Flow psychology is a state of mind in which an individual is fully absorbed and focused on a task at hand, experiencing a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment. This state of mind has been studied extensively by researchers and has been found to have several benefits. Here are the TOP 5 FACTS about flow psychology:
1- Flow is a state of optimal performance: Flow psychology is characterized by a state of optimal performance, in which an individual is able to achieve their best work. This state is often described as being "in the zone" or "in the flow," and is characterized by a feeling of effortless concentration and complete engagement with the task at hand.
2- Flow is associated with increased creativity and productivity: When in the state of flow, individuals tend to be more creative and productive. This is because flow allows individuals to focus on the task at hand, without distractions, leading to more efficient and effective work.
3- Flow state can be triggered by a variety of activities: Flow can be triggered by a wide range of activities, including sports, art, music, and even work. It is important to note that the activity does not have to be inherently enjoyable, but rather the individual needs to have a sense of mastery and challenge in the task.
4- Flow experience increases a sense of positive emotions: Flow is often associated with positive emotions such as joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment. Additionally, the state of flow can lead to a feeling of self-actualization, which is the realization of one's full potential.
5- Flow can be trained and learned: Flow can be trained through learning about it’s pillars, just like any other skill. To achieve flow, it is essential to find the right balance between challenge and skill. This can be done by setting goals that are challenging but achievable, and by practicing regularly to increase one's skills.
In conclusion, Flow psychology is a state of mind that can be practiced by anyone, and it is characterized by a state of optimal performance, increased creativity, and productivity, can be triggered by a variety of activities, is related to positive emotions, and can be learned. By understanding and learning to enter this state, we can improve our well-being and work performance.
If you’d like to increase your experience of flow, through a series of practices and methods, becoming a FLOW Certified Coach through our ICF ACSTH, ACTP and CCE accredited FLOW Coaching Certification ICF Accredited Programs please review our web site page here: https://www.flowcoachinginstitute.com/online-coach-certification/
Have a fulfilled New Year everyone!
It is that time of the year again where almost everyone is listing their New Year resolutions for 2023. As your life coach, let me remind you to focus on keeping your list simple. This time, instead of focusing on doing more, focus on doing less and you will be surprised. Also, reframe your wording and instead of resolutions, tell yourself that you are going to give these gifts to yourself in 2023. Lastly, as an inspiration I am sharing my list the gifts that I will focus on practicing more in the future.
1. The Gift of Gratitude
Gratitude has the magic of an alchemist. It draws our attention away from what is missing or not enough or not working in our life to noticing what we have and how blessed we truly are.
2. The Gift of Self-Compassion
Compassion is the gentle inner whisper that has empathy towards you and others. Compassion is about having a wisdom that says, “You’re a human. Every experience is a learning opportunity and focus on doing the best that you can, leave the rest to the universe.”
3. The Gift of Focus
The ability to focus means to make informed choices and use our life energy wisely. We might want to do so many things at a time: working, spending time on social media, socializing, gardening, reading, volunteering, learning, travelling, etc. The question is what will make the biggest impact for you in both short term and long run?
4. The Gift of Creativity
Creativity is the doorway to our soul. Engaging in a creative activity will increase your sense of flow. It doesn’t matter which creative activity you choose – whether writing, dancing, painting, filming, recording, photography, cooking or gardening… What matters is that you engage with your own creativity that will stir your soul, break the patterns of daily life, and make you feel alive.
5. The Gift of Community
Having a community is a blessing and it reminds us of the best version of ourselves as humans. We are social animals and connection is a gift that holds us together and intertwines us with others in meaningful ways. Community means that we belong to a group in this world and helps us feel grounded and centred.
6. The Gift of Building Mastery Towards Flow
Finding a passion that is meaningful for you and practicing on a regular basis to master your skill in it will increase your sense of fulfillment. As you observe yourself enhancing your skill and resourcefulness in your passion with feedback from others, your self-confidence will improve, your contentment will be developed and eventually you will experience more flow in your life.
Have you ever wondered what separates the successful from the unsuccessful? It's not always luck, or even hard work. It is often the help of a coach. Coaching is an effective and powerful tool to help individuals unlock their potential and reach the heights of success. It goes beyond providing guidance, advice, and support. Coaching provides an actionable, individualized plan that helps people to achieve their goals. With the help of a coach, individuals can identify their strengths and weaknesses, set achievable goals, and create a plan to reach their desired destination. Through the process of coaching, individuals gain clarity of thought, develop personal and professional skills, and work on their mindset, all of which contribute to their success. Coaching is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to take their life to the next level.
