Last week we began our focus on Choosing Happiness. We summarized some of the things that people who are the happiest do regularly in their lives. The rest of this month, we’re going to focus on the core practices that can add to or deepen your own sense of happiness, starting with Mindfulness. There’s a lot of talk about mindfulness in the media, and the research about its benefits is inspiring. Research shows that becoming more mindful throughout your life…
People often talk about wanting to be happy as if it’s something that happens to them. And, while there are external things that happen to us that can increase our happiness, our sadness, and our stress; generally people who describe themselves as happy choose happiness over and over and over again—often without even noticing it. Think about the prayer that has come to be known as The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot…
Let’s face it, there times in life when we’re going to fall down—either through the fault of our own doings or through the travails of daily living. The test of our strength and our character is how we get back up. Sometimes, life knocks you down and it takes the wind from your being. Sometimes, it’s good to sit and inhale a moment or two, letting your lungs refill with the force of life before you rise again. What’s…
We’ve had a number of conversations lately about the longing for a summer vacation. Not a week or two, but the whole summer off from school with, as folks have described, “enough time to get bored.” Many people do take a vacation in the summer, yet don’t find it to be quite what they are longing for. And many others haven’t had a vacation in years as they struggle with finances or work demands or family needs. It’s challenging to…
indəˈpendənt, adjective 1. free from outside control; not depending on another's authority. synonyms: freethinking, free, individualistic; 2. not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence. synonyms: self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-reliant, standing on one's own two feet Most of us have the privilege of being independent and therefore able to take action on our own behalf. Today, we would like to encourage you to celebrate your independence and to take action on your own behalf in the area of your life where…
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve had a number of brilliant leaders start our meetings by saying some version of “I’m a mess!” They then go on to describe a range of experiences—both professional and personal—that they can’t resolve easily. They recount a range of pain points from long-held challenges in a family business, to a change in direction from the Board of Directors, to a shift in the market, to a diagnosis of a frightening illness, to the…
One of the things many of our clients struggle with is how to get the most out of the negative people in their lives. Those people who are quick to see what’s wrong, or to resist a new idea, or who focus on all the potential “disastrous” consequences of a decision. Almost all of us have one or two in our lives and they can make moving an initiative forward challenging, unless you have the ability to tap into the…
As the world moves faster and faster, there are demands on each of us to match the pace. Yet, as humans, we count on a level of predictability and stability to move forward effectively. In fact, our brains count on being able to kick into habit to manage the demands of all that’s coming at us. When it gets to be too much, we get fatigued by all the change—hence the term Change Fatigue. Organizational change fatigue can become a…
How many times have you said, I feel like… to describe your experience? If you’re like most of us, probably quite a few. When you say "I feel like," you’re actually not talking about feelings at all, but instead you’re talking about what you think. If you replace the words, I feel like with I think you’re more accurately describing what’s happening, and as a result, you’re experienced as more credible. Here are some examples: I feel like you’re mad at…
Of all the traits that make up a good leader, resilience is probably one of the most important. re·sil·ience /rəˈzilyəns/ noun the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Resilience is something that you learn and develop over the course of your lifetime—it’s not something we can do innately. Resilience means that you can manage your fear, disappointments, and negative inner voice to come back to a…