Introduction
Most people don’t know themselves as well as they think they do. This is a problem because the less you really know yourself, the more likely you are to find yourself struggling with difficult people and challenging situations, being manipulated by others and living a life that doesn’t feel satisfying and fulfilling.

If you are committed to your own personal growth, success  and happiness it’s important to be willing to learn as much about yourself as you can.

In this post, along with 2 other self-awareness experts, I’ll share 7 of the best self-awareness tools and activities you can do to dig a little deeper and learn the most important and helpful things about yourself that will empower and enable you to live life on your terms instead of other people’s.

Why is Self-Awareness so Important?
When I (or any other coach) begin working with a client the first step is to find out as much about them as possible. This helps me to know how I can best help them, but it’s also usually very eye-opening for the client as they learn things about themselves they were not aware of. 

Here are a couple of comments from participants of my Inner Mastery program that demonstrate this:

As you can see from these comments, once you are willing to take a deeper look at yourself, things start to change and improve pretty quickly.

I do understand that many people are reluctant to embrace the concept of self-awareness. If you feel this way, it could be because:

• You feel that spending time on self-reflection is selfish - you should be focusing on others
  
• You are afraid of what you will find
  
• You think you already know everything about yourself
  
• It feels like a waste of time when you should be doing more important things
  
• Emotions and feelings are not important
  
  

If you have typically felt this way, I’d like to share another perspective for you to consider.

As human beings we are complex. Most of who you think you are and what you think you want is probably based on what you have learned from others, based on their experiences, beliefs and conditioning.

Part of the journey of self-awareness then is about letting go of what you thought you knew and being open to learning about the real you - not somebody else’s version of you.
 
There are many benefits to really knowing and understanding yourself at the deepest levels, such as:

• You’ll be able to clearly express your desires and be accepted for who you are.
  
• You experience less inner conflict as you learn how to respond to difficult people and situations.
  
• Setting boundaries becomes much easier.
  
• You have the clarity to make better and more informed choices that benefit you.
  
• Your relationships improve as understanding of yourself leads to greater understanding and tolerance of others.
  
• You stop comparing yourself to others - because you don’t need to.
  
• You’re able to bring your uniqueness and natural vitality to everything you do.
  

All of these things enable you to live a richer and more meaningful and fulfilling life.

So where do you start with getting to know yourself more deeply? There are a great many self-awareness tools, activities and assessments that it can easily become overwhelming and difficult to know where to start.

I’ve compiled a list of 7 of my favorites self-awareness tools and activities to help you get started.

Your Values

This is a great place to start. 

Your values are the things that are most important to you. 

They are the core beliefs that motivate you to act in certain ways, focus on and do certain things. 

When your values are not being met, life does not feel fulfilling and it’s difficult to set healthy boundaries.

Your values are guides to decision-making, boundary setting and are the reasons why you set goals. 

Research shows that just thinking or writing about your values can make it more likely that you take healthy actions. 

Knowing and staying connected to your values will also help you to stay motivated, particularly when you’re feeling tired or things are difficult.

Do you know what your top 5 values are? 

You might think you do, but people are often surprised to find they have values that they weren’t even aware of.

One of the easiest ways to find out is to refer to a list of values, like this one from Carnegie Mellon University (add your own if you feel there is something missing). Then narrow it down until you have your top 5.

Don’t think about it too much as you do the exercise. You can always do it again a few days later to make sure you really find the ones that are the best fit for you.

Your Interests

Interests include your passions, hobbies, and anything that holds your attention over a sustained period of time. 

To figure out your interests, it’s helpful to ask yourself these questions: 

• What do you pay attention to? 
• What are you curious about? 
• What concerns you? 
• What do you love to talk about?
• What do you enjoy reading about?
• What’s something that you could spend hours doing and time just seems to fly by?

Many people have built a career around a deep interest in something. 

Although it may not be possible for you to build a career around your interests, it is important that you make time for them. 

Life is much more interesting and enjoyable and you will feel a lot more energized when you allow time for your interests and hobbies.

When you talk to someone about their passion they come alive. It’s like a light shines from within. What is that for you?

Your Temperament and Traits

Learning about your temperament and traits is a way of examining your inborn preferences. For example:

• Do you restore your energy from being alone (introvert) or from being with people (extrovert)? 
  