What Coaching Is and What It Can Do
Coaching is a process of helping someone to discover and reach their full potential. Coaches help their clients identify their strengths and weaknesses, overcome challenges, and set goals to achieve their desired destination. A coach can be anyone – a friend, colleague, mentor, or even a parent. Coaching is a form of mentorship that helps individuals achieve their goals in their personal and professional life. While mentorship is helpful in solving problems and giving advice, coaching goes beyond that. It provides personalised guidance and action steps to help people achieve their goals faster. Coaches are not therapists, though therapy and coaching often go hand in hand. Coaches help people to achieve their goals, whereas therapists focus more on issues and emotional health. Therapy can help you deal with your problems, whereas coaching will help you identify your strengths, set your goals, and achieve them. Today, therapy and coaching are often used as a combined approach by therapists and coaches.
Benefits of Coaching
- Coaching works at the emotional and behavioural levels and helps you to achieve your goals. - Coaches are people who are trained and experienced in the field of coaching. You can trust them to help you achieve your goals. - A coach provides you with useful feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. - Coaching helps you to gain clarity of thought and focus on your goals. - Coaching helps you to develop positive habits that lead to success. - Coaches help you to evaluate your progress and devise an action plan to improve. - Coaching is affordable, convenient, and accessible. - Coaching can be applied across different fields and be used by any individual. - Coaching can be done either in person, online, or with the help of a self-help book. - Coaching helps you to build self-confidence and self-esteem that lead to success.
Types of Coaching
There are many types of coaching, and some are more applicable to certain situations than others. Here are some of the most common types. - Business Coaching - This type of coaching is helpful for entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers. It helps them to identify their weaknesses and overcome their challenges to reach their goals. Business coaching is also helpful in generating new ideas, streamlining internal processes, and increasing productivity. - Executive Coaching - Executive coaching is used to assist senior leaders in their company. It helps them to reach their goals and succeed in their career. - Life Co-Coaching - Life coaching is done with clients who have a desire to make changes in their life but do not know where to start. It is a process of identifying your goals and creating an action plan to achieve them. - Health Coaching - Health coaching helps individuals to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. It is a process of identifying your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses to reach your goals.
The Process of Coaching
There are three stages in the coaching process. - Assessment - The coach will assess the client to determine their strengths and weaknesses, their challenges, and the goals they want to achieve. - Planning - The coach and the client will create an actionable plan that the client will follow to achieve their goals. - Follow-Up - The coach and the client will check if the client is following the plan, if there are any challenges, and suggest new solutions. The coaching process is a dynamic and iterative process. It is different for every client and can be changed based on the client’s feedback.
Tips for Choosing a Coach
When choosing a coach, it is important to make sure they are qualified and experienced in their field of expertise. Here are a few tips to help you choose a coach: - Ask yourself what you want to achieve and choose a coach who specializes in those areas. - Find a coach who can help you achieve your goals. - Find a coach who can help and guide you through the process of achieving your goals. - Find a coach who you can comfortably talk to, and with whom you feel safe. - Find a coach who is approachable, listens to your concerns and feedback, and is willing to help you with your problems and challenges. - Choose a coach who is reliable, genuine, and trustworthy.
The Power of Coaching for Success
Coaching helps you to develop clarity of thought, focus on your goals, and eliminate distractions that can take you away from your path to success. It helps you to identify your strengths and set goals to achieve them. It helps you to develop positive habits that lead to success. It helps you to overcome challenges and achieve your goals. It helps you to build self-confidence and self-esteem that contribute to success. It helps you to understand your emotions, thoughts, and behaviour and make the right decisions. It helps you to manage your time and reach your goals faster.
Conclusion
Coaching is a powerful and effective technique that helps individuals achieve their goals. Through the process of coaching, individuals gain clarity of thought, develop positive habits, and work on their mindset, all of which contribute to their success. Coaching is a process that helps individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and create an actionable plan to reach their desired destination. With the help of a coach, individuals can achieve their goals faster.
