Here’s a summary, and some highlights, of the newsletter topics I discussed in March.
Firstly, the overarching theme for the month was “vulnerability”, as we focused on topics such as staying open, self-examination and incremental growth.
Improving in these areas will give you a much stronger sense of your behaviors and patterns and a renewed sense of confidence as you move through the world.
Here are some highlights from the month…
Vulnerability is the key for continued learning and growth:
As you start to develop a keen sense of the things that you desire in your life, you also begin to realize that in order to obtain these things, you need to take a closer look at your behaviors and patterns.
Taking a closer look requires you to be vulnerable – to embrace humility and examine the parts of you that are holding onto the “old”, ineffective ways of doing things.
Sometimes fear and stubbornness can get in the way; however, if you slow down and take a moment for self-reflection, you’ll be more equipped to observe when you’re resisting new perspectives and opportunities for change.
5 ways to examine the old stuff, so you can create different outcomes in the future:
1. Self-reflection: Think back on an experience/situation that didn’t go well for you. What skills, or human attributes, may have created a different outcome? Perhaps you have an opportunity to cultivate a new skill set moving forward.
2. Feedback: Ask people around you, “When am I at my best?”, “When am I not at my best?”. See what they say.
3. Get present during uncomfortable situations: When you’re uncomfortable in a situation, move towards it rather than away from it. If you feel agitated, or triggered by it, ask yourself, what can I learn from it?
4. Notice when you’re “pushing” versus “flowing”: In most cases when you “push” through life, it’s because you’re overcompensating for something that feels uncomfortable. Once again, slowing down allows you to observe and establish a flow state.
5. Listen for your “headtrash”: Headtrash is the stories you tell yourself, about yourself, that reside in your head. When you become aware of the conversations taking place in your head, you have an opportunity to learn and grow from them.
“Thinking SMALL” is the key to creating new habits and behaviors:
Making small, incremental steps in your life is what allows you to create lasting change. Often people will get trapped by the “think BIG” mindset and are unable to make the changes they want.
When creating new habits, you want to eliminate the risk factor and focus on guaranteed changes that you can make on a weekly, even daily basis.
I like to choose an action for the upcoming week that will force me, or my clients, to stretch a little bit, but gives a guaranteed opportunity for success.
What cool about this approach is that it’s something that you can start doing today.
Hopefully you’ll find this month’s takeaways to be supportive.
For the month of April, we’ll focus on “self-awareness” and how this allows you to take more personal responsibility for your choices and actions.
