MIND newsletter: Zoom in, zoom out
Happy Saturday everyone! 😉
1. M (Challenge your mindset)
Winter is not my favorite season. But thanks to it, my favorite plants and trees get time to rest. Look at how gorgeous they are every spring.
We often notice the beauty of nature when flowers are in full bloom, when green leaves color the grey tree in our backyard. But we hardly lay our eyes on those ugly branches in dormancy, thinking that they are lifeless.
We behave exactly the same in our life and the lives of others. Glorious moments are celebrated while all struggles to get there often go unnoticed. We enviously look at others’ success and attribute it to fate, and luck. We painfully drag ourselves through the “winter season” of our life or our career, not knowing that it’s indeed the time our vitality comes fully charged – we are alive more than ever.
Humans are organic beings, part of nature, just like the trees you can see out your window. Trees don’t forever flower or constantly produce fruit. They go through cycles of growth and productivity and then must shed their leaves and rest before blooming again
The whole universe has its cycle. So does our mind, body, and spirit.
2. I (I’m my own coach)
Richard Bolles, through his words, brought me to career development – the beginning of a spring season in my life. So as spring dancing in all corners of MTL, I’m reminded of his 5 rules of dealing with changes:
1/ In the midst of all the changes you are going through, always look for the things that remain constant.
Find a firm piece of ground to stand on.
2/ In the midst of all the changes you are going through, search for the largest context you can find for viewing those changes.
Zoom out – expand your horizons
3/ In the midst of all the changes you are going through, learn to break things down into their component parts.
Zoom in – small components don’t seem intimidating as the change itself
4/ In the midst of all the changes you are going through, work constantly on developing alternatives.
Always have what’s next if…
5/ In the midst of all the changes you are going through, act, then reflect; act, then reflect; act, then reflect.
A continuous yin and yang cycle of action and reflection
4. D (Do)
If you have to pick a message to put on a billboard for thousands of people to see every day, what would it be?
References:
- Book The Adult Years: Mastering the Art of Self-Renewal by Frederic M. Hudson
- Book The Career Counselor Handbook by Howard Figler and Richard Nelson Bolles
