you may have missed.
“Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.”
The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by answering
“The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by answering.”
—David Whyte, Anglo-Irish poet
Image from Unsplash by Hadija Saidi
What are some of the questions you have been asking yourself and others over the past couple of years?
As a lifelong learner, I marvel at the power and insights offered by provocative open-ended questions. These tools dig below the surface of our day-to-day experiences to uncover new depths of understanding of one another and the world.
In the coaching profession we often say “let your questions do the heavy lifting.” The surprising thing for me, based on Whyte’s quote, is that both parties can be shaped through these exchanges.
EXERCISE:
What are some of your favorite “stop you in your tracks” questions?
How have these questions shaped your identity and opened up pathways for you?
Two books I’ve found very useful on this subject are A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger and The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stainer.
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it
“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.”
—Hannah Arendt, 20th Century political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor
Image from Unsplash by Daniel Schludi
Wendy and I love going to the movies. Although we can now see thousands of films from a multitude of streaming services from home, somehow the big screen is how we most enjoy these stories.
We recently saw Death on The Nile based on Agatha Christie’s classic novel. The public rated this film considerably higher than the critics and we, too, were gripped by the twists and turns untangled by the famous Hercule Poirot. Great stories magically take us along for the ride without having to narrate everything we are supposed to see. Discovering many clues on our own and being our own sleuths is a big part of the fun.
EXERCISE:
How and where do you use storytelling to convey important messages and engage your audiences?
In what ways can you better reveal meaning without committing the error of defining it?
I enjoy the storytelling wisdom of Bernadette Jiwa. You can learn about her work at https://thestoryoftelling.com/
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
—Michael Pollan
Image from Unsplash by Diana Polekhina
Did you do it again this year? Have you announced to the world or perhaps just spoke quietly to yourself that this is the year you will definitely lose weight and get in better shape? Physical distancing and working from home these past two years have made this goal extra challenging.
The quote above sounds so simple but as we all know it is far from easy. Countless external and internal factors can cause us to slip, slide, and fall off our health habits around mid-February only to promise ourselves to give it another go tomorrow, next week, after a vacation we deserve, or next January.
EXERCISE:
Check out Ju Young Kim’s impressive article entitled Optimal Diet Strategies for weight loss and weight lost maintenance. I will be happy to send you a copy — email me at barry@dempcoaching.com. If time is limited, just post today’s quote on your fridge.
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
—Michael Pollan
Image from Unsplash by Diana Polekhina
Did you do it again this year? Have you announced to the world or perhaps just spoken quietly to yourself that this is the year you will definitely lose weight and get in better shape? Physical distancing and working from home these past two years have made this goal extra challenging.
The quote above sounds so simple but as we all know it is far from easy. Countless external and internal factors can cause us to slip, slide, and fall off our health habits around mid-February only to promise ourselves to give it another go tomorrow, next week, after a vacation we deserve, or next January.
EXERCISE:
Check out Ju Young Kim’s impressive article entitled Optimal Diet Strategies for weight loss and weight lost maintenance. I will be happy to send you a copy if you email me at barry@dempcoaching.com. If time is limited, just post today’s quote on your fridge.