In the era of extreme everything, remember the body is not a simple machine. Well, it is and it isn't. We’re seeing a new kind of injury through what I'd call extreme fitness. Those are the activities that make you feel guilty if you don't push out one more rep, extend that stretch into and through a lot of pain, complete one more cycle of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), or get in one more mile. While there are best practices for all sorts of training, I believe we need to bring awareness to where we are today, right now, because each day can be different. Yes, we want to push … [Read more...]
Sharing Stories and a Butterfly.
Dovetailing from last week, I'm going to ask for an action from you this week. I find other people are really fascinating, especially when we give them the opportunity to share their stories. I was recently in Dallas and after giving a 12 hour workshop I connected with a few friends with whom I spent some time in a transformational leadership program back in 2012. One of them mentioned an experience with a disabled butterfly whose wing was broken. By the time he was done sharing his story, in my mind, there was no mistake why the butterfly arrived at this time in his life. The most … [Read more...]
If Our Environment Is Sick, How Long Will It Take For Us To Be In The Same Predicament?
Like many of you, I am passionate about the quality of our environment. If it's sick, then sooner or later we will be, too. So that brings me to asking, “What are you doing to live in harmony AND to improve your environment?” While we often think that we are immune to our surroundings, we aren’t. If the air quality is poor, it is poor for all. If our water source is impure, so it is for everything in it and everyone using it. As a Canadian I endeavour to do my job here as I am sure you do, too. We separate garbage into trash, organics, paper and cans/glass/plastics for recycling. Batteries … [Read more...]
Supported or not – who is in your life?
Sometimes we have others in our lives who do not support our growth. List 3 or more people who’d like to keep you just as you are. Perhaps they’d not support your big ideas, dreams and aspirations. 1) 2) 3) How can you ask them to support you in an empowering way? What have they taught you so far about yourself, relationships or life? Something will be there, even if it is discerning what you might not want. If they truly do not support you, might it be time to let them go? If so, when? While it might be uncomfortable, deep down I believe the other party already knows they are not helping. Who … [Read more...]
Big Problems Stem from Small Errors of Judgement
I was noodling about the illness-salutogenesis spectrum and it struck me that so many things in my life, and I suspect yours too, stem from small errors of judgement that we repeat over and over. Illness, divorce, Enron, decisions in our own business... In each scenario I ran, rarely did something big or negative happen out of the blue. Usually there were decisions made that while small at the time took me down a different road. Those decisions when cumulative ended up with something that couldn’t be ignored; a “bigger problem”. Let’s take illness. We know the chronic health conditions of our … [Read more...]
Let Me Tell You What You Need from Coaching
Oh my! Really? I just read an email basically telling me what I should want from a coach. While it had a few things I agreed with, I was fascinated by the approach of telling the consumer (me) what they needed and how they were going to get it. Now if this was a consulting firm, perhaps I would have been happier, but it wasn’t. It was however a great example of defining true coaching, or at least the co-operative model of coaching (or as Whitworth et al coined “Co-Active” Coaching). Yes, one should expect certain things from a coach like integrity, privacy, confidentiality, preparedness, … [Read more...]
Mastery for the Best Version of You
I love this passage so much that I am quoting it in its entirety. It reminds me that we are all born a winner. I’ve learned so much from Stewart Emery since the 1980’s and each paragraph speaks to me. Enjoy... “Mastery in one’s career and conscious growth simply requires that we constantly produce results beyond and out of the ordinary. Mastery is a product of consistently going beyond our limits. For most people, it starts with technical excellence in a chosen field and a commitment to that excellence. If you are willing to commit yourself to excellence, to surround yourself with things that … [Read more...]
Maintaining a Flexible Consciousness
Have you ever been so focused on an expectation about how something should happen in your life, only to realize later that it did but in a different way than you anticipated? I have often been caught up in "how" I want my desires to show up, which can leave me blind to results outside that "how". I realize when I keep my consciousness flexible and malleable, results shows up in unexpected ways and many times in an "even better" form. If you're similar perhaps this will help. What I've learned: Drop preconceptions about how it must show up, and just know that at least the next guidepost will … [Read more...]
Listen to the Bigness of the Fellow Within
"Listen to the Bigness of the Fellow Within" is the title of a pivotal book by a fellow chiropractor, BJ Palmer from 1949. I read it early in my career and it led me to ask more questions than it answered. To summarize, it’s about the remarkable intelligence that we do not fully understand, nor when we ponder, can we really grasp. As stated, "Behind the Universe is a Universal Intelligence which has directed its functions in millions of ways for millions of years. It follows a definite pattern which never varies, each to its kind and form." (1) As Wiki notes from another excerpt of volume 22, … [Read more...]
The Innate Potential of Life
Isn't life amazing? The force that animates, unifies and organizes substances in such a way to create you? It is awe inspiring when we pause to give thought to just what it would take to develop "you" from two cells at conception to the multi-billion walking, breathing, thinking, feeling person you are. This force innately knows. We don't teach it. It’s already present with life. So give thanks to this day. While perhaps not every day is a "joy-joy" day, we can reframe how we look at what the day brings to make each day better. I know that I can learn from each moment and that tougher days … [Read more...]