• Do people tell you you’re “too sensitive?” 
  
• Are you a planner or go-with-the-flow type of person? 
  
• Do you make decisions more on the basis of feelings or thoughts and facts? 
  
• Do you prefer details or big Ideas? 
  

Knowing the answers to questions like these could help you more easily choose situations in which you could flourish and avoid situations which would be more of a struggle for you.

Certain things you’ll already have a good feel for - for example, whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, or whether you prefer details or are a big picture person.

Here are some valuable self-awareness tools to help you discover even more about your temperament and traits:

Sensory Processing

It is estimated that approximately 20% of the population has what is known as “sensory processing sensitivity,” otherwise known as high sensitivity, or HSP (highly sensitive person). 

If you’ve ever been told “you’re too sensitive,” it’s likely that this applies to you.

When you are highly sensitive your brain and nervous systems  are literally “wired” differently from everyone else's. 

Psychologist and researcher, Dr. Elaine Aron, who is the pioneer into research on this trait has written many books on the subject and if you are interested, I highly recommend you start with her first book: The Highly Sensitive Person.

Why is it important to know if you’re highly sensitive?

Like many others, when I read Elaine Aron’s book it was a life-changing experience for me. 

When you’re not like everyone else, and others can’t understand why you think, feel and behave the way you do they tell you there’s something wrong with you - and you end up believing them. 

When you learn that you are highly sensitive, and that it is simply a trait that applies to many other people, then you understand that there is nothing wrong with you. 

You learn as much about the trait as you can and how to use it to your advantage. This is what I and many other HSPs have done. 

You begin to realize that there are many advantages to being highly sensitive and that it’s really a gift, when used in the right way.

To find out if you are highly sensitive, here’s a link to the self-assessment used by Dr. Aron in her book. CLICK HERE

Being a highly sensitive person can be very challenging and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a lot you can do to learn how to make the most of your highly sensitive nature and use it to your advantage.

There are many self-awareness assessments that are used by coaches and organizations all over the world. It can be difficult to know which ones to use. 

I asked Dr. Sarah Stebbins, a coach and consultant specializing in change management, which ones she recommends.

Here’s her response:

Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
This assessment is the ‘gold standard’ among personality assessments. It has been around for over 50 years and has a strong test-re-test reliability. [See note]  

The assessment identifies preferred personality ‘types’ which then can be applied in a variety of ways: leadership development, team building, communication skill development, career development and change management. 
 
It is this versatility that makes it my preferred ‘go to’ assessment with my wide range of coaching clients.  In particular, I have had great success with both the career and leadership development applications. 
 
There are many ‘MBTI knockoffs’ on line and while they may provide some initial insight into personality styles, the MBTI administered by a certified practitioner, really provides all the depth and breadth the instrument has to offer!
 
There are 16 Meyers Briggs personality types. You can read more about them on the Meyers Briggs web site.
 
MBTI can be taken on line. The cost is $50 [paid on-line] 
 
If required, an in-depth interpretation can be facilitated by Sarah for $100 through two virtual coaching sessions via Zoom. It’s also possible to go to a community college career center [when it opens again] to take the assessment and receive assessment feedback (cost unknown). 

[Note: by Jake Beech - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30859659]

Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Daniel Goleman who developed this assessment once stated that EI is a greater predictor of success than IQ.

I agree with this analysis! This assessment gauges the degree to which people react to typical life situations. 

The purpose of the assessment is building awareness of emotional responses which are all too often exhibited from an unconscious state.  
 
The logic behind the assessment is that once one is aware of one’s emotional triggers and responses to a given situation, one can make a different choice of how to respond in that moment.  

I have found this assessment to be particularly useful for clients who experience interpersonal challenges at work or home. 
 
When you purchase the book (about $27 on Amazon) it comes with an access code you can use to take the test online.
 
If you are new to this kind of work, it is recommended that you work with a Certified Professional Coach, as the assessment could trigger some emotional baggage that a coach or therapist could help you navigate.

About this expert:
Dr. Stebbins is a coach and consultant living in Portland Oregon. Specializing in change management, she is currently writing a book “From Fire to Water: Moving through Change. The Six Steps to Personal Resiliency”, important writing for our time!

Learn more about Dr. Stebbins HERE.

