Trusting Your True North in Uncertain Times

When things slow down or we feel uncertain, as is typical with uncertain times like those we are currently experiencing, the first thing people often do is start to question themselves or what they are doing.  "I'm doing all the right things, why isn't my business growing?  Maybe I just better go get a job,"  I hear small business owners say.  "Perhaps this isn't the direction I am supposed to go in," is another common comment that often finds its way into coaching sessions.

Truth has its own timing.  When you are in alignment with your own True North, you may find that the circumstances you desire take time to show up.  So what do you do while things are getting in the "right" position for you to step into or new doors to open?

Be patient, but don't just wait around.  In my 30+ years of being self employed, the greatest thing I found to help bind my anxiety was "Action ceases panic."  I would make a list of the things I wanted and was working towards, and then I would brainstorm all the small and large actions I could take to help bring them into the world.  That list often included:  networking in new areas or with new groups of people, learning a new skill that would help me be a better consultant and leader, or offering my services to people or companies who could not afford them.  These activities often got me additional visibility and new connections.

But there was one additional thing that I did to keep myself focused and aligned.  I would sit down, close my eyes and ask the universe to show me what was the next thing I was supposed to do.  This simple, but potent act, helped me to reconnect to my own True North and also restored my faith and reminded me that the universe was always acting on my behalf.  I simply needed to trust that fact and keep focused on my goal(s).  

What do you do when you are feeling uncertain? See if you don't have a set of tips you can share with others too - email them to your colleagues and friends, you can bet they will be happy to get them!

ReWiring Your Brain

This year more than ever, my clients have been complaining about feeling distracted by a multitude of issues.  The news, the political shifts, organizational cut backs, restructuring, lay-offs have taken up a lot of their time and energy in our "new economy".  Did you know that you can change your response to these shifts in your environment?

According to Dr. Ellen Weber, you can tweak your amygdala (that tiny sac of neurons responsible for reactions) and make it work for you.  "Simply act deliberately in the opposite direction of any negative or moody feelings,"  she suggests.  She also encourages you to disagree with the brain in mind which rewires your brain.

You can also change your brain by using a visual image of that which you want versus don't want.   What do you want to experience?  Calm?  Clarity?  Control?  (yeah, right!)  How about creativity?  Shift your brain by imagining what it would be like to be completely feeling that feeling, no matter what your outer experience is like.  Get into it, that's right, crawl inside.

Now let's add a visual to accelerate bringing what you do want to you.  Imagine yourself using this quality effortlessly in your world.  Hold that image as long as you can until you actually relax into it and begin to "daydream" about other ways of using it.   Let's turn up the heat in that daydream by adding a symbol that will help keep you on track in your daily life, when you are not daydreaming. 

Imagine that someone you know and trust enters the scene in your mind carrying a gift box in their hands.  Hear them say, "Inside this box is a symbol that represents what you most want right now in your life for you to use as a tool in your outside world."  Take the box from them, open it up and see what is inside.

When you keep your critic, judge, paternal adult out of the room of your imagination, you will actually see something in that box.  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Do this exercise until you do see something.  If you are not successful after a day or two, ask for something to stand out in your everyday life to let you know that IT is your symbol.  Each time you see that symbol, it will remind you to refocus on that quality, thing or goal that you want.

Your mind is a powerful tool.  It needs you to refocus it on what is most important.  With all of the flurry of change that is now a constant state, it is up to you to take the helm of your mind and  rewire it, and in every moment, you can.