The 3 Things That I Learned This Week

Each & every Sunday I spend time reflecting on my week and then planning for the week ahead.

So I wanted to share some of the top few wins & lessons for my past week.

1. Don’t be TOO nice

Business is all about relationships but….

When you are hired because of your skillset — you have to take an advisory role and a position of authority. Being too nice sets the stage for letting people walk all over you. An example — you let clients know your business hours and you receive several texts and calls outside of those hours, you shouldn’t feel bad for not responding. (Now I know what you are thinking — there are exceptions to this, but you can’t let exceptions become the norm…)

So be nice, but not too nice….

2. Active Appreciation is Key

Without appreciation your life can be depressing, unfulfilling and just not fun…

What’s really interesting is that despite all of the scientific evidence and research that demonstrates the ability of appreciation to impact positive change to mood, motivation and mindset, the daily practice of gratitude is not a widely adopted habit within our ‘quick-fix, instant gratification’ society. As humans, we’re not hard-wired to be grateful — it doesn’t come naturally to us. It’s often so much easier to have a grumble, complain, and think about all the areas in our life where we’re experiencing pain or hardship.

If you haven’t read the book The Magic I highly recommend it. It goes through 28 days of practicing gratitude and appreciation. It is life changing. Start by just reflecting and saying thank you for what happened during the day.

3. Don’t let circumstances take control

Just think, how many minutes, and often hours, you spend every day, dwelling on what this person said and that person did. If you take these incidents too personally you become unfocused and inefficient at work, at home, at everywhere else.

We let people and circumstances control our life, if we let them affect our moods and state of mind.

An effective method I use is called emotional detachment. Developing a certain degree of emotional detachment can make great changes in everyone’s life.

Here are a few ways to practice emotional detachment:

• Practice letting go.
• Substitute your negative thoughts, fears, and worries, with happy and positive thoughts.
• Learn to observe your thoughts and feelings. In time, this will enable you to detach from unwanted thoughts, feelings and reactions.
• Learn to loosen your attachment to unpleasant memories and the past.
• Avoid people that depress you, let you down, or unjustly criticize you.

Life is too short not to enjoy it (or let people or circumstances take that joy from you). Enjoy it and have fun!

Have a Great Rest of Your Day!