My experience:

Meyers Briggs: I have to admit that it’s a long time since I did the Meyers Briggs test. So long ago that I can’t find the results and can’t remember exactly what type I am! I do remember that I found it helpful though. 

Perhaps it’s time for me to re-visit this test.
There are a number of sites online where you can take the Emotional Intelligence test for free.

Emotional Intelligence: I recently took the test through the Psychology Today web site. It was a long test - taking about 45 minutes to complete.

The results were  about what I expected - I scored fairly high with "some room for improvement." To find the areas of improvement you'd have to pay for the full report, but I found taking the test itself to be interesting and thought-provoking.

The Enneagram
One of my personal favorite self-assessments is The Enneagram.

The Enneagram is a powerful tool for helping us understand ourselves and others more deeply.

Although it can appear to be very complicated at first, and you certainly will probably identify a little with all of the 9 types, experts at the Enneagram Institute say that “everyone emerges from childhood with one of the nine types dominating their personality…”

You can take a free Enneagram test to determine your particular type HERE. 

You can read more about each of the 9 individual types on the Enneagram Institute web site. 

I have found this test to be particularly helpful in learning more about myself and I encourage my clients to take it. Not only does it help them learn about themselves, it helps me know how to help them most effectively.

Here’s an example of how understanding the Enneagram has helped me personally: I am a Two on the Enneagram - the Helper. Those with the Helper personality experience a compulsive need to help anybody and everybody. This can be good, but often is not healthy.

Here are some of the ways iit might not be so good - if you are an Enneagram number Two you may relate:

• Helping others when they haven’t asked for help
  
• Trying to fix things for other people
  
• Helping others at the expense of yourself
  
• Being so focused on others that you have no sense of yourself and your needs
  
• Believing that you’ll receive love by helping others
  
• Being perceived and treated as a ‘doormat’ by others 
  
• Never being able to ask for help or allowing others to help you
  
• Wearing yourself out by focusing on other people’s needs instead of your own
  
• Believing that whatever you do is never enough
  
• Believing that you are not (and can never be) good enough
  

Understanding this has been incredibly helpful for me as I’ve worked to turn these things around and become a healthy version of the Two personality. 

I remember one time I was talking to a friend and she asked if I could recommend a book on a subject that would be helpful for her business. 

I then ‘observed’ myself giving her the names of several books, but then I went on to share many other ‘helpful’ resources. Even though I knew I was doing it and I was giving her things she had not asked for I couldn’t seem to stop. 

Afterwards I wrote to her to apologize because I knew I had completely overwhelmed her.

That, and other similar experiences helped me move from unhealthy to a much healthier version of the helper personality. 

I still help people - that’s just who I am, but it comes from a place of strength rather than weakness.

The Enneagram helped me understand my innate nature much more clearly and learn how to change it. 

This is the tool that helped me transform from a chronic people-pleaser to learning how to challenge myself and others to be the best we can be. It helped me learn that I didn’t need to take things personally, which was life-changing.

Obviously you can go into a lot more detail because we are all so multifaceted and have aspects of all types within us. 

I think that learning about your basic type can be extremely helpful even if you don’t want to dig deeper than that.

Human Design

This is another of my favorites, but it is typically not as well known and can be very complicated when you are new to it. I asked  Human Design expert Nattalee K. Lillico if she would explain it: Here’s her response:

“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”

~ Eckert Tolle

Today, more than ever, we need to know who we are at our core, what makes us tick, and how we can amplify our natural talents and gifts. 
 
Since 1997 people have been finding self-awareness through a pearl of ancient wisdom called Human Design. Other personality or skill set assessments like the Myers-Briggs are based on how we see ourselves. Human Design is a synthesis of modern science and ancient wisdom like Astrology, and the I Ching, giving profound insights to our true nature. 
 
Each human has a unique energy signature, which we can discover with our birth information. 
 
Why Human Design?
Our modern world is speeding up. Yes!?  With speed comes the potential for additional stress, even burnout. Human Design delivers intelligence to navigate life’s challenges so we can connect with the correct people and projects. 
 
Where do I start?
The first step to unlocking your human potential is to know your Type.
 
There are four primary Design Types, each with variations. No one type is better than another; each has its strengths, needs, and unique purpose. 
 
The second step is to know your strategy to optimize your unique energy Type. 
 