Having the ability to reflect on your personal leadership development, as well as that of your team, company or organization, is a key component of growth. An effective way to facilitate this self-reflection is by asking yourself challenging questions. These questions can help you uncover new insights and rediscover strengths you may have forgotten about or taken for granted. Working on self-reflection can be a challenge for most leaders, especially in fast-paced environments with constant pressure from stakeholders, peers and direct reports. Self-reflection requires us to pull away from the noise and get in touch with our inner voice. It’s not always easy, but it’s essential if you want to strengthen your performance as a leader and grow personally.
What did you do well?
By definition, personal development is focused on growing, learning and improving. You can’t grow if you don’t acknowledge your strengths — both as a leader and as a person. Take some time to reflect on the aspects of your leadership that you feel most confident about, and why. For example, you may feel proud about having achieved a significant goal for your team or organization. Or you may feel good about how you’ve helped a peer or direct report overcome an obstacle. Collective examples of what you’ve done well can provide an excellent starting point for self-reflection. You should also celebrate your team’s successes. Sharing the wins of your team members can help you identify your own strengths. It can also help you feel more connected to your team, which can be particularly important if you work remotely...Read More
Where did you fail?
In addition to reflecting on what went well, you also need to identify your failures. Take some time to consider situations where you fell short of expectations or failed to meet your own standards. You can do this both at an organizational level, like with a specific project, and at a personal level, like with your productivity. You may also want to take a look at your team’s shortcomings. Have your direct reports fallen short of expectations, or have they failed to meet their own standards? By examining the areas in which you failed, you have the chance to learn from your mistakes and avoid them in the future.
What surprised you?
When you first started your leadership journey, you probably didn’t expect certain aspects of the job. Take some time to reflect on the surprises you’ve encountered. By reflecting on the surprises in your leadership journey, you have a chance to identify recurring themes. These themes can help you discover new insights about yourself and your leadership style. For example, maybe you’ve been surprised by how stressful your job is, or how much time it takes away from your family. These are important insights because they can help you determine the areas where you need to grow and learn. They can also help you understand the areas in which your team members may need assistance or development.
What would you change?
With any aspect of your leadership journey, you’re going to make mistakes. These mistakes — especially early on in your career — may have serious consequences, like losing a client or losing the trust of a direct report. Taking time to reflect on the mistakes you’ve made can help you avoid them in the future. You can also use your mistakes to help others. For example, you may have a friend who is just starting out in their leadership journey. You may be able to help them avoid the mistakes you made by sharing your experiences. This can be a great way to use your mistakes for good and help others avoid costly errors.
Is there something missing?
As you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your successes and failures, you may find that there’s something missing from your leadership toolkit. This could be a skill you need to be effective as a leader or an area of knowledge you’d like to explore. For example, you may need to improve your public speaking skills as a way to better engage your team members. Or you may want to learn more about how to manage stress as a way to improve your health and happiness.
Which of your strengths should be forefront?
As you reflect on the different aspects of your leadership journey, you may notice specific strengths popping up frequently. You should try to keep these strengths forefront of your leadership style. For example, if you see that you’re good at communicating with your team members, you should keep this strength forefront of your approach. This may mean making communication with your team members a priority. It may also mean making sure that you’re connecting with them in the right way, like having regular one-on-one meetings.
Which of your weaknesses need addressing?
Now, let’s turn our attention to the weaknesses you’ve identified. What weaknesses have you noticed in your leadership style? What areas do you feel you need to address so that you can become a stronger leader? What is the root cause of your weakness? Why are you being held back? Where have you been unsuccessful? Why is this important? We all have our own unique challenges as managers, leaders and professionals. By identifying those areas where you need to grow, you can take action to address those weaknesses. What are your weaknesses as a leader? How can you address those weaknesses and become a stronger, more effective leader?
Which habits will help grow your strengths and address your weaknesses?
Now that you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, you might be wondering, “What do I do now?” A great way to keep yourself accountable and moving in the right direction is to create a list of habits you want to cultivate and adopt. What habits will help grow your strengths? Which habits will help you address your weaknesses? What are the habits you want to cultivate as a leader? How can you put these habits into action? Why is this important? When you put your weaknesses on the table, you’re more likely to feel overwhelmed and defeated. But when you focus on your strengths and adopt the right habits, you can begin to feel empowered and confident in your abilities as a leader. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What habits will you cultivate to help you grow as a leader?
