It requires something to stand out and be your authentic self in the face of conformity.
But never forget that by doing so, you are inspiring others to do the same.
Take care
BE YOURSELF SO OTHERS CAN BE THEMSELVES
Category: Uncategorized
CARE, COMMITMENT and CONTENTMENT
3 important C’s toward success and fulfillment that I personally use:
– CARE: how much do I care about that thing I want to achieve, that mountain I want to climb? Why am I doing it, what for? What am I looking for in achieving this? Can I connect to the bigger picture of it, to what it is bringing to me, to the impact it has on others and in the world. Who do I care for in the process? Taking a look at what and who I care about beyond the things themselves also helps me prioritize and refocus when I have too many things to deal with. The more I can connect to what I care about, the easier it gets to move forward.
– COMMITMENT: Commitment is the fuel that moves us forward in the face of fear, adversity, discouragement, fatigue, doubts. It is the principle that no matter what, we will continue to climb up the mountain on the way to the summit, to create what is important to us, what we care for, and not take the easy way out. So I regularly ask myself: Am I committed, really committed? If not, what’s in the way of fully committing ?
– CONTENTMENT: Contentment brings me back to the present moment, appreciating what I have, rather than focusing on what I don’t have or what I haven’t achieved yet. While Commitment brings more of a “push through” energy, of effort, Contentment brings more of a “flow” energy, of letting go, of non-attachment, and peace. It enables me to focus and enjoy the journey and not only the destination.
In a nutshell, Commitment and Contentment in service of what I Care about.
What do you see for yourself in this?
Take care,
JUMPING INTO 2022 WITH CHILDLIKE WONDER
It’s easy to get caught up in the seriousness of things, of life, of projects, of goals, of achieving, etc… And it’s easy to take things for granted and be blasé/jaded.
So as we are heading in 2022, I wish you:
– Enthusiasm
– Energy
– Freedom
– Creativity
– Inspiration
– Magic
– Unlimited possibilities
– To not be so serious
– To let yourself be surprised (by your closed ones, your colleagues, your clients, by the unknown, by life …)
– To let yourself be filled with wonder
– To be grateful
– To live rather than just exist
Yes to goals and achieving,
And yes to life and wonder along the way !
I took this picture of one of my sons during the holidays and it so represents this feeling of freedom, enthusiasm, creativity, power and unlimited possibilities. What would coming from that place make available in your life?
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” (G.K. Chesterton)
I wish you a happy and healthy year 2022, filled with Childlike Wonder.
Take care,
Start with yourself
Last week, I attended a webinar during which the results of a survey were presented: 73% of leaders think they are engaging and motivating their people, and … 82% of their people disagree.
I connect this result to 2 things:
– Blind spots: we all have blind spots, things we can’t see about ourselves and that can be revealed only by someone or something external (a survey, some feedback, a coach, …). According to this survey, most leaders clearly have a blind spot when it comes to their capacity to engage and motivate their people.
– Intention vs Impact: I have no doubt that most of these leaders have a good intention, but their impact doesn’t align with their intention. And this statistic illustrates perfectly that we judge ourselves based on our intention, but others judge us based on our impact.
As leaders, it is critical to work on ourselves, to be aware of our blindspots and of our impact, before wanting to inspire and impact others. Our ego doesn’t like it but working on ourselves is what will inspire others to take a look at themselves.
And that is true in any area in life, at work, at home, in sport, in relationships.
How are you working on yourself?
The Power of Mental Imagery
Mental Imagery, sometimes called visualization, has been used for a longtime mainly by elite athletes to improve their performance. Most common examples are related to sports where you have some complex body moves like divers or aerial ski jumpers, or to high speed sports like downhill ski or luge/skeleton. But it can be very useful for any sport. I myself used it when I was a swimmer. I actually didn’t really know much about it, it was just a way for me to prepare and even more important, feel ready for my swim.
Mental imagery is the most powerful way to train your body and neural pathways between physical practices, to prepare for a situation and / or to create the state of mind you need. It’s much more precise to send an image to your brain and body than to try and explain it with words.
What science says about visualization:
- According to neurosciences, mental imagery impacts many cognitive processes in the brain: motor control, attention, perception, and memory.
- Mental imagery activates the same zones in your brain and the same neural pathways as the real physical activity. If you would put sensors on your quad muscles and make measurements while visualizing yourself running, you would detect electrical impulses in the muscles, meaning you are activating the same circuits in your body. This doesn’t mean you can train only by staying in your couch (unfortunately for some 😊), because the strength of the activation is much lower, but it strengthens these neural pathways.
- Images may be an efficient way of coding or representing instructions for movement.
- Mental imagery is broader than just a visual representation and should bring in the 5 senses for more efficiency (visual, auditive, kinesthetic, smell, taste). We remember much more through senses. As an example, I did a lot of skydiving years ago and the memory is much more vivid with the smell of the gas of the plane, feeling the wind and the noise when the door opens, and feeling the sensations in my body when diving than with just seeing myself dive.
How can Mental Imagery be used:
- To rehearse some specific movements and strengthen the neural pathways involved in your activities
- To prepare for various situations that might happen: visualize the ideal scenario, how you want thing to happen but also scenario A, B, C which might occur during a competition (weather conditions, being down in a game, falling in your race, etc…). If you see it in your head again and again and again, then you will know what to do when it happens and not panic. This also enables to reduce the sensation of going into the unknown and therefore lowers your stress level.
- To strengthen your state of mind (confidence, thriving with pressure, focus, resilience, etc…) by (re)playing the way you want/need to.
- To focus on the positive and get rid of negative thoughts.
- To virtually practice during the off season or when injured (rehearsing your games, your moves, your meets on a regular basis) in order to come back a step ahead rather than a step behind due to the absence of training.
For those who want more, HERE is an interesting article related to mental imagery during 2014 winter Olympics.
You can start by visualizing yourself doing your race, playing your game, or focusing on a specific goal. And find your own way to do it. It might be hard at first and take time but that how it’s going to be the most effective. Note: this can be used in your life too, before a school test, or before an important meeting. See yourself doing great, getting the results you want, and also see how things can turn and how you want to respond when that happens.
My way to use mental imagery with the athletes I coach:
I create an audio MP3, using specific techniques and skills to guide them through a specific visualization to prepare for an important event, improve some mental skills or work on specific moves and I send this audio to them. They can listen to it whenever they want, on their way to practice, at night, before a game or competition. On the long term we build a playlist with different mental imageries with specific themes (peak performance, focus, confidence, free to fail, Keep Fun, prepare for meet A or game B etc…) and the athletes can pick in this library depending on their needs.
If you are interested in using mental imagery as a tool to improve your performance and keep fun, contact me and I’ll give you an example of what it looks (sounds) like.
Take care,
Evan
Evan Bernache 