Knowing your Type and experimenting with the suggested strategies provides a framework to allow your true nature to emerge organically.
 
Next is understanding how to make the best decisions about who and what is a good match for you. 
 
The fourth step is beyond understanding your potential but to practice it to obtain results.
 
For example, “Kathy” often felt pulled by other people’s wishes and demands. As a prominent leader in her community, her friends and colleagues frequently asked her to endorse or help them with their projects. 
 
After learning about her Human Design strategies, she practiced them with each invitation and request. What she discovered was that she had agreed to other’s wishes based on what she thought she “should” do or felt obligated to do. 
 
“Kathy” found a new sense of freedom, additional creative energy for her projects, increased income, and more explicit partnership agreements. 
 
Suggested Resources
You can obtain your free chart and beginners’ guide at the Human Design main website, Jovian Archive.
Recommend reading and study guide: The Definitive Book of Human Design, The Science of Differentiation by Ra Uru Hu. Inside you’ll read about the origin of the system, as well as a follow along description for each of the main aspects of your chart.

About this expert
Nattalee K Lillico is a certified Life Purpose Coach (ICF), IHDS Human Design Certified Analyst & Teacher, and the only recognized Genius Report Trainer in the United States.

Her Human Design journey began in 1999. In private practice since 2006, her intuitive insights and robust coaching techniques have created breakthroughs and desired results for hundreds of clients.  

You can learn more about Nattalee on her YouTube Channel.

My experience: I have to say that Human Design is one of the tools that has helped me the most. It is very in-depth and can help you identify and change behaviors that are not serving you.

One of the ways it helped me was in learning to manage my creative energy. I am enthusiastic about many things and that didn’t always serve me as I would find myself putting my energy into things that weren’t necessarily a good fit. Only I didn’t find out until I was deeply immersed in whatever it was.

Understanding this about myself I learned that one of the most important things for me to do was to pause and step back before taking on anything new. 

This was not easy for me to learn. But it was one of the most valuable lessons and my life is so much better because of it. I no longer waste my energy on things that aren’t right for me, which enables me to put all my energy into things that are in alignment with who I am and what I want.

Summary
This is a small sampling of self-awareness tools that are available. 

Each of them will give you valuable information about yourself which you can then use to improve your life experiences.

Commit to exploring at least one of these tools in more detail and to learning more about yourself.

Self-awareness is empowering. If you want to change anything, you start by knowing yourself.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” - Aristotle

For more empowering energy tips to help you go from Stuck to Unstoppable, sign up for our weekly newsletter by clicking the button below.

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened." - Lao Tzu

In this video I'm sharing 3 aspects of self-knowledge that will help you make more beneficial decisions, set healthy boundaries, and experience greater fulfillment.

I'll share information about:

• Your values - that help you make decisions and set boundaries
  
• Your interests - that energize you
• Your temperament and traits - that make you who you are.

These things are important because going against the grain of your own personality is exhausting and destroys your happiness and well-being.

Enjoy!

"You learn who you are by unlearning who they taught you to be." - Nikki Rowe

The power of community… When we think of community we usually think of people physically coming together. Now that we’re experiencing a global need for self-isolation that can be uncomfortable for many people as they are not used to spending time alone and away from their friends, family, and colleagues.

Spending time at home and self-isolating doesn’t have to mean feeling isolated and alone though. One of the things I’ve been observing over the past few weeks is how people are staying connected and even building new communities online.

From employees working from home to students taking their classes online, to local communities offering information and support to each other, what I’m seeing is a huge increase in people coming together in ways they would not have before.

Technology can certainly have its challenges and I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with it – we love it when it’s working and hate it when it’s not! Social media can be used to share disturbing things as well as positive things. What I am finding encouraging though is how people are finding creative ways to use it to come together. For example, I usually have lunch with the same group of friends once a month. Obviously we can’t do that in person this month so we’re going to use Zoom to get together instead. We’ll still have lunch together, we’ll just each be in our own homes.

I’ve heard of people doing this with cocktail hour or getting together in this way for coffee or for book club. My local community has a Facebook group where people share information on what’s happening – everything from what restaurants are open for takeout to where to find toilet paper. If somebody needs something they can ask and somebody will be able to help.

If you live alone and are finding it difficult because you can’t connect with family or friends, explore ways to do this online. If you don’t have anyone you can talk to and feel you don’t have any community, search for one online or create one to meet your needs.

