by Caroline Leach | Apr 23, 2016 | Change, Learning
Is it possible to change in an instant?
Conventional wisdom says no. Change involves multiple steps. Change takes time. Change is hard.
Yet there is one thing you can change in a moment. What is it? Your mind.
You don’t need more than a moment to decide you will think in a different way. You will act in a different way. You will see the world in a different way.
Endlessly inspiring in this area is one of author Gretchen Rubin‘s “twelve commandments of happiness.”
Here it is . . .
“Act the way you want to feel.”
Not feeling so good, physically, emotionally or spiritually? Start acting the way you’d rather feel.
If you want to feel happy, start acting that way. If you want to feel energetic, bring a bounce to your step. If you want to feel valued, start by appreciating someone else.
And if changing your life in an instant seems too far fetched, try these tips from Nicolas Cole for how you can improve your life the most in a single day.
His best advice?
“Be today who you want to be tomorrow.”
Who do you want to be tomorrow?
Just start acting as if you already are that person.
by Caroline Leach | Apr 22, 2016 | Learning
Here’s a simple way to solve a problem.
Give your brain an assignment to figure out a solution. Then shift gears and do something different. Go for a walk. Work on another project. Or go to sleep for the night.
As you walk or work or wake up, don’t be surprised if the solutions start to flow.
Science backs up the power of how your subconscious mind is better at problem solving.
Give it a try this week.
by Caroline Leach | Apr 21, 2016 | Change, Learning
Could there be anything new about the growth mindset, first articulated by Stanford’s Carol Dweck?
As it turns out, yes.
People Won’t Grow If You Think They Can’t Change was a great post today in Harvard Business Review.
Written by Monique Valcour, the piece applies a growth mindset to how leaders view, interact with and influence the learning potential of their team members.
Did you ever work with a leader who saw more potential in you than you did at the time? Did you ever have have a team member with more potential than they saw in themselves? How did those scenarios turn out?
A good way to think about new frontiers or challenges is Dweck’s TED talk, The power of believing you can improve.
She opened with a story about a Chicago high school where students who didn’t pass a class got a mark of “not yet.” What did that do? It placed people on a learning curve into the future.
What’s your “not yet”?
by Caroline Leach | Apr 20, 2016 | Learning
Heading into Peet’s this morning for coffee, my mind was going a mile a minute thinking about the day ahead. Meetings to attend. Calls to make. Actions to complete.
An unexpected ray of sunshine brightened my morning as I approached the store. A fellow coffee aficionado I’d seen there from time to time shared a thoughtful compliment with me as I walked by.
Wow. It made me pause. It made me smile. It brought a whole new aura to my day.
It reminded me of some wise words from Tony Schwartz, writing about appreciation in Harvard Business Review. “Feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up,” he wrote.
He was talking about the workplace specifically as he advocated looking for opportunities to notice what others are doing right and being appreciative for their contributions.
This could be a positive twist on “if you see something, say something.” If you observe someone doing something great, take the initiative to recognize them for it. It could be a member of your team, a community acquaintance or the person standing next to you in line.
You never know what a difference you could make in someone’s day.
A colleague of mine, Andy Bailey, role models this at work. “Start every meeting with recognition,” he says. There’s a transformative power in beginning with gatherings this way. People feel more valued, the tone of the meeting is lighter and the time together becomes more productive.
Scott Adams takes the concept further in How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. “Adults are starved for a kind word,” Adams wrote. “When you understand the power of honest praise, you realize that withholding it borders on terminal. If you see something that impresses you, a decent respect to humanity insists you voice your praise.”
Hear, hear!
by Caroline Leach | Apr 19, 2016 | Learning
Don’t you love a good paradox? Or what seems like a paradox?
In my April adventure I’ve been reminded of a few things.
First is that the key to establishing a new habit is to do it daily. That way it becomes automatic. It doesn’t require a great deal of thought or effort. On day 19 of my adventure, I’m almost at the magical 21 days to establish a habit. Except that science may tell us there isn’t anything special about that number after all.
The elements of my daily dozen that I’ve enjoyed most of all? Posting to this blog. Spending more time with family. Studying Spanish.
Second is that by attempting to do too much, not everything gets done particularly well. Now that I’ve experienced the power of multiple habit formation, I may set one area of focus for each month. One new habit at a time. Smaller, more manageable steps.
It reminds me of what Seth Godin said about N-1. He asks a powerful question. Rather than squeezing in one more thing, how much better could you do if you did one less thing?
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