Category Archives: Changing Your Life
September 13, 2017 BANISH self-doubt in five steps [infographic]
Banish your self-doubt! Here’s how…
We’re mixing things up today and posting an Infographic on the UXL blog. Enjoy! (Text posted below for those who can’t read it).
- Pay attention: Recognize when you’re thinking negative thoughts or telling yourself, “I can’t.” Do certain situations prompt more self-doubt than others?
- Talk back: Though it may sound crazy, start talking back to your self-doubt! For instance, if you catch yourself thinking, “No one wants to listen to my ideas,” counter with “Yes, they do. My ideas are valuable and people are interested in what I have to say.”
- Use a Power Pose: Keeping your shoulders back and your head held high has a positive psychological effect and can actually boost your confidence.
- Do Your Research: Going into a scary situation with a little preparation can make a huge difference. Be sure to anticipate questions others might ask and practice answering them.
- Challenge Yourself: The way to achieve growth is to constantly challenge yourself. Once you overcome doubt in one area, move on to another!
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: banish negativity, banish self-doubt, build confidence, business coach Margaret Smith, career coach Minneapolis, challenge yourself, leadership coach Margaret Smith, Margaret Smith life coach, pay attention to negative thoughts, power pose, self-doubt struggles
September 6, 2017 Life teaches us to put things in perspective
Why is it so hard to put things in perspective until some major event shakes our lives? Why is it easy to be distracted by the “trees,” when we know we should be considering the “forest?” Why do we get so annoyed by small inconveniences?
I wish I had easy answers!
The best thing we can all do is simply pay attention.
Listen to your thoughts and emotions. Constantly ask yourself whether or not it’s productive to dwell on something or get upset. In short: put things in perspective.
In my own life, I have often caught myself focusing on things that simply don’t matter—a friend’s no-show at a gathering, someone’s difference of opinion, someone who under or over-dressed at a work event.
It’s human nature to get distracted by these small things. But, if we really let ourselves get bogged down by them, we miss out on the things that actually matter.
Think about it:
what matters in your life? Your family? Your career? Your health? Take time TODAY to appreciate and think about the things that matter. You never know when tragedy may strike and your situation may change.
In your personal life…
- Practice being more forgiving
- Be present
- Share time and laughter with those you love
- Tell others how you feel
- Show gratitude
In your career…
- Always give it your all and perform to the best of your ability
- Have direct conversations with others
- Have a big-picture plan
- Set and focus on large goals
- Delegate (if you can) items that are not in your sweet spot
- Don’t avoid problems—face them head-on
There are many ways to pull yourself out of the weeds and start considering the bigger picture. No matter your approach, it’s important you at least try. When you find yourself distracted by the small things, remove yourself from the situation, take a step back, and reconsider. End pettiness TODAY.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career coach Minneapolis, don't sweat details, don't sweat the small stuff, forest and trees, keeping perspective, life in perspective, margaret smith career coach, practice forgiveness, Success coach
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Advice from a Life Coach, Changing Your Life, Goals
August 2, 2017 Don’t manage TIME, manage ENERGY!
Time management is not solving anything.
Why? Because we can set aside time to work on specific projects, but if our hearts are not in it, we’ll end up drifting off or doing something completely unrelated (checking Facebook, browsing through new recipes, catching up on the latest news…).
Instead of managing blocks of time, it’s better to manage energy.
It’s more advantageous to work in short, productive bursts than in long blocks of time in which your attention wanders. When you set aside everything else (including your smart phone!) and focus on a single task, you’ll find that you’ll work better and faster than you would if you simply reserved a block of time and let your attention be captured by new emails, other projects, and social media.
The reason it’s better to work in shorter allotments of time is because human beings are not meant to slog through an entire work day without breaks. As Tony Swartz, founder of the Energy Project, says, “human beings are meant to pulse.” We work in cycles. Our concerted attention can only last for so long (typically 90 minutes, according to Schwartz).
There reaches a certain point where no amount of schedule-shuffling will enable us to stay on top of things. We may do our best to manage time, but if our energy isn’t also managed we can suffer from burnouts, stress, and unhappiness (which can bleed into our personal lives).
The lesson is: Don’t focus on your time management–just assume you’ll be busy. Instead, take care of your energy levels throughout the day.
Schwartz outlines some tips for tending to your energy levels during the day in a book he co-wrote with Catherine McCarthy called Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.
The authors point out that your time is finite, but your energy levels can be replenished if you attend to them closely. They offer a few ways for you to do this throughout the day:
- Take a break every 90-120 minutes. Physically get up from your desk and enjoy a brief change of scenery.
- Eat light meals and snacks throughout the day, every couple hours.
- Dedicate time every day to focus on what you’re best at and what gives you a sense of fulfillment.
They also suggest that leaders pay attention to their employee’s energy needs:
“To effectively reengergize their workforces, organizations need to shift their emphasis from getting more out of people to investing more in them…”
- Keep a room devoted to taking breaks and relaxing
- Subsidize gym memberships
- Encourage staff to move around every so often
And I’ll add a suggestion of my own for leaders:
- Energy is directly related to feedback. Positive feedback energizes folks and helps them keep the momentum going. Negative feedback, if delivered well, can also motivate people to make improvements. The point is, I find that giving specific, frequent feedback is one of the best ways to help people manage their own energy levels
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career blog, career coach blog, energize at work, Energy Management, energy management vs time management, margaret smith career coach, rejuvenate at work, The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz
- 1 comment
- Posted under Advice from a Life Coach, Changing Your Life, Thrive at Work