Conclusion
A great leader knows when to step up, when to step back and when to step away. It’s important to know yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses. It’s also important to know when to apply those to your position and when to step away from a situation. By asking yourself these self-reflection questions and getting honest with your answers, you can begin to understand where you succeed and fail, and you can use that knowledge to grow as a leader.
As another year comes to an end, we will be looking back at the past months and reflecting on what has worked so far and what hasn’t. With the new year around the corner, the excitement of starting something new is with us too. Let’s use this positive energy to transform our mistakes into wisdom and envision a future that is meaningful for us.
How Was 2022 For You?
2022 was a transitional year for everyone, after staying home for two years a lot of people needed to go back to the office or the school. So many people reflected on their lives about what they want, what is meaningful and not, what is their life purpose and are they aligned? Additionally, especially younger work force has decided that they would not stay in a place where their values are not appreciated. With that, and big acquisitions of corporations such as Twitter, we had a tsunami of resignations, layoffs, and resentment to work.
What a year we’ve had!
Personally, I believe that these fluctuations are great as they help us to steer our direction towards our life purpose and push us to seek flow of our lives. So, maybe it is time to ask ourselves these existential life-coaching questions:
What do I want to do with my life?
Who do I want to become?
What is a meaningful future for me?
What makes me happy?
What makes me unhappy?
What kind of flow do I want to create in my life?
When it comes to the New Year, the one thing you will hear from everyone is - Resolutions. Especially with the last few years we have had, we can see that everywhere on social media there is wishful thinking, manifestations, resolutions, and we could go on...
We all want to live our best lives. We want to exercise more, be more mindful, meditate more, earn more money… check off the things off our bucket list and more. Then, a few months down the road, we get distracted and start to find excuses to avoid. Then, we feel guilty and worse than before.
In a survey with our FLOW Coaching Institute network, almost 50% of the people told us that they break their New Year Resolutions in 3 months and the main reason is their lack of commitment.
What Can You Do to Overcome the Resolution Resistance?
Flow Coaching Institute has coached, and mentored hundreds of people and we find that there are a few things and questions that you can do and ask yourself to pick the best resolutions for you and be able to stick with them.
Most of the time, we don’t ask ourselves the right questions and we tend to follow what everyone else is doing without looking internally and realizing what the best goals and resolutions for us in our current time are and being now.
Questions to Ask Yourself to Resolutions That Resonate
2. What are the 3 main things you like doing and would love to do more of?
3. Which 3 main areas do you want to evolve in?
With these self-reflective life coaching questions, now you can curate a resolution list that is more effective and productive. Prioritizing is the key to success in anything you can think of. This principle applies to new year resolutions as well. This way, you are more inclined to want to see it through because is it deeply rooted in the way you want to grow, be, and show up in the world.
So, there you have it - our thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions, keeping them, maintaining them, and thriving at them.
We wish you all the best and for a much more eventful 2023 ahead for you.
How do you maintain your New Year’s Resolutions? We would love to hear from you!
What is business coaching?
Business coaching is a process that helps individuals and organizations achieve their goals. It’s a partnership between a coach and a client, in which the coach uses their experience and expertise to help the client achieve their desired outcome. Coaching is based on a relationship between equals, where the client is in charge of their own success. The coach is there to support and facilitate the client’s success, but they don’t do it for them. Coaching can be used in a variety of settings, from one-on-one coaching to group coaching. It can be used to help individuals achieve personal goals, such as becoming a better leader or to help organizations achieve their goals, such as increasing sales. In the corporate world, coaching is often done in groups, where leaders can support and challenge each other to help them achieve their goals.
The benefits of business coaching
There are many benefits to business coaching, one of which is that it is a sustainable process. It’s a continuous process that allows people to develop new skills and strategies for the long term. It also helps individuals become self-aware — that is, they become aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and inner thoughts and feelings. This self-awareness empowers people to make better decisions in their professional and personal lives. It also helps people to live more authentic lives, where they are comfortable with who they are. Business coaching also gives people a safe place to explore their options. It gives them time to reflect and experiment with new ideas and strategies. This is especially important when people have pressing issues they need to solve. For example, if you’re experiencing difficult relationships with certain people, business coaching can help you gain the insights and tools you need to move forward in a positive way.
