2010...a new decade (yes, I'm in that camp!), a new year. I, for one, am very glad to see the end of 2009 and a brand new calendar with fresh, unwritten pages.
While it's really just another day on the calendar, it's a benchmark and a way to start with a clean slate. Having a ceremony to mark the passing makes it more meaningful and solidifies the changes you want to see materialize.
Last night as the old year was coming to a close, I wrote out words on small pieces of paper that represented what I wanted to leave behind; a state of mind, a way of being, a paradigm that I wanted to shift. I had a small candle and a fireproof dish (I am nothing if not practical!) and slowly lit each one afire and really held that intention in my mind as I saw it slowly disappear in a trail of fire and ash. It was so powerful that I woke up this morning literally feeling lighter in spirit. The state of mind I was living in yesterday seems very far away and small, a distant memory. I feel ready to tackle the world!
What is it you want to leave behind? What could you accomplish if you didn't bring your baggage with you everywhere you went? Small carry-ons only, please! Make a list, create a ceremony and leave it all behind. Clear the decks for the new year, the new you!
Blessings!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tall Poppy or Poppy Clipper?
The title refers to an Australian cultural expression that describes a "disease" that feeds on the notion that anyone who appears to represent high ability or admirable qualities (also known as 'tall poppies') must be attacked, demeaned, and brought down to the common level. And a "poppy clipper" is a woman that serves the comeuppance. The article I found went on to say, "Individuals with TPS, (known as "poppy clippers") believe others' perceived advantages to be an affront--an unbearable reminder of their own shortcomings.”
Could it be that our sisters in arms really would undermine, rather than celebrate, our successes in order to avoid looking at their own lack of personal and professional progress? Let's say that is the case. Would someone's perceived disapproval be enough to knock you off track and prevent you from attaining all that you dream of?
I raise a challenge to women-kind; let's create a different kind of garden. Let's create the type of garden that knows that nurturing the growth of others in turn nurtures our own growth. Tall poppies, compact marigolds, slender irises, wild daisies…they can all thrive.
What would be a good first step? Look around at your own personal landscape. Is there someone that you've seen struggle to attain recognition, a career achievement or a personal goal? Ask yourself “what's the most powerful thing I can do to assist this person?” With their success, the light shines on you as a powerful leader, an effective mentor.
And then? How about opting out of those situations where it would be so easy to gossip and trip up another woman's progress?
The Dali Lama said "be the change you wish to see in the world". Put down the garden shears and start tending the garden of humanity.
Together, let's figure out some strategies to help you successfully navigate from becoming to being, send me an email and tell me what your dreams are. kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten Hall, MBA
Career Coach
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Could it be that our sisters in arms really would undermine, rather than celebrate, our successes in order to avoid looking at their own lack of personal and professional progress? Let's say that is the case. Would someone's perceived disapproval be enough to knock you off track and prevent you from attaining all that you dream of?
I raise a challenge to women-kind; let's create a different kind of garden. Let's create the type of garden that knows that nurturing the growth of others in turn nurtures our own growth. Tall poppies, compact marigolds, slender irises, wild daisies…they can all thrive.
What would be a good first step? Look around at your own personal landscape. Is there someone that you've seen struggle to attain recognition, a career achievement or a personal goal? Ask yourself “what's the most powerful thing I can do to assist this person?” With their success, the light shines on you as a powerful leader, an effective mentor.
And then? How about opting out of those situations where it would be so easy to gossip and trip up another woman's progress?
The Dali Lama said "be the change you wish to see in the world". Put down the garden shears and start tending the garden of humanity.
Together, let's figure out some strategies to help you successfully navigate from becoming to being, send me an email and tell me what your dreams are. kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten Hall, MBA
Career Coach
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Space Between Becoming and Being
"How is everything going?"
Seems like an innocuous question, and for the most part, it is. Friends and family are supposed to care about your well being, right? Did you ever get the feeling like there was more to that question than meets the eye? Like maybe you should be prepared for an interrogation that will leave you exhausted? Well, what can you do about it?
If you've decided to make a major life change; new job, marriage, moving to a new town, starting school, whatever, you are building the infrastructure for a whole new you and a whole new way of life. Exciting, right? The trouble for some arises when the new you conflicts with the role you are expected to play in other's lives.
During a transformation, you are vulnerable to your environment. You might feel a little unsure of yourself. Once your journey begins, you might be questioning your reasons for making the change in the first place. Like a snake shedding its skin to make room for the new, those precious few moments between becoming and being are tricky.
It’s during this time that you may have those interrogators that are actually caught off balance by your change and seek to pull you back into the world you used to occupy. Interrogators pull you off your own path and drain your energy because you judge yourself by what they might be thinking.
Safeguard your dreams from those that would steal your energy. Give yourself time to grow into your new skin without running the risk of shortchanging your growth. For those that inquire with your best interests at heart, share your new adventure with them. For those that have other intentions, be wary.
Enjoy that space between becoming and being and honor your boundaries. And congratulations on your journey!
Together, let's figure out some strategies to help you safely navigate from becoming to being, kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten Hall, MBA
Career Coach
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Seems like an innocuous question, and for the most part, it is. Friends and family are supposed to care about your well being, right? Did you ever get the feeling like there was more to that question than meets the eye? Like maybe you should be prepared for an interrogation that will leave you exhausted? Well, what can you do about it?