Even if you’re an introvert (like me) you can still find your people. There’s never a need to feel alone.

I’d love to hear what things you’re doing to stay connected. Leave a comment and let me know.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda

Now is the time… We’ve talked before about managing change, particularly when it’s something that’s been forced upon us. Well, that’s certainly happening now in a big way!

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious with all that’s going on all over the world, but there’s a lot you can do to help yourself and those around you right now. Here are some suggestions:

• Accept the unknown – things are changing daily right now. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next, or how long these challenges are going to last. The only thing you can do is take things day by day. You cannot know the future, and there’s no point in holding onto the past. The only thing to do is focus on each day, and each moment, which is living with presence.
  
  
• Take care of yourself – people are being forced now to consider the health of their immune system so they don’t get sick. This is something you want to do anyway. Every day ask yourself what you can do to take care of yourself.
  
  
• Look for what’s good – there comes a point when you have to switch off the news because it can take you into a downward spiral that’s difficult to come out of. Yes, you want to be informed, but focusing only on the bad news is detrimental to your health (and sanity). It may seem as though there is no good news to be had right now – but if you look for it, it’s there. Communities are coming together to help each other, groups are being setup online to keep people informed about what assistance is available, where they can buy the things they need, and where they can ask for help. Look for these groups in your area.
  
  
• Look for community – even if you live alone and you have to self-isolate, you can still find community online. You can talk to people via video chat, or by phone. There’s no need to feel lonely. Even if you’re an introvert, you still want to talk to someone from time-to-time.
  
  
• De-clutter – if you have to work from home and/or spend more time at home it’s a wonderful opportunity to do some de-cluttering. One of the best things you can do for yourself energetically is to remove items that you no longer need, use, want or love. Last weekend I took 5 boxes of stuff to Goodwill – it felt really good to let go of all that stuff. I really felt the weight of it.
  
  
• Learn something – now is the perfect time to learn something new. You can take online courses for just about anything you want to do. What’s something you’ve been putting off that you’ve always wanted to do? You could learn how to play piano, or learn a new language – or you could take one of my courses – like learning how to improve the energy of your home with the Feng Shui Success Course, or learning how to change your energy so you become unstoppable. You can check out these courses by CLICKING HERE.
  
  
• Stay fit – if you have more time at home you can dig out those workout DVD’s you haven’t looked at for years, or you can find some online fitness classes and follow along. You don’t have to go to the gym to do this.
  
  
• Volunteer – one of the best things for helping with anxiety is to find ways to help others. For example, Meals on Wheels have been looking for extra help with delivering meals, and animal shelters have been looking for more people to foster animals since they are spending more time at home.

These are just some of the things you can do. Things are changing. We might not be able to stop what’s happening right now, but what we can do is change how we respond to it. We can empower ourselves to step up to the new challenges. When you take care of your energy, raise your vibration and stay grounded, you will come through this and feel stronger and better than before.

If you have questions or particular challenges let me know. I’m here for you.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda

Just breathe… It’s easy to underestimate the power of breathing. After all, it’s something we do naturally all the time. Because it’s something that we do unconsciously we often don’t think about what benefits there might be to breathing consciously.

The only way to understand the benefits is to try it. For the next week, make a note to stop a few times each day and just pay attention to your breathing. Simply pause and put your attention on your breathing. Notice your breath coming in and going out of your body.

You only need to do this for a few breaths – I would say anything from 3 – 10. Then carry on with whatever it was you were doing. You may not notice anything immediately, and your mind will probably tell you this is a waste of time. However, when you do this regularly I think you’ll begin to feel more energized, you’ll have greater clarity, and you’ll feel less stressed.

It’s such a simple thing, yet when you do it regularly it can have major benefits for your body and your mind.

The key to doing this most successfully is to make sure your focus stays on your breathing while you’re doing it. You might find that thoughts start to creep in to take your attention away from your breathing. If this happens, just notice it and bring your attention back to your breath. It may take a little practice, but it’s worth it.
 
This technique is particularly helpful when you are in the middle of a stressful situation, or even an argument. Focus on your breathing and take a few long, slow deep breaths and you’ll find your body starts to relax a little more and you feel calmer. This enables you to handle the situation much more effectively, allowing you to respond instead of reacting.
 
