ENERGY MATTERS!

March 9, 2022
 

Energy matters!

Jim Loehr's quote sets the theme for this Blog:  

           "Energy, not time is the fundamental currency of  high performance." 

Dr. Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist, CEO and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute.  The Human Performance Institute is a training company that has successfully utilized energy management technology to improve productivity and engagement levels of high performers' across the business, medicine, law enforcement and sports professions over the past 30 years. 

Our theme is Energy and high performance.

Our focus is -- YOUR Energy and practical tips to dramatically improve your Energy. 

In the Certified High Performance Coaching Program^™, we usually start with a question for you to answer. I kindly and humbly ask you to reflect on the following self-assessment question:

On a scale of...

Leaders Without a Title

January 31, 2022

Are you a Leader? Do you see yourself as a Leader? 

In my career in corporate America, we only sent "managers" to leadership development courses? If we truly believed everyone could be and was a leader -- we would have sent everyone to a leadership development experience!  Think about it. 

I have come to deeply believe we are all leaders and teachers with gifts to offer. Whether we are in school, in a career, in between jobs, a retiree, working at home raising children, a child, a rising star, CEO, a disgruntled minimum wage part-time employee, an Executive Director in a nonprofit, a skilled trades person, an entrepreneur, a writer, an artist, a dancer.... you name it -- we are all role models, teachers and leaders in our own circle of influence. 

In this Blog, I would like to introduce you to Blake, the hero in Robin Sharma's novel, The Leader Who Had No Title. Blake Davis was a 29-year old complacent...

HOPE

December 20, 2021
 

Hope is my watchword for December 2021.   

As I did my research and meditations on Hope, a common theme stood out: our source of Hope lies within us and in our connectedness with others and in our connectedness with something bigger than ourselves. 

This is a simple yet complex, and profound message, nicely summed up by one of my favorite meditation teachers on Insight Timer, Sarah Blondin. In her beautiful, mellifluous voice guiding us in the meditation, "Message of Hope," she says: 

 "I see you, I feel you, I love you, and I am here for you." 

Say this out loud  -- addressing yourself. Say this with the intention and Knowing that accessing Hope takes some work on your inner empire -- your thoughts and your emotions. This requires both awareness and acceptance of who we are and where we are, right now.  Hope is always there inside of each one of us -- just like the sun is always shining, whether we...

A Heartset of Gratitude

November 30, 2021

I so look forward to writing on Gratitude in my Blog every November! Last year the reader response to The Heartset of Gratitude was so terrific, I thought it made sense to revisit and further explore its deep meaning.   

I choose the word “heartset” with intention – because gratitude is an emotion and comes from the heart. “Heartset” changes the focus from the mind and the ego to our heart. More importantly, “heartset” also brings to the fore our passion for how we are living our life – how we are seeing our world – as we move forward on our own unique journey.

In my experience, gratitude practices typically evolve over time. That has certainly been my experience. Often, gratitude practices start with thinking about 3 things or people we are grateful for... and progresses from there to Gratitude Journals, Gratitude Letters, Gratitude Meditations, 10-day and 21-day...

Energy Awareness

October 31, 2021

I am tired. Over the past month, indeed over the past year and a half, a significant number of people have said to me, "Alison, I am sooo tired."

Are you tired, too? 

This month our focus is on Energy Awareness  and how we can build Awareness of our Energy  -- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Are you aware of who and what is draining your Energy? Are you clear on what your options are to raise your Energy -- your vibration and vibrancy? 

In Energy Awareness, I hope to encourage and excite you to take action -- to do 1-3 things -- that make sense to you, which will improve your energy. We will be discussing 3 tools that are easily available to all of us. There is a long list of options -- most of which do not require you to go to the fitness center, most of which are free. So, let's get started! 

This opening quote from Deepak Chopra brings home the point that Awareness is actually the...

The Three Treasures 
 

September 30, 2021

This month I will share a few reflections on the foundational, and sometimes overlooked, importance of Values in the best practices of Leaders.  