The role of business coaching in the corporate world
Business coaching is a growing field, and its popularity is on the rise. In the corporate world, coaching is often done in groups. This is because the process of coaching is more effective when several people do it at once. You can get the most out of coaching when you’re in a group of people who are at a similar level of development. When you’re in a group, you can learn from each other and challenge each other to help each person grow. Business coaching groups are led by a coach, who helps the members challenge themselves and each other to help them achieve their goals. Coaching groups are often used in organizations to help leaders and managers improve their skills and become better leaders. For example, coaching groups can help senior leaders become more effective mentors and coaches.
How business coaching can help you grow
When you work with a coach, they help you identify your goals and create strategies to achieve them. They help you to identify and overcome the challenges that are holding you back. They also help you to create a plan for implementation and follow up to help you stay on track. Business coaching can help you to become a better leader and manager. It can help you to build stronger relationships with your team members, customers, and colleagues. It can help you to become more confident in your abilities and be more assertive when necessary. It can help you to become more effective in your job by increasing your productivity. Business coaching can help you develop your career and be successful in your job. It can help you to set and achieve your goals, both short- and long-term. It can help you to improve your communication skills, leadership skills, decision-making skills, and productivity.
Conclusion
When you work with a coach, you are choosing to invest in yourself and your professional development. Coaching is a proven process that can help you achieve your goals and be successful in your job. Business coaching can help you to become a better leader and manager, improve your communication skills, and become more effective at work.
Confidence and self-esteem are two of the most important aspects that drive our behaviour, thoughts and habits in life. Having high self-esteem and confidence is not something that you are born with. It is a set of skills that needs to be developed over time. Everyone struggles from time to time with their self-confidence and self-esteem but it’s how we deal with those challenges that matter in the end. Having low confidence and self-esteem can have negative implications on your personal relationships, performance at work or school, hobbies, and almost every other aspect of your life. Luckily, there are many ways to increase your confidence and boost your self-esteem through self-coaching and confidence-boosting life coaching skills support. So, read on for our practical tips on how to build confidence and self-esteem
Be Realistic
When we struggle with low self-confidence and self-esteem, we often fall into the trap of being too pessimistic about our abilities in every aspect of life. We are overly critical of ourselves and others, and we focus more on our mistakes than on our successes. Being overly pessimistic is not a good basis to build self-confidence or self-esteem. So, the first step to building confidence and self-esteem is to be more realistic. When you are not feeling that confident, stop and ask yourself what is the reason behind it. It will help you to gain a more realistic perspective on the present situation and allow you to take more informed actions that can help you to overcome your challenge. It is important to understand that we all have strengths and weaknesses. No one is ever perfect. Accepting your imperfections and being realistic about your abilities is a big step towards building more confidence and self-esteem in life.
Change Your Perspective
When you are struggling with low confidence and self-esteem, it can be helpful to change your perspective on the situation. For example, if you are struggling with a personal relationship, instead of focusing on what you have done wrong and the other person’s mistakes, focus on your strengths and the other person’s best qualities. It will help you to reframe the challenge and open up new opportunities to solve the problem. In the example of a personal relationship, it will help you to gain a new perspective on the relationship that can help you to make it stronger. When you change your perspective in life, you can also change your feelings, thoughts and actions.
Build a Stronger Self-Image
A lot of confidence and self-esteem come from the image you have of yourself. It’s how you perceive yourself and feel about yourself. It’s important to try to build a stronger self-image so that you feel better about yourself and your abilities. There are many ways to build a stronger self-image, for example, by identifying your strengths, practicing gratitude, setting goals, and visualizing success. It’s important to learn how to build a stronger self-image because when you have a positive view of yourself, it will help you to avoid comparing yourself to others, it will help you to forgive yourself when you make mistakes, and it will allow you to forgive others more easily as well. It will also allow you to set higher standards for yourself and to dream big in life.
Confidence Exercises
There are confidence-building life coaching exercises that can help you to boost your self-esteem and confidence in life. For example, identify a goal that you have been putting off and visualize yourself achieving that goal as if it’s already happened. It will help you to believe in your own abilities and give you the motivation and energy to put in the effort towards achieving that goal. Another great confidence exercise is to create a positive self-talk list. Every day, write down the things that you do well, things that you like about yourself, and all of the positive aspects of your life. It will help you to acknowledge your strengths and build a stronger self-image that will help you to boost your confidence and self-esteem in life. There are many other confidence exercises that can help you to build confidence in life. Try to identify which ones work best for you and start implementing them in your life.
