Balance - You Deserve It

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Texas springtime is fleeting - it lasts only a few weeks. This year we were lucky that the rain and weather were just right for lovely fields of big, fat Bluebonnets. I spent a whole day to drive to Ennis and enjoy their annual Bluebonnet Trails and Festival. And I note that I took this time off "to smell the flowers" with not a hint of guilt.

Taking charge and getting moving is not only about career, business, and the things we typically consider related to success. At the end of our days, the reckoning will be about the quality of the journey, how much love we brought into the world, and who we became as human beings, not just the accomplishments of a human DO-ing.  

The challenge for most people facing difficult situations, like the current economy or job seeking, is to let go of the fear long enough to create balance in life. It doesn't just happen, we have to make a space and a plan for balance. Maybe frolicking in the wildflowers isn't for you ... but there is something that you enjoy, that takes time, and that you have probably been talking yourself out of doing. 

Find a way to put fun and play into today. Play with a child or a puppy. Get your hands dirty doing something out of your ordinary routine. Sit quietly outdoors and listen to the birds or the sounds of traffic. Breathe.

Take Charge -- Get your Balance -- then Get Moving

Love and light,

Diane

“Don’t compromise yourself.  You’re all you’ve got.” ― Janis Joplin

For many years I've used assessments/tools to help my coaching clients "know themselves" behaviorally. The DiSC profile, the Meyers-Briggs, or StrengthsFinder 2.0 provide excellent reports that identify style, communication preference, and personal characteristics and offer action plans for applying the information. Most of these tools share two basic truths -
1. You have to apply the information to benefit from the tool, and

2. A Strength when overused becomes a weakness.

Unfortunately, a time of transition or change is stressful - and in a stressed state we tend to be and become more of what we already are and overuse our strengths. For example: the analytical person tends to over-analyze and avoid action; the expressive and outgoing individual may rely too much on optimism and not enough on strategy and discipline; the stable amiable worker avoids effective reaching-out actions that might "interrupt" or "disturb" someone they might be networking with; and the directive style, focusing on bottom line results (or lack of results), becomes his/her own worst enemy.

Knowing who you are is a first step. The next step is owning the pitfalls of your personal style or perspective on the world and doing actions that don't necessarily feel good or natural.This is the time to grow, to develop new muscles, to use your strengths and natural gifts to their fullest. Are you an introvert? Read "The Introvert Advantage" by Lancy and begin to recognize new ways to be your truest self and still attain your goals.

Are you a "type A" dominant style? Learn to notice the effect your stressed out style has on people around you - that will give you reason to relax with a deep breath and let go of the need to "get it all done right this instant, regardless of consequences."

Don't compromise who you are. DO use all the best of who you are to achieve your goals in the shortest time and with the best results.

Take Charge -- Get Moving!
Love and light,
Diane

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. --Reinhold Niebuhr

As I coach wonderfully talented people in career transition, I find many are not able to maintain a sense of peace and courage as time away from work drags on. They are tormented by a sense of helplessness in their inability to control the situation and get back to full employment. I hear it ... "I should be able to make things happen." "It's not fair/right that I was laid off." "What are people thinking of me, still unemployed? They think I'm a loser." As long as they are holding these illusions, they are blind to opportunities and creativity.

I have learned a lot about myself through them. We live as if our perceptions are truth when many are illusions. Illusions all around us - the illusion of security, of self-importance, of one's ability to control the world. As I take charge and get moving, I am accepting that I can't control circumstances or other people. I can only do what I can do. I can accept my limitations and claim my strengths. My mantra is "What is ... is. What ain't ... ain't. What are my choices right now?"

Let go of illusions, clarify the vision, plan and implement strategy with persistence and patience. Take charge of what I can do and build up momentum.
It isn't easy, but it is simple when the illusions are dispelled.
Love and light,
Diane