| A few of my executive coaching clients are journeying to change their lives. They inspire me. In addition to working with me, they have each identified a few areas of their lives where they want to make a shift and are allotting the time and resources to make those shifts happen. Each has created a personal plan that might include physical fitness with a trainer, psychological support with a therapist, scheduling vacation times throughout the year, creating boundaries at work (and sticking to them), making space for good, old-fashioned fun, and/or delving into their spiritual health. What excites me is that they looked at their whole lives and said they felt unfulfilled for various reasons. When they took time to reflect, they realized they were not as happy or fulfilled as they wanted to be and were showing up in and out of work as “less than” the people they hoped to be. They worked hard to be their best selves, personally and professionally. It has been fabulous to watch. Here are a few examples: “Charles” went to a marriage counselor and started planning vacations and having date nights with his wife; “Barry” went to therapy for anxiety and began taking medication, which changed his life; “Angela” said, “Enough!” to a bully boss and changed jobs; “Keith” chose to follow his passion and invest in himself as a musician; and “Annie” leaned into her emotional intelligence assessment to achieve more balance in her life. What gets in your way of being your best self and living your best life? |
| Worth The Share |
| Speaking of anxiety, it might surprise you to learn how prevalent it is in our society. Anxiety is the most common mental health illness. While we don’t know exactly, on any given day, about one-third of the American population is walking around with an anxiety disorder, according to Morra Aarons-Mele. She goes on to say “that in our life span, over 80% of us will experience anxiety or depression.” Morra is the author of The Anxious Achiever. I listened to her recent interview on the Next Big Idea podcast. |
| Here are some key messages from the podcast: Negative self-talk is common; maybe change that to self-compassion, a “way to re-direct the (negative self-talk) tape.”Give anxiety a job or a goal, such as making a list or plan, and lean into the thought that when you are anxious, do something.When struggling with body image, Morra shares that she is cruel to herself when she doesn’t work out. While this motivated her when she was younger, it’s a bit of a diminishing return. She said that she recognized it at this point in her life and didn’t want to be cruel to herself anymore.Morra also shared that she takes a lot of medication to help her with her own anxiety and bipolar disorder. I respect her for being vulnerable and sharing that publicly!She challenges all of us to figure out what we are great at and to do that type of work.Her podcast from earlier this month is You Can’t Change the World If You’re Unhappy at Work.Morra mentioned the importance of being aware of neuro-diversity in the workplace and having clarity about what it takes to get your best work done, sharing examples of using props to calm down when anxious. Listen to The Anxious Achiever: How you can turn anxiety into a superpower. Read her book The Anxious Achiever, or listen to her Anxious Achiever weekly podcast. |
| #wisewords “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” — Maya Angelou |
| And Finally… |
| What energy do you have for taking time to reflect on your whole life? I particularly like a Wheel of Life Exercise by Zig Zigler. Take a moment this Labor Day to reflect on your life and areas where you may want to shift. Whatever you do, have some fun over this long weekend. We all need to laugh more and work to be a little less anxious. |
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