Developing Self-Esteem
Another important aspect of building confidence and self-esteem is building self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to your view of yourself and your sense of self-worth. It is essentially based on the way that you think and feel about yourself. It’s important to identify the thoughts and feelings behind your low self-esteem and then learn how to change them so that you can build a higher level of self-esteem in life. There are many ways to build higher self-esteem and there are also many ways to destroy your self-esteem. For example, when you are struggling with low self-esteem, it can be helpful not to compare yourself with others. It will only bring you down and make your negative feelings about yourself stronger. Instead, try to focus on your own strengths and positive aspects.
Conclusion
Confidence and self-esteem are two of the most important aspects that drive our behaviour, thoughts and habits in life. Having high self-esteem and confidence is not something that you are born with. It is a set of skills that needs to be developed over time. When you are struggling with low confidence and self-esteem, it’s important to be realistic, change your perspective, build a stronger self-image, and develop higher self-esteem so that you can boost your confidence and self-esteem in life.
Did you know that 70% of resignations happen because of the relationship with managers? Surprisingly, we still see so many authoritarian leaders, who ‘tell’ or ‘direct’, in today’s organizations. There are times when this style of leadership works, but there are other times where it does not. In today’s fast-paced business environment, it is so risky to rely on one person to know everything and have the majority of the decision-making power.
Coaching leadership style is the opposite of knowing everything and telling everything. Instead of directing, coaching leaders ask their employees for their opinions and involvement. Coaching leaders want their employees to own their responsibilities and initiate their responses. They help their employees identify their strengths and weaknesses, and coach them on their personal and professional progress. Coaching leaders do not focus on past mistakes and failures, but rather on learning for future possibilities and increasing their potential. They encourage their people to establish goals and help them conceptualize a plan to attain them. These types of leaders are not afraid of providing constructive criticism as this information is beneficial to the recipient. When they facilitate performance evaluations, they always complete them with a personal and professional developmental plan.
Coaching leaders have a growth mindset; they would like to see their employees pushing their limits and skills, using their knowledge, and challenging their capabilities as this has a direct impact on business. Employees are given stimulating tasks and assignments and they are coached along the way to ensure greater success.
Many leaders believe that learning how to coach is a time-consuming luxury. To them, focusing on business and telling people what to do is better. In the day-to-day happenings in a business this approach may be easier, but in the long-run it can be detrimental. With coaching leadership, employees learn and grow to be quality contributors which in turn ensures success for future strategy and research that will have a positive long-term impact on business. It may appear contradictory, but the coaching leadership style is used more in corporations of fast-paced emerging markets than in North America. In many emerging markets, as the growth rate is high and population is young, they need their leaders to be involved with and responsible for the growth of their employees. In those organizations, coaching direct reports and supporting their progress is one of the top KPIs (KPI: Key Performance Indicator).
Bottom line? Leadership is not a title or position - it is a skill and as the world changes, the managerial requirements change. Coaching leadership style is another skill set that today’s contemporary leader must have in order to lead successfully and have quality relationships with employees. It is not a luxury.
The pressure at work is increasing, and that’s taking a toll on employee wellbeing. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 62% of workers reported high stress levels in their job. Unfortunately, stress is also one of the main causes of performance problems at work. When your stress levels are high, it becomes more difficult to concentrate, you make more mistakes, and you get exhausted faster. Stress has such a negative impact on your performance because it lowers your cognitive abilities and makes you less able to focus on what’s important. Understandably, people become anxious in high-stress situations. And this is good news: We can train our brain to react differently when we feel stressed. The bad news is that this is not an innate response but a skill that needs to be practiced over time. Here are some suggestions on how to reduce stress and perform better at work:
Make your working environment more comfortable
If your physical environment is cramped, uncomfortable and generally not conducive to work, you’re going to feel stressed. You might have a small office with poor lighting, a loud and disruptive environment, or no privacy. You might be expected to use a computer that is slow or old, or you might have a ten-hour workday with no breaks. All of these things and more can cause you to feel stressed. No one’s job is perfect, but you can always try to improve your situation. Ask yourself if your work environment supports you, or if it’s actively hurting you. If it’s the latter, speak up! Your health and productivity are worth it.
