This week two of my clients requested on-the-spot sessions because they needed to make major decisions and wanted to get clear. All of them had spent the weekend thinking, worrying and wondering what to do.
It’s a good thing they have a coach on speed-dial because in 20 minutes, they walked away confident, clear, and certain about their next steps. (Full disclosure: one client loved this process, the other thought I was insane until it worked.)
What’s the secret to clear decisions, you ask?
Here it is. The secret revealed in 3 steps.
Step 1: Lower your energy center.
When you’re stressed about a decision your head spins with thoughts. Our heads serve us well and provide great insight. And sometimes our heads spin out of control and need help from different ways to access information and wisdom.
Do this:
Stand firmly planted on the ground (even better if you’re barefoot in grass). Breathe deeply and visualize your energy shifting from your head to your abdomen. Do this until you feel heavier and lower.
This will ground you, calm your energy and help you tap into your intuition. From here, you will access new information to help with your decision.
Step 2: Clear out the gunk
Decisions get clogged with gunk – what other people think, who will be disappointed, can you handle saying no. Visualize putting this stuff aside and focus on what you want and what’s best for you, your career, your team, or your family. The gunk will be there later, and you don’t need it to make your decision.
Step 3: Step into each decision (literally)
Imagine two circles on the ground in front of you, one for each decision. From your grounded place, step into one circle, visualize the decision, and feel what wisdom your grounded body has for you. Step out and repeat with the second circle.
Here’s an example:
Imagine you have to make a decision between two job offers.
One circle is a job with a big company. The other circle is a job with a start-up. After grounding yourself and clearing out the gunk, stand in each circle. Your stomach might start to hurt in the big company circle and the word “stress” pops into your mind. When you step into the start-up, you feel thrill and excitement. That’s your intuition speaking.
You now have clear, gunk-free insight into your decision. With this clarity, decide your next step and take action!
I hope this helps.
Christina
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A Simple Trick You Will Use Daily
One of my clients needed to send some important emails this week. When I asked what was getting in the way of sending the emails, the answer was work, projects at home, a lot of blah, blah, blah. (This story is told with permission).
Instead of sending the emails by the wishy-washy “end of the week,” I had said client get off the phone during our session and send the emails right that minute. No room for excuses.
We all have blah, blah, blah that is stopping us from taking action on something important, maybe even something we really want to do.
Here is a simple strategy for busting the blah, blah, blah:
Do It Now!
Right now.
Like, seriously, NOW.
Stop reading and go make that phone call, send that email, do that thing that has been glaring at you from your to-do list. (Then come back for the punch line).
Go on.
I’ll wait.
Whew! How did that feel?
My client called back for the rest of our session filled with relief and amazed that it was so easy to knock off the emails and get some important balls rolling.
Sprinkle this strategy liberally through your day. Instead of spending your precious energy planning or dreading or anticipating doing the thing, just do it now. (If I tweeted, that would be a tweetable). And be done with it.
Easy, peasy. Hit reply to this email and tell me what you did!
I hope that helps.
Christina
Doing Something New? A Strategy to Stay On Track
Many of my clients are starting new things this fall – part-time schedules, new jobs, new career possibilities, new projects at work, leading workshops for the first time, or founding big community service events.
Exciting stuff!
And when you’re embarking on something new, those needling voices can creep in. You know the ones. We all have them:
“You’re out of your league.” “You’re not qualified.” “You don’t know what you’re doing.” “Who are you to be doing that great thing?”
Damn voices.
There’s good news! You’ll never get rid of them entirely (not the good news), andyou can learn to use those voices to your advantage and keep them from derailing your success. (There’s the good news!)
Here’s the strategy:
- Listen to them. What? I’m a rebel. All my instincts say fight!
Think of those voices like a puppy that wants your attention and isn’t going to stop jumping until she gets it. Once you listen, the voices will curl up in their dog bed and go to sleep. Dropping your resistance will free a ton of your energy, too. Bonus!
- Find the 2% truth.
Consider that 2% of what those voices are saying is true. For example: My clients are doing new things, and when you’re new, you don’t always know what you’re doing. That’s a truth you can easily own.
- Uncover what’s important to you.
Those voices appear because something’s important to you. Put your focus on the important thing. For example: When you’re in a new role, you want to do a good job. It’s important to you to show up, learn, be open, and show that you’ve got the chops.
See how this works? Three easy steps to get back on track with your exciting new thing!
Bring it, Fall. We’re ready for whatever new things you’ve got!
Christina
P.S. I’m looking for new ideas. Please hit reply to this email and send me one idea or question for something you’d like to see discussed in an upcoming newsletter.
2 Secrets to Getting What You Want
A few years ago my meal arrived in our favorite gourmet burger place. I was tucking into a plate of delectable skinny fries (the shape, not the calorie content), and they were cold. I did the most effective thing I could think of:
Complain to my family.
So, here I was, complaining, and fretting about what to do (seriously?!) when my daughter, with all the truth-telling of a 6-year-old, looked me in the eye and landed Secret #1 on me:
“It’s okay to ask for what you want.”
Duh.
I told our server, hot fries were produced, and everyone was happy. The restaurant thanked me for giving them the chance to fix things, and my daughter felt smart.
Her words are for you, too: “It’s okay to ask for what you want.”
Pause right now, and ask yourself what you want that you haven’t asked for – perhaps because you’re afraid of inconveniencing other people, or looking silly, or for fear you’ll hear no.
Whatever it is. Ask for it. People can only help if they know what you want. Which brings us to Secret #2:
If you don’t ask, the answer is already no.
It’s always worth asking. People want to help and if they can’t, you can trust them to tell you. You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This week, notice when you don’t ask for what you want and practice asking.Take a deep breath and ask for free refills. Or if you’re feeling bold, ask for the BIG THING!
Then hit reply to this email and tell me all about it.
Get out there and thrive!
Christina
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100% Strategy to Slow Your Runaway Train Today
I hear from people that the pace of their lives is killing them. They are busy, exhausted, and want to get things under control.
Does this sound like your life?
Here’s the bad news: Control is an illusion.
Here’s the good news: You get to choose (not control, choose).
Yes, you really get to choose. You get to let go of the pressure to control and instead, choose how you do your life.
With these three strategies, you can start to choose and change the pace of your life from exhausted to elated:
Tune in to your calendar – Which to-dos make you happy and excited and which things are there because you feel you should or someone else expectsyou to do them. Dump the shoulds and the expects and do more of the excited.
Give yourself buffer time and don’t compromise it for other people’s needs. Make sure you have space (even 10 minutes makes a huge difference) between appointments so you arrive fresh, on time, and ready to focus.
Create white space. In our hype- up and plugged in world, give yourself the gift of silence and space. Put your phone in the glove box when you drive. When you walk to your next meeting, just walk there – don’t check email and talk on the phone at the same time. You’ll be shocked how quickly great ideas start to flow in the white space.
The goal is your effectiveness and peace of mind. I’ll be sharing more strategies in upcoming newsletters so stay tuned!
I hope this helps.
Get out there and thrive!
Christina
P.S. If you’re struggling with a runaway train of a life, hit reply to this email and tell me about your biggest challenge. I’d love to share some strategies tailored for your situation.
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