At the outset, I want to be very clear -- this Blog is about inspiring you to reflect and dig deeper to discover your Top 3-5 Values. These could be Values that define your Leadership, the Culture of your organization, how you live your life, or all of the above.

I am neither preaching or teaching or coaching what your values "should be." My objective is to share resources in the hope they may be as inspirational to you as they have been to me in deepening my insights into the Values that are most important, personally and professionally, and why and how they prove to be important in the art of living and leading. 

We all have important insights on how to define Values. Here are 2 quotes form very different perspectives. As John C. Maxwell once said, "Your core...

I Am Breathing 

August 16, 2021

I Am Breathing ---

• 7 deep diaphragmatic breaths;
• 7 specific times each day;
• 7 days a week.

This is my Keep It Super Simple, 7x 7x 7  Formula for engaging the Relaxation Response and escaping the Fight or Flight Response. As we know, the Fight or Flight Response is hard-wired and automatic in all of us -- it it triggered in our autonomic nervous system. More importantly, we have a choice -- we can use deep diaphragmatic breathing to take back control. We can train our mind-body to relax. The value in the 7x 7x 7 Formula is that we are training, in a very disciplined way, to know what it feels like to relax our muscles and clear our mind. 

As crazy a ride as 2020 was, this summer of 2021 is an even wilder ride -- at least for me!  I put some major lifestyle changes into motion and then other events with family, friends and pets added to my personal and professional challenges. WOW! I am practicing what I coach in my stress...

KNOW THYSELF

June 11, 2021

Truth: I got side-tracked. I started this Blog, "Know Thyself", in May. Let's just say this Blog has  been marinating -- as I was living this maxim and coaching friends and clients on this very theme. Yes, my writing got side-tracked by my coaching. While I am a planful person and almost always meet my deadlines, like a monthly Blog, I  stayed true to my Purpose -- coaching -- and that is exactly the value of knowing your Purpose. One never has to apologize for living their Purpose -- and that feels good to me. 

Then my writing was further side-tracked by my incorrigible tendency to do the research behind the quotes I feature in my Blogs and FB posts.  Was "Know Thyself" first written by Plato, or Socrates, or by  one of the Greek Seven Sages, including Thales, Solon, Chamaleon and Chilon, or by the legendary Oracle of Delphi, Pythia, dating back to the 8th century B.C.? Or does "Know Thyself" date back even...

A Coaching Framework for Your Hero's Journey  

April 22, 2021

I sincerely believe we are all heroes in our unique Hero's Journey.  And the Hero's Journey does not, typically, start at the peak -- it starts somewhere in darkness, with challenges, and with a sense that there is more -- more potential and possibilities -- more we can contribute to ourselves, our family, our relationships, our community, and to the bigger issues confronting our world.  

Joseph Campbell is the authority and famous author of The Power of Myth, The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work, and many other books and documentaries. Here is what he has to say about the hero's path: 

We have not even to risk the adventure alone
for the heroes of all time have gone before us. 
The labyrinth is thoroughly known...
we have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination
we shall find a God.

And where we had thought...

Always Do Your Best 

March 29, 2021

We are continuing our journey to explore the deep meaning of Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements and the path to personal freedom. 

I like to transform The Four Agreements into a personal statement, creating a prayer which explicitly incorporates freedom and a positive intention. 

1. May I Be Impeccable with My Word.
2. May I Be Free from Taking Anything Personally.
3. May I Be Free from Making Assumptions.
4. May I Always Do My Best.

This month we dive deeper into The Fourth Agreement: May I Always Do My Best.

As Ruiz writes: 

“The first three agreements will only work if you do your best. Don’t expect you will always be impeccable with your word. Your routine habits are too strong and firmly rooted in your mind. But you can do your best. Don’t expect that you will never take anything personally; just do your best. Don’t expect that you will never make another assumption, but you can certainly...