Practice breathing exercises
Breathing exercises are one of the best ways to relax and relieve stress. When you’re stressed, your breath becomes short and shallow. Deep breathing exercises, on the other hand, are proven to reduce stress and improve focus. The best part? You can do it anywhere and it takes only a few minutes. The simplest breathing exercise is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Start by inhaling for a count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. And exhale for a count of eight. Repeat this for about three minutes. This exercise trains your body to respond to stress in a less reactive way. Try it on your next extremely busy day, and see if it helps you to stay calm and focused. The other benefits of breathing exercises are that they can improve your mood and relieve mild anxiety and depression. They can also lower your blood pressure, which is great for your overall health.
Schedule time to de-stress
As many employees tend to do, you might be trying to fit everything in and do everything as quickly as possible. This leads to stress, and eventually, a drop in productivity. When you’re feeling stressed, take a few minutes to de-stress with a technique you’re comfortable with. This might be a breathing exercise, or it could be a short meditation session. If you’re new to meditation, it might take a while before you feel the benefits. Be patient, and don’t give up. Meditation is a skill that needs to be practiced over time before you see results. If you’re a fan of physical activities, try yoga or a stretch routine. If you prefer a less active approach, try reading a book or listening to music. Whatever you do to de-stress, try to make it a regular part of your day.
Meditate regularly
Meditation is the practice of focusing your attention on the present moment, without judgment. There are many different types of meditation, and it’s important to find a type that works for you. You can try different types of meditation to discover which ones work best for you. Benefits of meditation include reduced anxiety, less stress, and improved focus and clarity. It can also help you sleep better and reduce your overall feelings of stress. Regular meditation can help you perform better at work, improve your relationships, and increase your overall well-being. If you’re not used to meditating, start with just five minutes. You can do this while sitting or lying down. You can do it anywhere and at any time. Try to make it a part of your daily routine. The more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more benefits you’ll see.
Exercise and get enough sleep
Physical activity is not only good for your health, it’s also a great way to reduce stress and improve your focus. If you have a busy work schedule, it can be difficult to find time to exercise. Luckily, exercise doesn’t have to be a long and drawn-out activity. The Harvard Business Review recommends micro breaks as a way to refresh your mind and give yourself a boost of energy when you’re feeling stressed. Even a short activity like taking a walk or lifting some weights can help relieve your stress and give you clarity. Make sure you schedule enough sleep in your workday. A good night’s sleep has many health benefits, and it can also help you reduce stress. Getting enough sleep gives you more energy and reduces your stress levels in the long run.
Conclusion
Stress is an inevitable part of life — it’s how you handle it that matters. With self-awareness, you can choose how to respond to challenges at work. You can learn how to reduce stress and perform better by making your work environment more comfortable, practicing breathing exercises, scheduling time to de-stress, meditating regularly, and exercising and getting enough sleep.
Start building your dream life now by becoming a certified professional business coach and working from anywhere and everywhere!
Jodey was an HR Business Partner in a Canadian company when she started FLOW’s online-live Business Coaching ICF Certification training program. After completing Modules 1-5 of the Business Coaching ICF ACSTH Certification, Jodey continued with Module 6 and completed the All-Inclusive Advanced Certification. While she was still a student coach, Jodey kept coaching her colleagues, friends, and peers in the program. She had this dream of skipping the Canadian winter by working remotely. Becoming a certified business coach was not only a way of increasing her skill set, but also giving herself the life that she had dreamt of. She set herself a three-year time frame and built up her clientele in that period. At the end of the third year, she had 12 individual clients and 3 corporate contracts that allowed her to rent a house in the Caribbeans for 6 months and work from there. Since then, Jodey has been living abroad for six months and coaching from anywhere and everywhere.
FLOW’s online Business Coaching Certification training allows Jodey to work with entrepreneurs as well as executives. Because of her background, Jodey is comfortable in helping businesses and managers to create a cultural shift in their people and culture policies, strategies, and executions. With the coaching certification, she has gained new tools and techniques that enable her to work in this context and become a business coach aka ‘successful change agent’ she always wanted to be.
Interested in this success story since you have similar goals?
Now is the time to turn your daydreams into reality!
Take a look at the ICF 60 ACSTH Business Coaching Certification Program as your first step and plan the path towards your future that is full of flexibility and freedom that you’ve been wanting!