This section contains 5 minute coaching exercises for you to use free of charge. These exercises are designed to help you look at your approach to life differently and to introduce small incremental changes you can make here and there. Individually, a coaching exercise may not significantly change your life. However, when it is practiced repeatedly and coupled with other exercises and techniques, it can increase your effectiveness in building a balanced life. Over time, these coaching exercises will boost your confidence and desire to work on bigger challenges.<\/p>\n
These tips can be enhanced in coaching sessions with Mi-Best.<\/p>\n
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Do you have a personal mission statement?<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019ve heard of a company mission statement, right? Well how about a personal mission statement?<\/em>\u00a0A personal mission statement is a brief narrative of your life ambitions and means for accomplishing them. Many people do not have their own mission statement. But if you are one of those people who lack direction, or if you are confused or unsure about what you want to do in life, a personal mission statement is a great place to start.Take 5 minutes out of your day today to craft one. Don\u2019t worry about making it perfect but do take some time to visit it each day. You can refine it over time. Then see your ideas begin to take shape as you continue to give them more focus and attention.<\/p>\n How can you network better?<\/strong><\/p>\n A key to making a lasting impression is by doing something that stands out. One way for people to remember you is by offering to give them a recommendation. Don\u2019t wait to be asked! Deliver praise for something extraordinary and make sure it is genuine, appropriate, and contextual. Be detailed in your wording and back up your recommendation with specific examples. Last, be thoughtful and selective about when you do it. Recommendations are like autographs, they are only valuable when they are real and when given sparingly.<\/p>\n Can you articulate your core values?<\/strong><\/p>\n Core values are the essence of our being and what keeps us grounded.\u00a0 They are the basis for how we think, act, and communicate.\u00a0 Some examples of core values are integrity, loyalty, and dedication.\u00a0 Having an awareness of our core values reminds us of what is important to us and why we make our decisions or act a certain way.\u00a0 Write down your top 3 core values and think back on how you have acted relative to your values, in the past year, past month, past week.\u00a0\u00a0Were your actions in line with your values?\u00a0 Were you happy with the results?<\/em>\u00a0 Think about these questions before the next time you act, and then act\u00a0in a way so that you can answer yes to both.<\/p>\n How can you make a failure work for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Didn\u2019t get that account you were campaigning for?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t make a relationship work?<\/em>\u00a0 If you can see the positive side of failure it can work to your benefit.\u00a0 Sometimes failure is life telling you to stop and think.\u00a0 Sometimes failure is an opportunity to do your decision over.\u00a0 It could also mean a second chance to look at something you passed up.\u00a0 So, view your failure as a gift for getting it right the second time around.\u00a0 Take these\u00a0steps to help you:\u00a0 1) Review the results you were aiming for and determine where you came up short.\u00a0\u00a0Did you have a way to measure your success?<\/em>\u00a02) Examine your tendencies and the role they played in the failure.\u00a0Did you ignore warning signs?\u00a0 Did you have unrealistic expectations?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03) Revisit other options you passed on.\u00a0Has the timing improved?\u00a0 Are they worthy of some minor effort just to see how far you can go?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a04)\u00a0 Finally, prepare for the next round.\u00a0 Plan for how you will update your skills and be aware of your behavioral tendencies so you can achieve success in the future.<\/p>\n How can you get support from a critic?<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have a family member or co-worker who is very critical of you?<\/em>\u00a0 Times are hard enough that you don\u2019t need your own family members or friends to be your worst supporters.\u00a0 One thing to remember is that they too are feeling the stress of today\u2019s tough economy.\u00a0 In fact, their criticisms are likely to be frustrations over their own shortcomings or their feelings of loss of control\u00a0bubbling to the surface.\u00a0 Turn the criticism into something positive by asking them how they are feeling.\u00a0 Listen intently to what they are saying.\u00a0 Reaffirm their emotions and offer them comfort.\u00a0 Remind each other of the goals you are working towards in addition to those you have recently accomplished. \u00a0By showing empathy and compassion to others they will be opt to give it in return.<\/p>\n How can you keep your vision alive?<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you imagine yourself running your own business, or maybe you picture yourself the author of a children\u2019s book?<\/em>\u00a0 Your vision is a mental picture of how you see your future.\u00a0 Visualizing your future is essential to your growth and essential\u00a0to helping you realize your\u00a0potential.\u00a0\u00a0Once you have a\u00a0clear\u00a0vision of your future, here are steps you can take to keep your vision alive:\u00a0 1) Share your vision with people whom you respect.\u00a0 Surround yourself with people who share in your ideas and who can support you.\u00a0 Get involved with\u00a0individuals and organizations that have already achieved their success.\u00a0\u00a0Doing these things\u00a0can and will energize you and make you feel empowered to work towards realizing your vision.\u00a0 2) Start researching what it will take to get your vision off the ground.\u00a0 3) Last, set goals that flow from your vision.<\/p>\n Are you experiencing goal overload?<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have a professional goal?