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Archive for May, 2010

The curious case of stress

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

curious“I have no special gift – I am only passionately curious”
- Albert Einstein

A curious mindset, it turns out, is not only essential in the development of science but is one of the key ingredients in reducing stress and promoting change.

Have you ever tried to control or push away the feeling of stress, because you really didn’t have time to be stressed? You probably felt you put lot’s of energy into it, not leaving much attention left to the things you really wanted to do. Maybe it was a project you wanted to start, a decision you needed to make or you just would have loved to spend time with your family.

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Who is on your support team?

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Bridging the East River by Randy Wick / © Some rights reserved.

I frequently talk to people who struggle with the experience of being alone when facing change. They don’t think they can call on a friend or family member and feel overwhelmed at times. Here are some tips that can help you build your own support team.

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Do you know your why?

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

start-with-why1

How come that some people, businesses or leaders are more successful than others in inspiring change? According to Simon Sinec inspiring people act from the why and not from the what. Those who know their purpose, act from it and live by it are more successful than people who don’t. Knowing what really matters to us keeps us motivated to take steps and work towards our goals. In an earlier post I emphasised that change starts with clarifying what is important to you to set goals and take actions that are aligned with your purpose. So, when have you last asked yourself the question:

Do you know your why?

Video: Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher engaged in bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society. He is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, and founder (in 1979) and former director of its world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic.

This is an inspiring talk by Jon Kabat-Zinn he gave at Google. It is not only a great introduction to mindfulness and its benefits. Jon also spends part of his talk on actual teaching us how to meditate. I invite you to meditate along and learn how to follow your breath and how to become aware of being in the present moment. I am sure you will enjoy this experience.

Here are some quotes I liked:

How to cultivate a beginners mind.
Examine, who am I?
Let’s just start from the beginning.
We only have moments in which to live.
The only time in which our life is unfolding is now. And now has some very interesting properties…

A fresh sheet of paper

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

sheet-of-paperOut of a simple sheet of paper emerged a beautiful fish…

Yesterday, I saw a video showing the transformation of a sheet of paper into an origami fish. The process involved many steps of folding, opening up, going back to an original starting point, folding again, turning and folding. All this seemed to take commitment, vision and trust for a beautiful fish to emerge. You can make almost anything out of one sheet of paper.

Imagine all those possibilities in your life, if you could start with a blank page. Nothing is holding you back. Grab a sheet of paper and create your own vision. Imagine there is nothing on it, no commitments, no due-payments, no responsibilities, no long to-do lists.

Now, write down what your ideal life looks like, how you want to be in your life, in your relationships, at work. What are the things that are really important to you?

I am curious what comes up for you. What are the things that you do today that support or undermine your vision?

THE MAKING OF AN ORIGAMI KOI from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

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