Developing flexible stability can help you reduce stress, minimize fear, and increase the potential that you will reach out for the dream instead of feeling trapped by an over-developed need to "play it safe."
Yesterday I shared the first five tips out of fifteen on how to build that sense of flexible stability in your own life. Here are tips six through ten.
6. Take an outside perspective
One of the things my clients are looking for in my Passion Catalyst coaching is an outside, objective perspective. It's really easy to get so caught up in our own lives that we can't see what's really going on.
As a friend of mine describes it, "Not only can I not see the forest for the trees, I have my nose so far in a knot hole that I can't even tell what kind of tree it is."
An outside point-of-view helps sort through the clutter. Try stepping back from your situation on a regular basis and look at it from a third party perspective. Describe it as though you were on the sidelines observing somebody else's life. Step out of your journey and take an objective look at what's happening.
7. Get grounded
Create an internal stability by finding ways to get grounded. Meditation, yoga, or exercise for example. Anything that lets you come from a calm and centered place is going to have a positive impact on the way you perceive what's happening in your world.
8. Build positive beliefs
Just like getting grounded can affect the way you experience your life, your beliefs play an enormous role as well.
If, for example, you believe something something is possible, you're a lot more likely to give it a shot than if you believe that failure is inevitable. If you believe that change is bound to be difficult and painful, guess how you're going to respond to any change you encounter?
Spend some time exploring your beliefs. What do you believe is possible in your life? What do you believe about change? What do you believe about your abilities?
When you encounter self-limiting beliefs, ask yourself, "Is this true? Might there be another way of looking at it? Is there any proof to the contrary?" Explore alternative positive beliefs, then start looking for ways to reinforce that positive view.
9. Develop healthy habits
Have you ever had your energy sag to the point where things that were typically no problem to deal with suddenly took on monumental proportions? Maybe you reacted to a small setback with a disproportionate level of fear. Or responded to a minor irritation with a level of anger that surprised you.
Part of developing a flexible stability in your life is having the energy to cope and thrive. One of the big sources of that energy comes from how you fuel and maintain your body.
If you fuel your body with crappy food, train rigorously for months for the couch-to-refrigerator relay, and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, your energy is going to dwindle and your health is going to suffer. That means you have less energy to fluidly flow with life's changes and challenges.
Healthy habits have a direct impact on the amount of energy you have to put towards thriving. The healthier you eat, and the more consistently physically active you are, the more energy your body and your mind have to navigate your life.
10. Practice succeeding
Nothing succeeds like success, as the saying goes. The more confident you feel in your your ability to succeed in any given effort, the more likely you are to find workable options and alternatives, and the less likely you are to feel trapped by life's circumstances.
Wherever you are in life right now, however you currently feel about your potential to succeed, you can build your belief in your ability. How? Practice succeeding.
If your confidence is a bit on the shaky side, start small and build on that. If your confidence is already riding hich, aim higher.
Pick something you'd like to try, something that's doable but a little bit of a reach. If it's too easy, you'll get the same boost to your confidence that you would, say, flipping on a light switch. You certainly get a result, but so what? On the other hand, if it's too hard, it might end up in frustration or, worse yet, a feeling of confirmation that you can't succeed.
When you do succeed, stop and acknowledge it. Write about it in your journal. Explore why you succeeded. Learn from it. Ask yourself how you might apply what you learned in the future. Use it as proof that successful efforts are within reach. Then pick something a little more challenging and repeat the process.
Coming next...
11. Learn to fail
12. Check your assumptions
13. Eliminate black & white thinking
14. Coach yourself
15. Celebrate yourself
Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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