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Continually grow as a person and find your work/life balance

10 Principles of Mastery — Become Highly Skilled and In Demand

Written by Maria Connolly on . Posted in Self-Leadership Skills.

These 10 Principles of Mastery will help you find your motivation and give you the attitude and emotional skills needed to master a new skill or profession.“The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.” ~ Robert Greene

Now that we have more free time to finally master a skill, where has the motivation gone? Maybe you created a list of things you could do, during this stay-at-home social distancing. However, now that over a month has passed, has your list been neglected? I understand. During stressful times, it’s hard to focus. Our bodies are flooded with stress hormones that make us pull back in, to keep ourselves safe. We feel tired and afraid to start anything new. That’s why I think it’s time to redirect our focus. And the principles of mastery will help us do that.

Firstly, I encourage you to get outside for a walk, dust off your dreams, turn down the noise from the news, and focus on the one thing you really want to master. Take a notebook with you and jot down ideas as they come to you. When you find a spot to sit, create a checklist of all the things about the subject you already know, and then the things you want to know.

A book that has really helped me is Mastery by Robert Greene. After studying the lives of numerous influential figures, he learned that our culture has many myths about genius that need to be debunked, and he distilled the wisdom of the ages, revealing the secret to greatness in his book.

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Become Smarter – 7 Secrets Leaders Use Daily to Increase their Intellect

Written by Maria Connolly on . Posted in Life Skills, Self-Leadership Skills.

When you don’t feel smart enough, it’s vital not to get stuck. Here are 7 tips successful leaders use to become smarter every day; they’ll work for you too!“You are far too smart to be the only thing standing in your way.” ~ Jennifer Freeman     

In this fast-paced world, it takes tremendous mental agility to keep up. Especially in coaching and therapy professions, we have to stay current on how to help people as they face new challenges, PLUS how to run a business using modern technology. For example, now that we’re totally relying on video conferencing, I’ve noticed that switching to this technology has taken a toll on my being grounded and centered. Sometimes I just don’t feel smart enough. And when that feeling washes over me, this is what I do to become smarter…

My goal is to learn something new every day. My daily practice of mindfulness makes it so much easier to do this, for I’m constantly aware of how I’m being in my surroundings. This increases what I understand and it exercises my brain, so it’s functioning at peak capacity.

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Leaders Are Readers — 4 Reasons Why Reading Promotes Success!

Written by Maria Connolly on . Posted in Embodied Leadership, Life Skills, Self-Leadership Skills.

Leaders are readers; their success lies in how they read. They don’t read mindlessly. Learn how to become fully engaged in reading to extract what’s useful.“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” ~ Anna Quindlen

Books reveal the full range of human experience like nothing else does. You’d have to live hundreds of years to experience, in person, what you can experience by reading books. Great leaders have long known and used this “secret” to their advantage. Yes, leaders are readers.

Even if you’re not a born reader, you can learn to love to read. It starts with mindfully feeling gratitude for the privilege to read. There was a time that owning a book was impossible. Before the printing press (known as the Dark Ages) people had to depend on public readings. They were truly dark ages intellectually, politically, economically and so forth. Books brought enlightenment.

Now people take books for granted. And that can give those who desire leadership roles an advantage! There’s a world of wisdom just waiting for you within books that many are missing. In fact, with the current world situation, many of us are spending more time at home. This is a great opportunity to keep your mind and heart open by reading.

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How to Deal with Grief By Restoring Balance in Your Body and Emotions

Written by Maria Connolly on . Posted in Handling Change, Self-Leadership Skills.

We need to know how to deal with grief for it’s a painful, yet healthy, part of life. If we let grief do its job, we will learn from it and then let it go. “There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.” ~ Henry Wordsworth

The world has been dealing with grief, even before we were struck by the COVID-19 pandemic. But consuming a steady diet of the negative is not a healthy way to deal with grief. It will have a detrimental affect on our health — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. That’s why many people choose to limit their exposure to bad news and intentionally calm their minds.

However, we can’t ignore the impact this pandemic has had on our lives. We are forced to address how to deal with grief, because it’s affecting each of us. Besides losing loved ones to coronavirus, we’re grieving our lack of freedom, our old normal and being able to connect with friends and family. We thrive on touch, so we’re grieving our lack of social interactions. We’re grieving that our peace, comfort, and happiness could be taken from us as we lose a job we love and an income we rely on.

Grief is a healthy human emotion that we need to make peace with so it can do its job and then let us go on living fully despite our loss. Not that we will forget, but it will release its hold on us so that we’re not stuck in time.

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How to Deal With Anxiety and Stress During Crises Like COVID-19

Written by Maria Connolly on . Posted in Controlling Stress, Life Skills, Self-Leadership Skills.

Learn how to deal with anxiety during crises like coronavirus by choosing your actions and thoughts carefully. By being prepared you can ease your anxiety. “Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” ~ Walter Anderson

We are all concerned about keeping self and loved ones safe through the COVID-19 pandemic. And many people are rightly anxious about their businesses surviving. These are valid concerns. This kind of coronavirus anxiety moves us to take practical steps to protect ourselves. For example, we can…

Practice best hygiene practices. Wash hands often, for 20 seconds, with soap and water or use hand sanitizer with 70% ethyl alcohol. Keep hands away from the face. Comply with social distancing — staying 6 feet away.

Reassess work and business. If your work has already been negatively impacted, review your business strategies; perhaps you’ll find greater clarity and new opportunities where you didn’t see them before.

However, if you’re plagued by an overwhelming, paralyzing anxiety that is draining your energy and diminishing your joy in life, it’s time to mindfully identify the cause and taking steps to becoming more secure. (Remember that asking for assistance from a professional is not shameful. It’s a sign of self-knowledge and strength to admit you can’t do it by yourself.)

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