Self-Awareness

I turned another year older yesterday and to celebrate, I wanted to share one lesson that has taken the support of experts and years to learn, and I’m still working on it.

How to label and work through my emotions.

For some reason, when I was a kid, I decided that feelings were bad. Whenever I had a strong emotional reaction to something, I would get angry at myself, making myself feel worse. I couldn’t even name what I was feeling beyond I’m frustrated, or I’m mad.

For any of you that have w…

So am I.

When I feel a bit off, distracted, nervous, or want to make sure I accomplish something significant, I stop and set mini-intentions using my five senses. 

Let me break it down for you:

1. What do I want to see? 👁
2. What do I want to hear? 🔊
3. What do I want to smell? 👃
4. What do I want to taste? 👅
5. What do I want to feel/touch? 🤏
   

Now, let me apply it to how I prepare for group sessions I facilitate: 

1. I see smiling faces and nodding.
2. I hear vulnerable questions and stories.
3. I smel…

If you do, take a second to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. 

Accessing the hidden parts of yourself – what you might be ashamed of, have hidden, or previously denied is ALSO part of that.

We need to bring light to them, integrate them, and bring them into our awareness so we can embrace our humaneness and remind ourselves that we are not perfect.

My responsibly as a leader and coach are to use my privilege to help others raise their self-awareness so they can show up and get t…

Did you figure it out?

Come on, guess!

Fine, I will tell you…

It is procrastination.

Why?

Because as humans, we are not designed to do scary things - and our brains are trying to protect us.  

We create habits to avoid things - to protect and relieve ourselves from perceived fear and anxiety, such as rejection, judgment, or failure.

This habit is called procrastination.

This video gives you a great starting point on how to change your habit of avoiding: 

1. Acknowledge it - For example, …

I should be further along with my business.

I can’t believe I haven’t figured out how to position this product yet.

I didn’t get the promotion - there must be something wrong with me.

I am so stupid; I should have seen this coming.

During this crisis, I have become hyper-aware of how I am speaking to myself.  Though I’m hanging out at my parents’ house, I spend most of my time alone. 

I’ve noticed that when I get frustrated, I call myself a name and get even more annoyed at myself.

I’ve ha…

Being able to communicate and connect with all types of stakeholders is key to being a successful leader. The most important component might be building our self-awareness to understand where we stand and how we can improve. Communicating, like all soft skills, is like a muscle that needs to be worked out.

As a leader, one of the responsibilities I had that would scare the heck out of me was speaking.  Whether I had to lead a team meeting or have a press conference, I was always second-guessing…

As a leader, I sometimes spend more time doing things for others than myself.

What have I learned?

I must help myself before helping others.

Having a routine has helped me with making sure I can show up for myself and others.

Routines allow us to develop habits that match our goals while helping us eliminate habits that keep us from reaching our full potential.

Ready to make a change?

Start by downloading my free resource to start to work out your routine.

It has always been hard for me to ask for help.  

Even though I help people for a living I realized that I sometimes still have a hard time doing so.

Last month I was sharing my upcoming programs with my network and felt this small knot in my stomach. I second-guessed every word I typed - I didn’t want to come across some way -  you know - and squeezed my eyes shut almost every time I pressed send.

Have you ever felt that way?

You know what you are sharing is not only relevant but valuable. …

I used to cringe at the thought of making calls. I would tell my close friends that I hated small talk and would avoid any and every opportunity to interact with strangers, especially in a group setting. The thought of having a more than a five-minute conversation on the phone, even with someone I knew well, used to freak me out. 

Now I have one to two-hour conversations for a living, and sometimes it is difficult to get me to shut up during my sessions. I genuinely and thoroughly enjoy facilit…

I had a great time going through images from the last few years and reflecting on how all the things have done have led me to me starting my own coaching and consulting practice.

2010 – Finished my undergraduate degree in Growth and Structures of Cities at Bryn Mawr College, and rather than accept a ‘real internship’ related to what I studied, I went to Johannesburg, South Africa to work at the 2010 Football World Cup.  In South Africa, I decided I didn’t like working in the real world and fi…