Here’s a summary, and some highlights, of the newsletter topics I discussed in July.
Firstly, the overarching theme for the month was “Empowerment”, as we focused on topics such as trust, listening, and ownership…..
Here are some highlights from the month…
RESIDING IN YOUR HEART KEEPS YOU EMPOWERED:
When you continuously move through life leading from your mind, your creativity is stifled, you feel more depressed, you have lower levels of energy, and you’re unable to truly connect with others.
You see…..your mind, which is often driven by your ego, is constantly wanting to come up with solutions when solutions aren’t necessary.
It wants to analyze “why” things are the way they are, rather than move into the present and accept “what IS”.
The mind wants to make past experiences wrong and right, versus viewing these experiences as opportunities for learning and growth.
The mind, as you know, resides in your head, and when you live in your head, you lose your sense of trust…..a sense of trust IN YOURSELF.
AND when you lose a sense of trust in yourself, you become disempowered….
Knowing that there’s a strong chance that you’d prefer to move through life feeling empowered, creative, spirited and joyful, here are three simple rules that will support you in your quest to trust and empower yourself and others:
1) Stay present (because this is the only thing that’s real)
2) Connect to your heart (perhaps it requires you to stop, close your eyes and breathe)
3) Surrender to the process (know that you cannot control your outcomes)
LISTENING IS A POWERFUL SKILL:
Listening is probably the most powerful skill you can develop as a leader.
It’s easy to do, but most people don’t do it well.
When you choose not to listen, people pick up on this; they’re aware that you’re not fully present and it can often lead to one of the following outcomes:
1) The conversation lacks trust
2) The conversation contains resentment
3) The conversation ends
Not listening causes major problems and breakdowns in communication and can lead to long-standing and often irreversible issues.
As you move through your work day, take notice if people are actually listening to one another – take notice if you’re listening to the people around you.
HOW YOU RELATE TO THE ISSUE IS THE ISSUE:
There are truly only two ways that you can relate to the people, places and things in your external world….
From the position of:
1) The Victim
OR
2) The Empowered One
If you stop and think about it, there’s probably a 100% chance that you’re going to run into issues throughout your week….
When issues arise, you always have a choice on how you respond.
The statement, “How you relate to the issue is the issue” suggests that it’s your relationship to that particular issue that ultimately becomes the issue.
Especially when you’re relating to the issue from the position of the victim!
The victim says, “look what the world is doing to me.” – The victim points the finger at others….
You’ve made me angry.
You’ve embarrassed me.
You’ve been dishonest.
If you choose the position of the victim, you’re blaming someone else for your emotional responses, and essentially, YOU become the issue! Yes, YOU!
If you choose the position of The Empowered One, the way you relate to your external issues looks very different.
The Empowered One says, “Look how I’m choosing to respond to the outside world” and takes claim on how you’re feeling versus blaming someone else for your emotions.
Hopefully this month’s themes were helpful!
Please reach out if you have any questions/thoughts. Always great to hear from you.