If you are someone who has trouble meditating I think this can be just as good when you do it regularly, and it takes about 1 minute. If you forget, try setting a timer to remind you. Or at the very least you can do it first thing in the morning when you wake up and last thing at night before you go to sleep.
 
Try it and let me know your experience of this simple but powerful technique.
 
Be Unstoppable!

Linda
P.S. The art of becoming Unstoppable requires small steps and small shifts like this every day. The Becoming Unstoppable program is a really simple and affordable way to keep your focus and attention on doing the right things to get you there. CLICK HERE to find out more.

What you CAN do… I think we’ve all been in situations where we feel helpless, like there’s nothing we can do that will make a difference. At times like that all you can see is what’s NOT happening and NOT working and what you CAN”T do. The mind can continue on that train of thought for a long, long time.

I have learned that in situations like that there is always something you can do. That something may seem very small and it may seem as though it won’t make any impact on the huge challenge you’re facing, but it’s something.

If, instead of focusing on what you can’t do or worrying about what you can’t do, you decided to look for the 1 small thing you CAN do, it’s amazing how quickly things can shift.

If you don’t know what that 1 thing is, then ask yourself, “what is 1 thing that I can do right now that will help me/this situation?”

You might think you don’t know what that 1 thing is, but it’s more likely that you’re either not recognizing it or are unwilling to accept it.

For example, let’s say the only thing you can do right now is to walk away from a situation or person and spend some time alone. You may reject this idea as something that doesn’t solve the problem. You may feel it’s weakness or that you’re giving up. It might not even occur to you that it’s an option.

What if, in walking away and giving yourself some time away from the situation to breathe to focus on something else, and to take care of your energy, you are allowing a solution to present itself to you?

What if that simple act of stepping away gave you access to everything you need to reset and find a solution to the challenge?

Or perhaps the 1 thing you can do is to call a trusted friend and talk through your situation. You may reject that idea because you don’t want to dump your problems onto someone else, or you think that person won’t understand the situation and so cannot help you.

What if the simple act of talking it through with someone who is simply there to listen brings clarity to your mind and all of a sudden you know what you need to do? What if the person you talk to doesn’t need to solve the problem but can simply be there to listen in support and non-judgment to allow you to reach the conclusions you need? Perhaps as they listen they may ask some questions which allow you to see something you didn’t see before.

This has happened to me many times. Even though I thought I didn’t know what to do, these simple acts of either stepping away or finding someone who will listen as I talked things through brought new clarity and understanding and enabled me to see the solutions that were right there in front of me that I hadn’t been able to see before.

Worry drains your energy. Focusing on what you can’t do drains your energy. Focusing on what you CAN do, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, energizes you.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda
P.S. I'm creating a 6-month online program for those who are ready to put these tips into action and become truly Unstoppable. If you are interested in being a founding member of this private and exclusive community, CONTACT ME to schedule a call to see if it is a fit for you.

Acceptance and change… Many people feel that if they accept something they don’t like and don’t want then they are giving in to it. They feel they must fight against it and find a way to win. The feeling is “this shouldn’t be happening to me.”

If you’ve been in a situation that you feel shouldn’t be happening and you continue to fight against it, you may have had the experience that things keep getting worse. The harder you try to change it the more stressed and anxious you feel too.

Acceptance is not giving up. It’s simply acknowledging that “yes, this is happening,” and now you can open yourself up to solutions and possibilities. If you think about it energetically, by accepting that it’s happening, you attract solutions and by resisting you push them away because you’re so busy fighting against what’s happening that there’s no room for anything else.

Resistance brings fear, and acceptance brings clarity.

Think about Bill who is working for a company that is laying people off. He could say “this shouldn’t be happening, it’s not fair,” and he could get angry with the company and with management. Every day Bill would feel more and more stress, anxiety and anger. He would carry this with him and it would begin to affect his life at home, and his relationships.

The other alternative is that Bill could acknowledge what’s happening and the fact that he could be next to go. Then he could consider what might be the best course of action – perhaps he could be looking for another job now, before the worst happens. Or he could make the decision that it’s better to stay and see what happens. Even if he chooses to stay, he can still be on the lookout for other opportunities.

What I’ve seen happen time and time again is that someone who takes the approach of acceptance in this way will often find another job opportunity, or things will open up in such a way that leads them to something that’s even better – something they may not have thought of before.

