Happy Spring! Happy 2.5 year anniversary of O+I Develop!Happy 55th birthday to me today!
It’s been a fulfilling and transformational year, and I’m grateful to share my journey with you as we embark on a renewing spring! What are you embarking on? What is renewing for you?
3 Musings on Work + Life
Great Resignation + Assessments
Many of us enjoy exploring the self-awareness that comes from self-assessments, and I utilize them often in my coaching. There are so many to choose from including DiSC (authorized parter), CliftonStrengths, MBTi (certified), Enneagram (certified), and many more. Before you jump into the Great Resignation and have a Great Regret, I recommend you take time to reflect with a self-assessment to truly evaluate your values, strengths, skills, preferences, priorities, talents, and motivators. Here are a couple more podcasts on the Great Resignation and Regret by Brené Brown and Adam Grant.
I recently discovered a fun, free assessment created by Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project. He wrote the book, Sparked! and created the Sparketype Assessment from 20 years of research. According to Jonathan, “Work, as we know it, is broken. We spend the majority of our adult life working. If what you do empties you out, burns you out, or leaves you disconnected from what truly matters to you, that's a brutally hard way to live. BUT, if what you do fills you with meaning, energy, and excitement, drops you into flow, and gives you a sense of purpose and joy, that's an amazing thing.” Check out this podcast if you want to learn more about the assessment and the book!
Stress + Overwhelm
We are hearing a lot about stress and overwhelm. Did you know they are two different emotions according Brené Brown’s research? In case you haven’t seen or heard, Brené has a new 5-part Atlas of the Heart HBOMax series where she breaks down 87 emotions and experiences based on her book of the same name. It is critical to get the language right or we can turn what was actually “stress” into “overwhelm” with our choice of our words. Stress you can ultimately manage. With overwhelm, you need to step away as your system is flooded and you can’t effectively respond. According to Brené:
Stress: “We feel stressed when we evaluate environmental demand as beyond our ability to cope successfully. This includes elements of unpredictability, uncontrollability, and feeling overloaded.”
Overwhelm: “Overwhelmed means an extreme level of stress, an emotional and/or cognitive intensity to the point of feeling unable to function.” This can lead to burnout if we don’t take a break whether it is short or long-term.
If you like the study of emotions or curious to learn more, I also recommend Susan David’s work on Emotional Agility. If you follow her on social media, she has great quote cards to inspire you and help us better understand why we respond the way we do with our emotions.
Coaching Certifications + Trainings
In December 2021, I completed my year-long Professional Coaching Course through New Ventures West and am now a Certified Integral Coach. This holistic approach to coaching focuses on a person’s vertical, deep development rather than horizontal, advice giving. Its transformational approach connects with all three intelligence centers: body, heart, and mind. I’m thrilled to hug many of these beautiful souls from all over the US and Canada this weekend in Utah.
Last month my heart and mind were opened wide with a two-week Enneagram certification training through Integrative Enneagram. It was fun to learn with 20 other coaches from around the US and the world including parts of Canada, South Africa, and Sweden. This is a powerful assessment tool to better understand the underlying motivations behind our preferences and priorities in work and life.
This month I received my International Coaching Federation (IFC) Associate Certified Coach (ACC) designation after completing a year of integral coaching training, serving clients with over 125 hours of coaching, and successfully passing the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment.
And, on Earthy Day (April 22, 2022) O+I Develop became a Benefit Corporation for Good! In order to be certified I completed a series of 60 questions based on criteria in the following 8 areas:
Conscientious Leadership
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Environmental Practices
Community Engagement
Strategic Business Practices
Values of Benefit Corporations
Customer-Driven
Work-Life Balance
I’ve enjoyed applying all that I have learned with my clients.
Gifts for You: Meditation + Mindfulness to Ground Yourself in the Now
Enjoy this mediation by my favorite online yoga instructor, Adriene Mishler.
I recently shared the following poem with a client and wanted you all to have it.
The Gardener by Mary Oliver
Have I lived enough?
Have I loved enough?
Have I considered Right Action enough, have I come to any conclusion?
Have I experienced happiness with sufficient gratitude?
Have I endured loneliness with grace?
I say this, or perhaps I’m just thinking it.
Actually, I probably think too much.
Then I step out into the garden,
Where the gardener, who is said to be a simple man,
Is tending his children, the roses.
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