“…And What Else?” June 2022 newsletter

“...And What Else?”

Newsletter and Thought Starter

June 2022

Success begins by asking the right questions. So why not a newsletter that asks a powerful question: “…and what else?”

Hope these insights pierce through the clutter and create a moment to reflect on your purpose.

First Thoughts

I can’t get the guy out of my head.

It was a frustrating conversation. How can he believe that? How can he say that? The conversation was so draining I could not get this guy—his perspective—out of my head for a week. I re-analyzed my responses, replaying the conversation over and over again. What could I have said differently? What would have been a more productive response? Ugh. I was consumed—playing back the interaction over and over. Thinking; building scenarios of what I could have said.

I couldn’t let it go. Then I decided to.

Ultimately, here is what I recognized: while reflection can be valuable, rumination is not. Constantly replaying decisions or “what-if” scenarios is exhausting (at best) and toxic (at worst). I can’t control what he thought or said. What can I control? What I do next: acknowledging what I could do better next time, not what I could have done better then. I can’t change “then.”

The lesson? Less thinking backward and more learning forward. It’s a “next-up” approach. And there are plenty of “next” moments every day.

Thinking Out Loud Blog

Some Easy Choices to Become Just a Little Better. Oh, and One Hard One

Yes, there are thousands of articles offering the best, latest, or sure-fire researched-based approaches to developing, growing, and improving yourself. And because you’re reading this, you’ve probably read a lot of them. While this article won’t be so bold as to propose a sure-fire approach to growth, one thing is certain: doing nothing leads to nothing. So this valiant attempt is less focused on a comprehensive approach to self-development and mostly focused on a single ingredient: choosing to do; choosing to do “not nothing.”

The Forty-Two Challenge

Question #8: What is something you’re willing to rethink?

The Challenge: It’s hard to change our mind. Often we’re not aware of or don’t acknowledge that fact that we might need to view a situation from another perspective to gain insight.

On what issue can you perspective seek, rather than perspective take?

Share your reflections on your favorite social channel. #FortyTwoQuestions

Worth Reading

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

Guess: How many weeks in the average lifetime? Hint: The title. Really? That’s it? You probably now feel like you have even less time to get it all done. Well that truth is, according to Burkeman, you can’t. And that’s good news. Because once you realize that life is finite, you become free to choose what matters. Says Burkeman, “Once you stop believing that it might be possible to avoid hard choices about time it becomes easier to make better ones.”

Thought Starter: The book offers a powerful perspective on developing (choosing) a life that is more fulfilling; one that rids your day of the stress created by what you “didn’t get done.” Among its poignant questions are: Are you holding yourself to, and judging yourself by, standards of productivity or performance that are impossible to meet? What would you do differently today if you realized getting it all done will never happen?

Looking for more great reads? Check out these purposeful resources.

Worth Watching

A Pep Talk from Kid President to You, Kid President

If you haven’t seen Kid President, you have three minutes of joy ahead. If you have, you have three minutes of (renewed) joy ahead. You were made to be awesome

Thought Starter: The Kid asks, “What will you create to make the world awesome?”

Build High-Performing Teams

Got team turbulence? Need to harness the power of your team's strengths? Our Team Workshops create insights to drive new and better behavioral choices leading to greater impact and outcomes.

In our workshops, participants will:

Identify and use the strengths of others
Deal with conflict effectively by learning adaptive behaviors
Enhance team work, reduce team conflict, and minimize misunderstandings
Improve communication skills by determining communication styles

Learn more about developing high-performing teams.

Final Thoughts

Page 52 from the book 14,000 Things to be Happy About: “The little things in life that really make your day go right.” Page 565: “Shoes.” Yep on both.

So many good things; so little time.

Executive Coaching |Team Building | Strategic Advising