Tag Archives: attitude

If 40 is the new 30

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“If 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40, why can’t Tuesday be the new Friday?”

—Author Unknown

Image from meetup

What do most people consider their favorite workday of the week?

You would be among the majority if your first response was “Friday.”

Whether you are an avid TGIF person or not, most of us do have a bit more pep in our step on Friday. We’re looking forward to the weekend, in anticipation of fun, adventure, family time, or just time to relax.

Take a look at your feelings about Sunday – especially after dinner time, or for that matter, any other day of the week. How positive, hopeful, and pleased do you feel as you look forward – or dread – other days of the week?

EXERCISE:

What strategies and approaches can you apply every morning to have a stronger spirit of excitement and adventure as you walk through each day?

Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody

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“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.”

—Kid President (Robby Novak)

Image of "Kid President" Robby Novak

Who are the special people in your life who make you feel great just by being around them? Take a minute to investigate all of your personal and professional communities today, and even those in the past. Who are the special folks you look forward to seeing, with considerable anticipation and delight?

Now, what makes them so amazing? What unique qualities and super powers do they possess that are so magnetic and wonderful you can’t help but feel extra fantastic in their presence?

Among all the attributes you discovered, I bet one of them is that they focus most of their attention on those around them, and not on themselves.

EXERCISE:

How and where will you focus more of your daily efforts being somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody?

Leave the familiar

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“Leave the familiar for a while. Change rooms in your mind for a day.”

—Hafiz, 14th Century Persian Poet

Image of a small boy walking on the beach

Image from Unsplash by Andre Mohamed

One of my favorite quotes is, “When patterns are broken, new worlds will emerge,” by Tuli Kupferberg. In a nutshell, it points to a primary reason the coaching process works to support all kinds of professional and personal change initiatives.

Unfortunately, this can be quite difficult due to entrenched ways of thinking and acting that have become habituated over many years.

The good news, supported through today’s quote, is that we all can begin to grow and change by taking baby steps rather than quantum leaps, to better our worlds.

EXERCISE:

Experiment today by intentionally deviating from the familiar in your thoughts and actions. Please consider replying to this post regarding what occurs when you change things up a bit.

Outer Order Contributes to Inner Calm

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“Outer order contributes to inner calm.”

—Gretchen Rubin, American Author and Speaker

Image of person in blue genie costume

image from YasminK

Consider the following life situations:

  • Finding something to wear in a cluttered closet
  • An e-mail or voice mail box filled to capacity
  • A dirty car, inside and out
  • Desperately needing a haircut
  • An unbalanced checkbook
  • Kids toys or clothing on the floor

Imagine having a genie, and that you can rub a lamp or snap your fingers and instantly all situations are in order. What happens to your heart rate, level of stress, or sense of general well-being?

EXERCISE:

Where would spending a little effort or even a bit of money bring greater order and a stronger calmness to your worlds?

Please also consider exploring the numerous resources available through Gretchen Rubin’s website.

If You are Not Willing to Learn

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“If you are not willing to learn no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

—Zig Ziglar, 20th Century American Motivational Speaker

Image of a man holding a large lightbulb

Image from Unsplash by Riccardo Annandale

The term “Coach-ability” is used frequently in my profession.

Individuals who are coachable have a voracious appetite for their own growth and development, a passion for learning, and of course, an open and receptive disposition.

Perhaps no other mindset or quality is attributed to achieving greater success than having this unstoppable determination to advance oneself and the world at large.

The technical term for trying to coach, teach, or mentor another individual who is close and unwilling to receive assistance, on the other hand, is “nagging.”

Only you and your perceptual filters can seek and find the coaching from others and the world around you. After all, being nagged by those hoping to contribute to you is a real drag.

Please conserve your energies and efforts with others in your communities that see you this way.

EXERCISE:

In what ways can you be far more open and receptive to the contribution of others, and learn all you can from these relationships?

How can you facilitate and engender greater coach-ability and subsequent learning with others in your personal and professional communities?

Do the Best You Can

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“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

—Maya Angelou, late American poet, author, and civil rights activist

The process of coaching kicks many areas of life into a higher gear, given its experiential and interactive nature. Regardless of whether we are a senior citizen or infants, we all interact with the world, receive feedback, and then determine how to proceed in the future.

Through its emphasis on self-awareness, constructive feedback, and experiential learning, coaching expedites this process. It allows individuals and organizations to know more and do better at a more robust rate.

EXERCISE:

How and where can you do your best in a more intentional learning environment? How would the assistance of a teacher, mentor, or coach help you do and be better every day?

start paving

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“If you don’t like the road you are walking, start paving another one.”

—Dolly Parton, Country Singer/Songwriter & Actor

Image of paving machine

Image from YouTube

 

In the Motor City – Detroit – the car is king and most people don’t do a lot of walking. We do, however, do a lot of driving, and the roads in the region are poor at best. Pot holes are at epidemic levels, making driving costly in terms of repairs, and dangerous to human life.

A colleague made me aware of an amazing technology being developed in Europe. This machine mounted on a truck platform miraculously fixes pot holes of various sizes in 5-10 minutes. Here is a video about it.

EXERCISE:

Which of your personal or professional roads are getting bumpy and require repair?

Where and how will your begin paving these thoroughfares to smooth out your journey to reach your most desired destinations?

Goodness is easier to recognize than to define

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“Goodness is easier to recognize than to define.”

—W. H. Auden, 20th Century English-American Poet

Defining something limits what it is. Recognizing or distinguishing something opens up and expands the possibility of what it can be.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the following list of words. Try to define them and then explore the many factors or qualities that can be attributed to them:

• Happiness
• Health
• Quality Relationships
• Success
• Mastery
• Leadership
• Professionalism

EXERCISE:

What does it mean to be a good person? What is it that you observe and recognize in yourself and those around you when you experience goodness?

How would you answer similar questions in your recognition of the seven words above, exploring one per day in the coming week?

What other words might you add to this list that would be worth far greater recognition?

Rise above the little things

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“Rise above the little things.”

—John Burroughs, 19th Century American essayist

Have you heard of the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff?

There is a companion workbook to help you put many of the techniques and strategies from the book into practice.

I suggest a three-step process to help you rise above the little things that often bring us all down:

EXERCISE:

Step One: Conduct a 5-10 minute inventory of the “little things” that hold you back, personally or professionally. A list of 3-5 in each category is a good start.

Step Two: Clarify the specific benefits or desired future possible if these pesky or intolerable issues were handled.

Step Three: Summon the courage, fortitude, and grit to become a bigger, more capable version of yourself. Take the necessary action and/or shift your perspective to have many of these “little things” fade away.

Feel free to reply to this post and let me know how things go.

Think like a proton and stay positive

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“Think like a proton and stay positive.”

Image of Professor Proton from "The Big Bang Theory"

Image from hollywoodreporter

 

I happen to be a fan of the TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. In recent years they added a new character named Professor Proton, played by Bob Newhart.

Professor Proton had a significant influence on young Sheldon, which eventually led him to his career as a theoretical physicist.

Beyond the always humorous, engaging antics of the shows characters, I am always left with pleasant and positive perspective at the closing scene.

EXERCISE:

How can you shift your world from the negativity of an electron or the neutrality of a neutron, to be far more positive – like a proton – today and every day?