With this newsletter I am excited to share with you matters close to my heart, hoping that it will inspire you to reflect, act and develop greater confidence and self-awareness in your roles. Because the most important relationship in our life is the one we have with our Self! I will be sharing with you tips, questions, knowledge and my views to help you develop this relationship and go on an expedition to meet and start valuing and loving yourself in the size and the shape you are. The more you know about your Self, the better you will lead yourself and others and you can create a world to which people want to belong.
So, let us begin….
The longest month of the new year has already left and as I am sitting in front of my computer doing my regular “stuff” on a regular Tuesday morning, I wonder: where did all that excitement, hope and motivation from the beginning of the year go? And, more importantly, how do I bring them back? How can I light that light again?
You notice probably that I don’t start my questions with “Why?” This is usually how we are used to ask questions: Why is my motivation gone? Why do I feel like this? Why am I procrastinating? Why did she say that? Why did he give me that look?
When we hear WHY, our defence mechanism immediately gets alert. WHY is a judgement question. We feel judged for what we are doing or not doing. Judgement doesn’t bring much value to us. Now, I don’t say that we should avoid asking WHY altogether! We ask WHY when we want to find our values, our’s or someone else’s internal judgement and motivation. So, in the month of February, I invite you to experiment with slightly changing the questions you ask. Exchange your WHY’s with HOW’s and WHAT’s. You will gather significant and valuable information about yourself and others that will open new doors of perception.
Next up, an announcement…
I am very excited to announce to you the Self Expedition Café!
On my self expedition journey I discovered that I am driven and I thrive in partnerships and communities. I highly believe that collective intelligence is greater than individual intelligence.
Every first Wednesday of the month we will meet online with a coffee or tea (you can add Rum at your own risk 😃) in a relaxed atmosphere to embark on a journey of exploration.
We will share experiences and challenges, help each other recognize triggers and behavioral patterns, increase our self-awareness, share tools for resilience and self-regulation, reflect on the previous month and set intentions for the coming month.
The discussions will be led by me and my dear friend Dr. Lydia Wazir-Staubmann, who is the Director of OSUN Executive Education Hub at CEU and a resilience coach.
I invite you to register here. And, bring a friend!
And now….
Have you heard of “Emotional Contagion”?
“Smile and the world smiles back” is an article I wrote on mirroring neurons and my small experiment with it. A similar and much bigger research was done by Sigal Barsade, an award-winning researcher from The Wharton School, where she examines the transfer of moods among people in a group. The research actually showed that the state of a team is directly impacted by the state of the leader. This is called “Emotional Contagion”. The research proved that group members that had a leader who was exhibiting high-performance and upbeat states “experienced improved cooperation, decreased conflict, and increased perceived task performance”. So, let me ask you: How aware are you of your state during the day, and how it impacts your behavior and the people around you?
Research has shown that painful and unpleasant memories stick longer than memories of what has gone well. This happens at work and at home. Your toxic reaction with a colleague or emotional volcano at home will stay longer in memory than the pleasant talk over lunch or dinner. It is important to mention here that when we are dealing with the present and the future, a lot of it is based on past experience. Therefore, often when we have difficulty in resolutions, bouncing back, having determination, motivation or being convinced of what we can do – it is because in the past we had an experience that didn’t work well. These are sometimes one time learning experiences that form patterns of behavior and we act and react to the world based on them.
I want you to become aware that the starting place is within!
So, let’s turn the lens on you and begin exploring:
“The distance between yourself and another person is the same as the distance between yourself and yourself” (Richard Moss)
Set aside some time to reflect on these questions. If I may suggest, dedicate a notebook to your self expedition journey and write down the answers to the questions above and other thoughts. You will use it next time, too.
Next, another announcement:
Join me at my monthly Self-Expedition Workshop, online on February 10th
A 3 hours online intensive workshop designed to help you explore your relationship to yourself in a small intimate group with an aura of trust.
Your soul needs exploration. The more you explore your Self, the more you will grow!
Sign up here.
and last…
A clip from my latest project, the CORE Model designed together with Martina Jeric-Ruzovits for companies that want to thrive. A fusion of experiential training and high performance coaching that focuses on the core of the team: the people!
Finally we are at the end…
Conversation starters
I’m reading:
I’m listening to:
I’m watching: Bitter Moon by Roman Polanski