Attending to and amplifying our senses in the moment

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Attending to and amplifying our senses in the moment helps us capture and keep our memories.

—Calm App Reflection

Barry with his Son-in-law and grandkids

During our Father’s Day holiday, we were fortunate to celebrate with beautiful weather and time swimming with family.  After sunscreen is applied, it’s the wet stuff until Mother Nature calls!

Following these quick breaks and a fast bite, it’s right back into the pool to dive for colorful plastic rings, float on tubes, and some chicken, star, rocket practice for our 2 ½ year old granddaughter.

As the day wound down, my grandchildren were given a gift from their older cousins. Inside a hatbox sized container were a variety of superhero capes and masks that they were clearly too old for, at the ages of 10 and 11.

In minutes both kids — and some of us older kids — were playfully dancing together to make a memory we’ll never forget.

EXERCISE:

Where and when were you last fully tuned into your senses?

How did this amplification of the moment help you capture this never to be forgotten event?

The more you are interested in others, the more interesting they find you

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“The more you are interested in others, the more interesting they find you.  To be interesting, be interested.”

—Kevin Kelly, Author of Improvised Life

Image from Unsplash by Towfiqu barbhuiya

How do you demonstrate your sincere interest in others? A quick and easy coaching technique is to master your use of open-ended questions.

Placing the words who, what, where, when, why, or how at the beginning of these questions works magic because they cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.

To go a bit deeper and discover more about these people, layer with another open-ended question by using a piece of their initial answer. Doing so shows that that we are listening, and honor their views and perspectives.

Beneath these two approaches is the fact that you are showing genuine interest in their favorite subject, which for virtually all of us is ourselves.

EXERCISE:

If you are interested in more tools to enhance your relationship skills, please email barry@dempcoaching.com with the subject Communication Tools/ Masterful Relationships

 

Our awareness is like an open sky with clouds passing by

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“Our awareness is like an open sky with clouds passing by. Take your time to let things float by at their own pace and appreciate the view.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Philipp Potocnik

Being productive has always been a high priority for me. I’ve always considered a day with little or no evidence of accomplishment something to avoid at all cost. The more points I put on the board the better.

The idea of laying back and letting the world float by just seemed way too passive. How else was I to scale life’s mountains without breaking a sweat?

With a few more decades under my belt, I can now see more clearly that learning to take in the wondrous views of life are indeed active and productive things to do.

EXERCISE:

How can you more actively examine the open skies of your awareness?

What new sights might you see by taking a much closer look at things coming into view?

“The great man is the one who does not lose his child’s heart.”

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“The great man is the one who does not lose his child’s heart.”

—Mencius, Ancient Chinese Confucian philosopher

Image from Unsplash by Lauren Lulu Taylor

The Pocono Mountains are a special place for me. For the first eleven years of my life, I went to summer camp there with my family. My dad was the camp director and we all had a two-month vacation, first staying with my mom and then as campers.

The camp was sold at that point and it wasn’t until I was 24 that I rediscovered this special area by buying into a time share which we’ve used for the past 40 years.

This year, we had the extra special treat of have both our adult children — now 36 and 38 — along with our two delightful grandchildren to relive and renew our child’s hearts.

EXERCISE:

What people, places, and things help you tap into the exciting and playful aspect of life?

Explore your trustworthiness

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Explore your trustworthiness. From there look for this and other similar qualities in yourself and others.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by KVST

They say Birds of a Feather Flock Together. What kind of bird are you? Create a list of different birds and see what qualities come to mind when you personify their attributes.

Here is a short list to get you started:

  • An eagle
  • A flamingo
  • A penguin
  • An owl
  • A seagull
  • A swallow

EXERCISE:

What bird(s) best personify you?

What qualities do they represent, and how have you applied those qualities to attract others into your flock or tribe?

Friday Review: Ambition

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Friday Review: Ambition

How well-defined are your ambitions? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

“Ambition is a get-a-head-ache.”

 

 

 

“If you’re too busy to sit for 10 minutes you need to sit still for an hour.”

 

 

 

“The forced separation from ordinary ambitions temporarily right sizes one’s life.”

 

 

 

 

 

“I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.”

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“I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.”

—Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan

Perhaps no other event personifies today’s quote than the Olympic games. This summer over 10,000 athletes will compete in their chosen sport after spending the majority of their lives preparing for this moment.

When not physically practicing, they are also conditioning their minds and their indomitable spirits to take on the best in the world — which includes themselves.

EXERCISE:

In what ways have and are you taking the necessary steps to be prepared for life’s opportunities?

Who are the coaches and other people supporting you to grow and stretch to be your very best?

You can raise the bar or you can wait for

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“You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it, but it’s getting raised regardless.”

—Seth Godin, American author and a former dot com business executive

Image from Unsplash by Meghan Holmes

The 2024 summer Olympics begin on Friday July 26th. If you’re a fan like me, you’ll be tuned into this global event, watching over 10,000 athletes pursue new levels of excellence and those elusive medals.

My coaching career was inspired by the 5,000+ athletes and 2,000+ coaches at the 1992 Barcelona games.

Seeing the correlation between coaching and the highest levels of performance in sport inspired me to raise my own bar of achievement and help others pursue new levels of success in their personal and professional lives.

EXERCISE:

Where in your world do you see the bar being raised to new heights?

How and in what ways are you preparing for your personal Olympics with the goal of having a gold medal life?

Self-delusion is pulling in your stomach when you step on the scale

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“Self-delusion is pulling in your stomach when you step on the scale.”

—Paul Sweeney, Member of the Scottish Parliament

Image from Unsplash by i yunmai

How often do you find yourself operating as your own PR firm, with your inner voice painting a rosy picture?

How often do you try to fool yourself by denying the realities about you and around you?

Many people do this with their personal appearance. In our youth-worshiping world, we often compare and contrast ourselves to those genetically lucky folks with perfect figures and six-pack abs.

Our propensity to judge others and ourselves can be a constant source of dissatisfaction and denial.

Looking back at the starlight from earlier times only makes us miss the current moments we’re fortunate enough to experience.

EXERCISE:

In what ways are you deluding yourself from seeing the realities of your life?

How would a more honest and objective view of things lighten your load and improve your overall attitude?