\u00a0 How about a fitness or relationship goal?\u00a0 In fact, do you have a goal for every facet of your life?<\/em>\u00a0 Well, you could be suffering from goal overload.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to recognize that focusing on one personal goal will do more to improve your life than trying to accomplish multiple goals simultaneously.\u00a0 Here’s how to avoid goal overload.\u00a0 Pick one area to improve that will make the biggest impact.\u00a0 Then focus your effort entirely on that.\u00a0 If you target the right area, a positive change in that behavior will affect many other aspects of your life.\u00a0 As an example, let\u2019s say you wanted to work\u00a0on keeping your promises.\u00a0 Being successful at keeping your commitments can lead to more satisfying relationships, improved cooperation and teamwork, predictable results, increased trust and respect, reliable communication, better time management, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n How can you overcome negative chatter?<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you listen to the negative chatter in your head?\u00a0 Does it cause you to abandon your ideas\u00a0for things that feel safe?<\/em>\u00a0Negative chatter or mind chatter is that overpowering voice inside you that crushes your dreams and makes excuses for why they cannot happen.\u00a0 Negative chatter is when negative thoughts get in a loop and repeat themselves over and over. Negative chatter can be your internal critic telling you that it\u2019s too hard, that you screwed up, that you made another mistake, that you are worthless, that you aren\u2019t good enough, or that you can never do anything right. \u00a0It can also be negative thoughts about others. The negative conversations that you hear playing in your head usually come from emotions like doubt, fear, guilt, shame, worry, blame, frustration,\u00a0anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness, pessimism,\u00a0resentment,\u00a0or jealousy.\u00a0 Negative chatter can prevent you from moving forward or taking chances and eventually results in predictable failure.\u00a0 Replace the negative chatter with positive thinking and positive steps.\u00a0 Try to see the positive intention behind the negative message so that your mind can accept it and move forward.\u00a0 Use meditation and other focusing exercises to regularly invite positive thoughts.\u00a0 Explore how\u00a0education, mentoring,\u00a0or training can change the veracity of the negative chatter and reinforce them\u00a0with action to instill confidence.\u00a0 Become aware of how and when the negative thoughts are triggered, then change your routine to disrupt the pattern of the negative chatter.\u00a0 Doing these things will get you one step further away from the chatter, and one step closer to change.<\/p>\n Are you unknowingly rewarding bad behaviors?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think we can all agree that it\u2019s important to reward good behavior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>We all start with the best of intentions.\u00a0But\u00a0has your best of intentions ever unwittingly rewarded the wrong behavior?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Rewarding the desired behavior is crucial for enabling change.\u00a0 However, if you\u2019re not careful, that incentive may have unintended consequences.\u00a0 For instance, you might focus on rewarding your child for completing his homework promptly, and in the process inadvertently reward more errors. \u00a0So, how can you steer clear of unsuspectingly rewarding bad behavior?<\/em>\u00a0 To start, when creating your reward system, be sure to think through all the possible outcomes, positive, negative, and neutral.\u00a0 Then, remind everyone of your core values.\u00a0 Set the expectation that all incentives must align with those values and that they must not contradict standards that already exist and are important to the unit.\u00a0 Monitor all incentives, old and new, to make sure you are seeing the whole picture and make adjustments as needed.\u00a0\u00a0Creating a system of checks and balances will help you to avoid rewarding the wrong kind of behavior.\u00a0 This tip can be used in work situations as well as personal relationships.<\/p>\n How can you practice self awareness?<\/strong><\/p>\n Self awareness is the conscious acceptance of one\u2019s own actions.\u00a0 Meaningful self awareness involves paying attention to a behavior and making adjustments as it is happening.\u00a0 Self awareness must be present for change to happen.\u00a0 Mastering self awareness can prevent a bad habit or unwanted behavior from forming or becoming extreme.\u00a0 To practice self awareness, begin by identifying one behavior or attitude that you want to change. \u00a0Let\u2019s say you want to work on your tendency to interrupt or talk over people.\u00a0 Start by thinking about the behavior pattern and how it is surfacing in your interactions.\u00a0 Device or create a reminder or signal (cue or prompt) to yourself to monitor for the behavior.\u00a0 This could be as simple and subtle as a colorful rubber band around your wrist or as obvious as a wall poster in your office.\u00a0 It\u2019s very important to recognize the behavior as it is occurring so that you can do something about it.\u00a0 When you do notice yourself interrupting, stay focused and pay attention to your action so you can stop or change the pattern.\u00a0 Self awareness is a powerful enabler for lasting change.\u00a0 It can be very challenging to practice, but once you\u2019ve conquered it, it is also rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This section contains 5 minute coaching exercises for you to use free of charge. These exercises are designed to help you look at your approach to life differently and to introduce small incremental changes you can make here and there. Individually, a coaching exercise may not significantly change your life. However, when it is practiced repeatedly and coupled with other exercises and techniques, it can increase your effectiveness in building a balanced life. Over time, these coaching exercises will boost…<\/p>\n
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