Think of it this way – acceptance gives you energy to do what you need to do and to be in the right frame of mind to attract and notice opportunity.

Resistance, however, takes up all your energy. It depletes you and, as the saying goes: “what you resist persists.”

If you don’t like the word ‘acceptance’ because it feels like giving in, then choose another word, like ‘acknowledge.’ “I acknowledge that this is happening, now what do I want to do about it.” That’s a much more empowering way to be.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda

Take time out... When you have a long to-do list, people are counting on you, and it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in the day what do you do? If you’re like most people you push through, and force yourself to get as much done as possible. The last thing you feel you can do is take any time for yourself.

But what if taking a break (even just 5 minutes or so) to do something different, to take a walk or to sit quietly and just breathe could actually help you get more things done?

Would you be willing to give it a try? It really does work. I didn’t believe it at first either, but it does work. Give it a try.

A recent study showed that about 20% of employees no longer take a lunch break because they’re afraid their boss will think they’re not working hard enough and that they’ll be judged by their co-workers.

This can also be true for those who work for themselves, sometimes even more so. They have a lot to do, and feel that taking a break (even a lunch break) would affect their productivity.

The studies show the opposite. Taking regular breaks has many benefits, including:

• Increased productivity
• Improved mental well-being
• Boosts creativity
• Improved self-care

Plan regular breaks into your day and watch your health, well-being, AND your productivity soar.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda
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The light within... A beautiful quote. I think it’s so easy to lose touch with who you really are when you’re being pulled in so many different directions, and when you feel misunderstood or isolated. We should all help to remind each other of the beauty and strength that is in each of us.

We tend not to think of ourselves very often in terms of our strengths, or our magnificence. Instead we seem to focus on what we don’t like about ourselves, what’s not working out well in our lives and the struggles we’re experiencing.

It seems vain or selfish to think of ourselves in positive terms somehow. How do we connect with this light within us, particularly in difficult times when it’s easy to forget the good things?

Somebody shared with me recently a suggestion which I really like. They recommended writing down every day the best thing about that day. Something good that happened, something that made you feel good. You write it down on a piece of paper, fold it up and put it in a jar. Then at the end of the year you can go back and look through them as a reminder of all the good things that happened.

I think it would also be helpful to pull some of those out when you’re feeling low or are struggling. Reminding yourself of all that’s good in your life like this is a wonderful thing to do because it’s so easy to forget.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda

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Managing your energy… When you drive your car you know when your fuel tank is nearly empty. You see it on the display and you know that it’s time to fill the car with more fuel.

Unfortunately, you don’t come with a fuel gauge, so it’s not always easy to know when your energy is depleted and you’re running on empty. That’s why it’s important to become very self-aware, so that you know your energy highs and lows, you know what depletes you, and you know when your energy needs a boost.

When you’re busy and you’re being pulled in many different directions, it’s easy to force yourself to keep going. But this is like trying to drive your car without fuel – eventually it’s going to stop, and so will you. Ideally, you don’t want to get to that point.

That’s why it’s important to check in with yourself and take regular energy breaks. You might think that you don’t have time for self-care and you’ll have to get to it later. But taking care of your energy doesn’t have to be time-consuming. In fact, the more you pay attention to it, the less time it takes.

It can be as simple as stopping what you’re doing and taking 3 slow, deep breaths – focusing on your breath as you do so. That can be enough for an energy reset when you’re busy. Or you can walk away from something for 5 minutes – even 1 or 2 minutes would help.

The most important thing is paying attention to how you feel – because how you feel is like your fuel gauge. This is how you know when it’s time to manage your energy. When you feel good, your energy vibration is high and your tank is full. When you don’t feel good (stressed, angry, overwhelmed, frustrated, etc.) it’s time to pause a moment and see what you can do to take care of yourself.

You could even ask yourself “what can I do to take care of myself right now/today?” Paying attention in this way and doing small things to manage your energy on a daily basis really pays off.

Action Step: For the next week make a point of checking in with yourself several times each day and noticing when your energy is low and you don’t feel good. Identify what you can do to give your energy a boost.
 
Let this Unstoppable Affirmation support you on your journey:

My energy is my highest priority. I lovingly take care of my energy at all times.

Be Unstoppable!

Linda