Tips & Insights for Top Performance

“Fulfillment is yours

You’ve waited long enough. This is the day to take action.

The excuses are quite reasonable and understandable, and yet they have brought no value to your life.

Let go of those comfortable excuses, and step forward into the bright, direct light of achievement.

The hours in this day will quickly pass no matter what you choose to do with them.

So you might as well make full use of them to create meaningful value.

If you’re not sure what to do, take a moment and reach deep inside.

Remind yourself of the things that mean the most, and do what truly strengthens and supports those things.

If the disruptions and distractions erode your focus, reach inside again.

Commit yourself with your actions, over and over, to live true to your highest vision.

This is your life and today is your opportunity to make a difference.

Get busy, because fulfillment is now yours to create.”

Ralph Marston

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

I don’t know about you, but this summer has been flying by! As I am working with many of my clients, we are designing what they want for the fall . August is here, a few people may still be trying to squeeze summer activities in before “back to school/work” time! This is a great time to get some work done that is harder to do when people are around and demands of your time are greater. A few months ago we talked about SPRING CLEANING. Now that you have all your cleaning done, it is a great time to assess your environment for maximum productivity in the fall. While this concept may overlap spring cleaning, the focus is on preparing for the fall. An exercise that is great to do this is visiting TOLERATIONS.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer from Minneapolis, MN

• Yoga. One year the place where I worked offered lunchtime yoga. It was held several times a week and was one of the best things I did for myself. The deep breathing of yoga and the stretching calms and relaxes your body. I found myself to be slower to frustration, more alert and had an overall increase in health and flexibility. It serves to be effective and helpful for men and women the same.

• Exercise. Along the same lines as yoga, but more expansive, is general fitness time. Ideally 30 minutes a day will help to release tension and stress from your body and increase your overall energy. When you work out you tend to be mentally sharper, more alert and able to focus. This allows you to get your work done faster and better and therefore remove pressures on you that contribute to stress. The ability to manage your frustration and stay calm is helped with prioritizing regular work outs. Many people find it hard to find the time… so you can challenge yourself by parking farthest out in the parking lot, taking the stairs vs. the elevator, etc. It is hard, but start with 10 minutes a day … there are some great 10 minute work outs to get you in the routine.

• Mental perspective. Consider your perspective. Are you caught in blaming, judging, demanding, etc.? In leadership the posture of “the buck stops here” is an effective way to shift to solutions vs. passing blame. If you look at the situation, focus on the opportunity or personal challenge, it will help you to master it and get through it faster.

• Environment. Keep relaxing things in your environment. Candles, soft music, relaxing pictures, soft colors, lavender diffuser, etc.

• Count. The basic “count to 10” can be useful. Sometimes you are so frustrated you say something you regret. A hurtful word can be forgiven, but the “mark” of the word said is always there.

• Fresh air. If things are stressful, go outside. I even do this at my home office. When I feel in a rut, stressed or challenged, I take a 10 minute break and go outside and sit on our front porch rocking chairs (there is something therapeutic about rocking too). A little change of scenery can help.

What would help you? Think about what things help you relax and integrate those in your space so you are prepared the next time you are feeling a little exasperated!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

To me, bad stress “runs” you in a way you don’t want to be run. It brings out the “ugly” attributes of you and results in feeling nervous and tense.  You feel overwhelmed and drag as you have to force yourself to push through the stress. When you have this kind of stress, you want to break the cycle, even though whatever you will have to do to stop the chain of reaction will increase your stress short term. Often this is a result in getting “caught in the urgent” and more and more becomes urgent and it does not stop until there is a major event (i.e. heart attack, you get fired, your spouse refuses to deal with you anymore, etc.)

Both good and bad stress can be out of your control, and put some pressure on you to move forward. Good stress however can be an accountability to drive you to get things done (i.e. a deadline and means to get a project done), and also supports you to stay focused and on task. When you have good stress and you can properly prioritize and move forward with needed decisions and actions.  There is likely a thin line between good stress and bad stress, in that too much good stress might be the tipping point to bad stress. 

Much of life is how we choose to respond to it. When we choose to be overwhelmed by our stress it piles up and becomes bad stress. When you deal with each challenging situation that comes up and push through it, it can be a good stress that is a catalyst for new opportunities versus if you procrastinate and avoid, it can be a breeding spot for future bad stress.   So whatever the stress, break it down into bite size bits and get it done and keep moving!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN