HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Image from Unsplash by Priscilla Du Preez
May your day be filled with celebration
and gratitude for all that you are,
all that you have.
Thanksgiving Day 2021
Tag Archives: Barry Demp Coaching
“People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don’t need help.”
“People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don’t need help.”
—Glennon Doyle Melton, American author and activist
Image from Unsplash by Razvan Chisu
In my work as a coach, I’ve been most fortunate to work with many wonderful and highly successful people. On the outside, most of them present to the world an image of great achievement, self-sufficiency, and confidence.
Surprisingly, when allowed to dig below the surface many of them show their more vulnerable sides, revealing their need for assistance on various personal and professional levels.
Exercise:
Where and when do you sometimes present a “fake it to you make it” image to the world?
Where could you and others in your world need a helping hand that may not be readily apparent?
Who could you ask or offer this needed assistance?
“I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact.”
“I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact.”
—Elon Musk, CEO, at Tesla and at SpaceX
Image from Unsplash by Nicolas Lobos
Elon Musk probably lives by the credo “No Risk, No Reward.” He has clearly pushed the boundaries of entrepreneurship to their limits, and in many cases, come out on top. Although financial success is used on many occasions to demonstrate achievement, Musk’s shoot-for-the stars approach almost always focuses on making a difference and leaving a contributing dent in the universe.
Clearly venturing into space safely and reaching the red planet in one piece is pretty high on his list.
Exercise:
What impact do you wish to make with your personal and professional life? How can you more courageously go where you’ve never been before to explore and reach new levels of your potential?
What is the level of your listening? Who in your life deserves your very best efforts, in which you listen for what is said and not said?
What is the level of your listening? Who in your life deserves your very best efforts, in which you listen for what is said and not said?
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Unsplash by austin distel
Do you consider yourself a good listener? Why or why not?
My listening skills have improved considerably since I began my meditation practice. The people I am with take on greater importance and I do my best to make them the complete center of my attention.
Showing sincere interest, listening carefully, and letting them fully express themselves are my chief aims in each interaction.
EXERCISE:
What is the level of your listening? How can you go even deeper in your most important relationships?
Friday Review: Generosity
Friday Review: GENEROSITY
How can and will you demonstrate a generous spirit over the coming months? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Ideas, bread, and books are all the same. They’re better when they are shared.”
“Run marathons in the footwear of others.”
What if in skipping the pain, I was missing the lessons
“What if in skipping the pain, I was missing the lessons?”
—Glennon Doyle Melton, American author and activist
Image from Amazon
One of my favorite poets is Mark Nepo. I am reading his brilliant volume, The Book of Awakening for the third time.
My first read was almost 10 years ago, just after the passing of my mother, Rose. Upon subsequent readings, I have come to realize just how many of his life lessons came out of a variety of painful points in his life including a very serious bout of fighting cancer.
The past two years have introduced us all to many painful experiences. What learning can you embrace from your pain and perhaps even the pain others experienced in your various communities?
Exercise:
Consider awakening to the lessons you may have missed by exploring Mark’s book for yourself.
The glass ceiling doesn’t apply when you’re building your own house
“The glass ceiling doesn’t apply when you’re building your own house.”
—Heidi Roizen, American Venture Capitalist and Entrepreneur
Image from Unsplash by Kyle Brinker
Did you know that if you place a bunch of fleas in a jar with a glass lid they will eventually stop trying to jump out even if you remove the lid?
Glass ceilings — and ceilings in general — seem to be a fact of life where the world and even we, ourselves, place limits on how high and how far we can soar.
What do some of these limitations sound like when you hear them from family members, friends, colleagues and even your own inner voice?
In recent years, people have pursued their own personal and professional paths, cleared of many of these ceilings, letting new horizons and sunnier futures of their own creation occur.
EXERCISE:
Where in your worlds are you limited by glass ceilings?
How can you courageously break through these barriers to have a custom-made house, built just for you?
“If you don’t understand what makes people tick, they won’t tick.”
“If you don’t understand what makes people tick, they won’t tick.”
—Robert Swan — British explorer & the first person to walk to both Poles
Image from Unsplash by Anne Nygård
Ever since I can remember I’ve been fascinated by how things work. I distinctly recall, as a child, taking apart a Baby Ben alarm clock to see what was inside that made it tick.
These days, I’m far more interested in what makes the people around me tick, to better discover how to improve my relationships, understand their motivations, and to help bring out their best through my coaching efforts.
Although there are multitudes of tools and assessments to help in this process, I’ve found the simple but often not easy work of collaborative conversations — where seeking to understand and be sincerely interested — works best.
EXERCISE:
How masterful are you in the art of dialogue and conversation? Where and with whom would greater skill and practice help you understand what make these people tick even better?
Make a plan to create and savor more downtime. Discover and experience where less is often more.
Make a plan to create and savor more downtime. Discover and experience where less is often more.
—Calm App Reflection
Image from Unsplash by Kelly Sikkema
What will you contemplate or savor during your next downtime?
Learn to press the pause buttons of life, to cherish and savor these quiet moments — reflect and contemplate your life.
Examine the richness and abundance all around you, and develop an attitude of profound gratitude for the wondrous miracles that surround us.
When we unplug and pause, new things begin.
EXERCISE:
What will you do to carve out more downtime in the days ahead?
How can you more fully experience pauses in your days to savor the richness and beauty of these special moments?
Friday Review: Intention
FRIDAY REVIEW: INTENTION
What intentions have you set for your day, your week, or your life? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Sit. Or stand. But never wobble.”
“Intent reveals desire. Action reveals commitment.”
“Setting your intentions is like drawing an arrow from the quiver of your heart.”