It’s a funny thing, what happens when you lose your personal space, and how quickly you can shift that once you have access to and use whatever tools you have at your disposal to get out of the mind chatter and illusion that got you hooked. Taking a split-second timeout before acting or speaking, or a couple of breaths, even better. Deeper hooks, like life & career detours, will take more stamina and provide growth if you stay open to it.
From your events, you create your experiences, perspectives, needs, and beliefs. Your reaction to what happens is unique to you and with that what you create from it. In other words, the narrative creates a reality. What you say, think, feel, and experience. To change that you need to shift the narrative.
It’s all connected—is one of my beliefs. All of it. Body – mind – soul – heart. When all areas are aligned intuitively it’s a “yes” for me and there’s flow in what I do. Even when you don’t see a connection, sooner or later you will.
I happen to have a strategic mind so I need to make sense of the big picture down to the details to connect the dots fully.
What do you find helpful for yourself that helps you connect the dots?
Performance
How you feel at work and home impacts your performance in every way. When you’re stressed out, mistakes happen. When you’re appreciated and have an environment that is healthy you engage, contribute, and invest your time and life into it.
The same goes for a business as it includes the people in it. It’s interesting how that is sometimes not taken into the equation. When you first start your business, you influence it with your vision. As you hire people you create a collective vibe that either enhances and supports that vision or takes the business in a different direction.
The different stages of a business have different needs and require different sets of skills and talents. A healthy company, seen from my experience, nourishes the entrepreneurial perspective and growth mindset. It also clearly communicates what’s expected from every person on the team with a minimum of weekly touchpoints where you can course-correct and deliver kudos.
Balance
A healthy life and business, to me, has a heart, is balanced, and flows. There’s open communication, you care about your company, its employees, and customers. Translate that to life, are your relationships mutually beneficial, if not, why? Even there many go through stages of what is OK and not OK. Some friendships and relationships last a lifetime, others simply a season.
When you authentically care about people you create loyalty that makes work and life fun. Simply asking each person, whether it’s in business or your personal life, what’s important to them can help you as a leader as you build your team.
You can also ask your people what they need from you. It’s an ongoing dance and conversation which is why it’s important to have weekly touchpoints with your direct reports, some may need more of your time.
Being yourself is key to creating a safe space for people around you to do the same and will benefit you as a leader. When the people in your life know who you are and what’s important to you, they too can help you better. What is also important in the scope of this is to hire people that support your vision but that see things from a different perspective.
The same could be said about your friendships and relationships, right?
Generosity of Spirit
Being generous in spirit doesn’t mean that you can’t be a straight-shooter, it simply means treating people well and allowing them the space to be themselves. Open communication allows people to speak up the moment they’re called to if nothing else to ask for some time to think about what was discussed.
You’ve no doubt been in situations where you’ve experienced what happens when the ego is running the show. When you think that your business is all about you, think again. Sure, when you are the product, it may look a bit different, and it becomes even more important to create healthy relationships where trust is prevalent, and boundaries are respected.
Be generous with your people and you’ll get so much more back, including people having your back!
Being Curious
One of the things that have always intrigued me is what makes people tick and do what they do. Especially, people that create and spread good vibes, it feels great being around that after all. While I favor a fun and no drama reality, drama has a way of finding you when you’re off balance. It’s a reality check in a way to see who you attract into your reality and if it triggers you. The faster you embrace all of you including your shadow side the less you’ll get triggered.
Traveling to different parts of the country or world or taking road trips exploring neighborhoods, where you live, are fun ways to experience different lifestyles and cultures, and a great outlet for curiosity. You don’t have to travel to explore cultures, many of us work in diverse environments where so many conversations and insights can be had.
In-person and online courses have been another one of my curiosity explorations. From the different courses, I’ve learned the power of listening without judgment to other people’s experiences and learning from them. Asking questions about yourself and what’s possible are keys to growth, some are introspective inquiries, others are spoken in conversations with other curious individuals whether in business or life, and curiosity is a state of mind.
Simple open-ended questions can open new doors and possibilities when you stay curious. I wonder, what question you can ask to [do/be x]? Hmm, how can this turn out even better than you can imagine? It works for all kinds of situations, try it!
Going back to where I started, it’s all connected. When you have your personal space with peace of mind, feel great, and spread good vibes to people around you, your business will grow. That, and asking questions of course.
What are your favorite questions that you ask yourself to get inspired for the day?
If you enjoyed reading this then maybe these three would too?
CLICK HERE if you’re interested in working with me and exploring how you can apply your strengths to create more flow in your professional and personal life. I help leaders reconnect, recreate, and reignite their inner visionary and gold so they can create a life + business that turns them on from the boardroom to the bedroom.
