Reacting Under Stress

Stress can cause us to act differently. It can cause us to be more abrupt, more direct, less effective, and too aggressive. Afterwards we may feel regret, but too often the damage is already done.

William James has said, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” We have the ability to change our thoughts and therefore we can change how stress affects us and how often it affects us.

The first step is eliminating stress caused by things we don’t control. The second step is reflection. We can learn about our reactions and the thoughts that trigger stress. The third step is practice. We can practice the reaction we desire.

Stress can ruin the moments in life that we should be enjoying. In 2019, we should choose our thoughts and have more joy, and less stress.

Life Is a Process

I am a process oriented person. I think of life as a continuous opportunity to get better. I try to never let an event become overwhelming, because tomorrow it will just be history. And tomorrow will also be a new day full of new opportunities.

You might think, how can I stay that positive every day? Practice. Practice. Practice.

They say you can be good at anything if you practice enough. I guess being good at life would be a great thing to practice. Much better than some alternatives.

As we near another Christmas season, I wish you, your family, your extended family, and all your friends the best. May you be blessed in all you do, and have great success in reaching the goals you have set for yourself.

I pray that your have a chance to relax, reflect, and be thankful for all that this world provides.

Merry Christmas!

A Coach Asks Questions

Last week at an event, I met several new people. One gentleman asked me, “What do you do for a living?” I told him, “I am a coach.” He responded, “Interesting. Who do you coach?” I let him know that most of my clients are business professionals, just like him, but I have also coached CEO’s, VP’s, doctors, business owners, pastors, volunteers, engineers, writers, managers, and students.

“Wow!” he said. “Coaching people with all those backgrounds, how do you know what advice to give?”

I smiled. The most common misconception about coaching just revealed itself again. “That’s where most people miss the point of coaching. A coach doesn’t give advice, a coach asks questions. Powerful questions have the ability to raise your consciousness. Raised consciousness produces new thoughts, new ideas, new options. It allows thinking on a new level and new opportunities for success.”

I then started asking him questions about his profession. I was searching for his boundaries and his roadblocks. “Why did you come to this event today? How effective do you find these events? How else could you achieve this purpose? Who is more successful than you in achieving this? What could you learn from them?”

After only five or ten minutes, he was excited because he had some new ideas about how to reach one of his goals. The power of coaching is in the questions that unlock potential. I added, “A coach also provides a level of accountability to follow through on those ideas.” He learned how a coach can really help people. Every one has the opportunity to benefit from having a coach.

The Courage to See More

When we have the courage to take a step beyond our comfort zone, we have the opportunity to see what lies beyond. It may be scary. It may be uncomfortable. It may be difficult. But it is the only way to see the potential of what might be.

Our lives will grow or stagnant in proportion to the amount of courage we display. By being willing to take risks, face our fears, explore our limits, and accept failure as a challenge, not a roadblock, we will go farther than those that predictably follow the safe path.

This world for us is limitless, but we are bound by our actions. You can find new frontiers by exploring random links on Wikipedia, learning about another generation, researching a new interest, taking a deeper dive into your career, or just dreaming. The more we learn the greater the opportunity we create to use the knowledge in actions that take us beyond our normal daily boundaries.

Our dreams reflect the success we desire. The moment we resolve to take hold of a dream and make it a goal, we bring clarity to that dream. If you have the courage to see your dream, then have the courage to step towards achievement. What new idea do you see today?