Category: Life Work Flourishing Coaching Blog

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #4: Defend against Negative Influences: 
Protect your System

STRATEGIES

1)  Build a tidal moat:  In the Middle Ages, a castle had a moat around it to discourage the approach of an enemy.  A tidal moat was one that allowed high tide to fill it up at night when everyone was asleep and most vulnerable to an attack.

Today, our enemy is the non-stop barrage of noise around us.  It prevents us from staying focused and moving towards our greater potential.  We want to be aware of our vulnerable times: half hour before getting into bed and after getting out of bed till breakfast.  Turn off all media, social feeds, news, emails, alerts, and notifications.  They are the enemy that attack our safe castle.  Music, reading or conversation is preferred to electronics.   The moat of self-protection is ‘powering down’. 

2) Build a mental stronghold:  We prepare for a storm forecast by stocking up on water, non-perishables, gas, candles etc.  Similarly, we need to stock up our ‘mental reserves’ for unexpected events that can catch us off guard.  Build a positive mental grip.

Continue reading “Build Strong Defenses II”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #4: Defend against Negative Influences: 
Protect your System

Having positive emotions at all times is neither realistic nor practical.  We need negative emotions like sadness, fear and anger to alert us that our ecosystem has been trespassed, or our rights have been violated. (*See reference below). They are a signal that change is needed; one that we have to initiate ourselves and not wait for the world to begin to do so.

Continue reading “Build Strong Defenses”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #3: Enhance your Resources:
Create a prism of Praise and Recognition

Praise is a reward that boosts self-esteem, reinforces positive behavior and inspires progress.  When you receive praise, instead of absorbing it (hoarding), or brushing it off (deflecting), which many of us tend to do, Achor suggests we refract it (bend it like light through a prism) and watch the single, incoming ray of light as it passes through a prism spread outwards as many rays in diverse directions. In other words, pay it forward and praise others in your sphere who are deserving.

Continue reading “Become a Prism of Praise”

Cultivate the 5 seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #2: Expand your power: Lead from every seat

A need for leadership ‘at all levels, in all geographies, across all functional areas’ was highlighted by Deloitte in the Global Human Capital Trends 2014 survey.  
Achor suggests these strategies to lead from every seat:

Continue reading “Lead from Every Seat”

Cultivate The 5 Seeds of Big Potential says Shawn Achor.  

Seed #1:  Surround yourself with a system of positive influencers.

Continue reading “Pillars, Bridges & Extenders”

When you bounce on a trampoline you go as high as you think you can, until someone else hops on and starts jumping with you.  Then the bounce is springier and higher than ever.  You collapse with laughter and disbelief at how high you felt yourself go. 

Continue reading “How Large is your Potential?”

Habits cannot be erased totally. We slip into old habits in difficult times. The newly replaced routines tend to fall apart. For change to be sustained it must have one more ingredient: belief.  It is essential to have faith and positive self affirmations to hold on to, especially in critical times.   

Continue reading “Sustain Changed Habits”

You have run this race the same way over and over.  You get into your starting position; you hear the bang of the starter’s gun, your heart races with the rush of adrenaline.  You are already craving the reward: gratification of crossing the finish line, or better yet, the euphoria of a win!  That excitement causes you to engage in the same routine every time.  You hold your breath; you look up at the track ahead, impulsively raising your head.  You get off to a shaky start. 

Continue reading “Replace Old Habits”

The Habit Loop is a 3 step process (introduced in the January bulletin).
1) Cue: a trigger or signal.
2) Routine: a series of repetitive responses
3) Reward: an incentive or payback.

Continue reading “Spot your Cues”

You have seen these come and go: New Year’s resolutions to create healthy habits and discard unhealthy ones.  Often these become efforts in futility.  If we understand how habits work we can get a grip on how to improve them.

Continue reading “Know your Habit Loop”