If you've decided to make a major life change; new job, marriage, moving to a new town, starting school, whatever, you are building the infrastructure for a whole new you and a whole new way of life. Exciting, right? The trouble for some arises when the new you conflicts with the role you are expected to play in other's lives.
During a transformation, you are vulnerable to your environment. You might feel a little unsure of yourself. Once your journey begins, you might be questioning your reasons for making the change in the first place. Like a snake shedding its skin to make room for the new, those precious few moments between becoming and being are tricky.
It’s during this time that you may have those interrogators that are actually caught off balance by your change and seek to pull you back into the world you used to occupy. Interrogators pull you off your own path and drain your energy because you judge yourself by what they might be thinking.
Safeguard your dreams from those that would steal your energy. Give yourself time to grow into your new skin without running the risk of shortchanging your growth. For those that inquire with your best interests at heart, share your new adventure with them. For those that have other intentions, be wary.
Enjoy that space between becoming and being and honor your boundaries. And congratulations on your journey!
Together, let's figure out some strategies to help you safely navigate from becoming to being, kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten Hall, MBA
Career Coach
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Welcoming 2009!
Happy New Year!
This is a great time to wipe the slate clean and create your destiny. Many people resolve to exercise more, get in shape, go to the gym more often. Well, don't forget to exercise the direction of your own thoughts!
There is a lot being written now about the power of intention. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret and others have described powerful ways to recreate your future by directing the path your mind takes.
Have you noticed when you've got a negative thought (I'll never get a promotion, I know I'll mess up the presentation, no one values my input at work, etc.), it gives birth to many more?
This is a great time to wipe the slate clean and create your destiny. Many people resolve to exercise more, get in shape, go to the gym more often. Well, don't forget to exercise the direction of your own thoughts!
There is a lot being written now about the power of intention. Dr. Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret and others have described powerful ways to recreate your future by directing the path your mind takes.
Have you noticed when you've got a negative thought (I'll never get a promotion, I know I'll mess up the presentation, no one values my input at work, etc.), it gives birth to many more?
“Watch your words: they become your thoughts.
Watch your thoughts: they become your actions.
Watch your actions: they become your habits.
Watch your habits: they become your destiny.”
~ Frank Outlaw
Envision the year ahead exactly how you want it to look, under your own terms, with exactly the outcome you want. Each time your thoughts start to scatter & start to take a negative turn, flex your brain and retrieve that vision. Is it a lot of work to monitor your thoughts? Yes. It's tough initially, but just like working your muscles, it becomes easier to do with practice. And also just like working out regularly, with practice, you can go farther than you ever thought possible!
Need some help creating that vision and achieving it? Send me a message and let's find out how to make your 2009 the best year ever!
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Ways to be thankful
This week, everyone asks "what are you thankful for?" and the expectation is that you'll get a dreamy look in your eyes and start an oration of thankfulness that's neverending. What if you don't feel especially thankful? What if the economy/partner/spot on your shirt and a presentation in 5 min. has got you in a spiral of negativity and you are kind of comfortable in that place? We've all been there, but no one really likes staying there, so here are a few things you can do to make yourself be a dreamy-eyed thankful soul.
- Make a list. Literally list every single thing that you are thankful for and write each item down and repeat them outloud. A few of my favorites are; my good health, my strong fingernails (women would kill to have my unbreakable beauties!), my pets, my car that runs, my amazing friends that inspire me, the belly laugh I had last night watching my grandson mimic me, a house full of furniture...you get the idea. From the sublime to the ridiculous.
- Imagine it. Think back to one of your happiest moments in your life, a time you felt like you were the luckiest person in the world and on top of it all. What were you wearing? Who was with you, what did your posture feel like? What did your environment look like? What happened exactly to make you so happy? What were the words that were spoken. OK, got it pulled up in your brain? Now remember the waves of happiness, joy, the feeling of lightness of being and just live in that moment for a minute. Your brain doesn't know the difference between real and imagined joy, it fires in the same locations and delivers the same happy-juice that coursed through your body then. Revel in it.
- Now start being thankful for thing things that will be; your great new job, your strong relationships, that 15 lbs. you're trying to shed. Remember, your brain doesn't know the difference between real and imagined and the minute you start creating your own future, it sets to work in making it happen. State your intention to the Universe, be thankful, and don't worry about the "how". It will happen.
Want a shortcut to happiness? Pick 3 things/situations that made you so happy and give them a name. Say that name when the dark curtain of negativity starts to fall and you'll feel your spirits lift.
What am I thankful for? Living my dream...try it!
Today, choose joy!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
New beginnings
The sense that a change in your life has to be made comes as a quiet whisper, a gut reaction. I have a tendancy towards over-analysis and sometimes ignore that instinct. Joyce Brothers, psychologist, recently said Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level. And if you ignore those quiet whispers, they build up to a roar until you take care of them.
And then? You reach out for guidance and figure out what the next step is! Send me a message and let me know what your challenge is and let's figure it out together.
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
And then? You reach out for guidance and figure out what the next step is! Send me a message and let me know what your challenge is and let's figure it out together.
Today, choose joy!
Kirsten
kirstenhallcareercoach@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
