Today, I'm sharing with you the message I shared with my Fearless Leadership Mastermind group. I get the sense that it will help you, even if to serve as a reminder to take proactive action to set yourself up to feel better when you start your workday.
Every week, we, a group of smart and talented women and me, gather over Zoom video in a vibrant, safe Mastermind Circle. At the end of each weekly meeting, I send a recap with the most significant takeaways and highlights of the topics and strategies we discussed.
I feel immense gratitude and excitement for the opportunity to support them along their leadership journey, week after week, and to learn from them as much as they learn from me and each other.
Not only do we help each other up-level our leadership and develop practical skills, but we also get to discuss topics and challenges we're facing, which we don't feel comfortable or safe sharing with our colleagues at work.
I'm in awe of how much trust and vulnerability we have toward each other and the wisdom that we collectively share while supporting each other when each of them is in the coaching seat.
Here is a sample list of topics and tools we covered:
How to manage negative self-talk.
The value of building relationships.
The power of being open and flexible instead of wanting to control everything.
The difference it makes to show up vulnerable to discussions and adding value by sharing your opinion.
Trusting that you and others are resourceful. We don't have to fix "all" the problems.
Shifting from "tactical" to "strategic" as we move up the ladder.
Networking to create job opportunities.
Leveraging your superpowers, e.g., creating cohesion among several generations of workers.
Balancing collaboration, teamwork, and street smarts to avoid being taken advantage of by opportunistic colleagues.
Mindfulness and staying in the "meeting."
To give you an idea of the nurturing environment and safe space that we create together, these are the powerful and inspiring words we used to part from each other at the end of our last session.
LOVE. BLESSED. HOPE. FLOURISHING. CHEERFULNESS. GRATITUDE.
In my email after the Mastermind Circle, I also congratulated one of our students who completed all seven modules!
The Mastermind program includes 14.5 hours of video training and immersive exercise Tools, which all students can access on-demand, from anywhere, any time.
She finished all of it, and when I asked her, "Tell us a little bit about how you went about doing it. Because I know we are all doing a lot of stuff with work and home?” Her answer was straightforward. She said, "I did exactly what you said, Ginny. I built-in the time. I used the time when I was walking my dog to listen, then went back to write notes." She added, "It has to be in your practice. Otherwise, things get pushed to the side."
And isn't that the truth! If we don't create a regular, consistent "practice" that includes what you want to accomplish, the minute we run into a snag or an obstacle, we give up. Game over. We stop and move on to continue to struggle without an end in sight.
Develop Your Practice
So, here's the rest of the message I gave this group of resilient women and to you now for FREE. Please keep in mind that I'm sharing it with love and compassion. My intent is to support you. This is what I said.
If you and your loved ones are safe, and you are struggling most days, experiencing many negative emotions throughout your workday, ask, "What practices am I following daily to support myself?" You may realize that you either do not have any, you do, but you are not consistent with the self-care practices you know.
As soon as my students start, the first thing I teach them is how to build a healthy foundation to become a fearless leader. How? They learn daily practices focused on gratitude, mindfulness, physical, emotional, and even spiritual self-care for those who follow a spiritual practice.
In my email to the group, I reminded them of this.
Ground yourself daily.
Daily. Daily. No excuses. Grounding, connecting, being in gratitude, setting your intention for the day is a practice that will support your personal and professional well-being as you show up to your roles, your relationships, and for yourself in your life.
For them, in the Fearless Leadership Mastermind Program, I teach them multiple valuable and reliable tools I know and engage them to identify the ones they will implement in their own practice. We also help each other weekly in our nurturing community to stay in momentum and commit to our self-care.
For you, who most likely don't have this type of support, I'm sharing my Inspired Morning Practice with you today. And if you do have a support system like ours, please reach out and leverage it.
If you don't have a connection or grounding practice, I invite you to consider creating one. For some, it is a daily connection time, tapping into your source of inner strength, or a higher power, meditation, journaling, giving thanks for things you are grateful for, simply connecting to yourself for five, ten, or 20 minutes.
After following a connection practice consistently for 30 consecutive days, what you'll notice is that it becomes a new "good" habit. It will help you walk through your day more mindful, present, and grounded.
The more you do it, the less reactive and more responsive and thoughtful you become. You get to make better decisions and simultaneously build caring relationships, instead of snapping at loved ones or teammates out of frustration or impatience.
I often hear people say, yes, I know about meditation. Or, yes, I know about eating healthy or exercise, etc. Yes, AND there's a big difference between knowing something and doing it. We typically do not follow through on many things we know are good for us.
When we leave our mental state to "chance," we are choosing to gamble with our mental well-being, leaving our peace of mind to the whim of our million-year-old brain.
Have you noticed how our precious gray matter can quickly sabotage us over and over unless we get a hold of it? Unfortunately, this undisciplined mindset also rears its ugly head to influence what we eat and how we choose to move our bodies to stay vibrant or not.
How you feel is evidence and a reminder that it is critical to take your self-care seriously. Why? Because you matter more than anyone.
Without you being "good," you can't support those that matter most in your life successfully or focus on what you want to accomplish.
Bringing it all together
Whenever you've been on a plane, hopefully, that will happen again soon, remember what the flight attendant or a video explains if the cabin loses pressure? They always direct us to put on the oxygen mask on ourselves first. If we are not well, we render ourselves incapable of helping others.
So, you see, focusing on your self-care is the opposite of being selfish. Your regular self-care practice allows you to bring the best version of who you are to your roles, to feel and perform at your best given the circumstances.
How will you plan to self-care regularly?
What are you willing to do to make it happen?
Be intentional about it. Plan it. Schedule in on your calendar, set the alarm on your phone, or whatever it takes, and you will get it done!
Stay safe, prioritize your self-care, and let me know how it goes. If you find these insights useful, share it with your friends and colleagues who could also benefit.
Now more than ever, it's clear to all of us that we're not here forever. Our life is precious. Let's make it count.
Don't hesitate to reach out for support! info@executivebound.com or www.callwithginny.com.
With love and appreciation,
Ginny
Are you struggling with a work or career-related issue? Book a complimentary strategy call today. I will give you my undivided attention and use my unique value proposition to help you identify your most significant challenges quickly. We'll even begin to strategize on the right plan of action that will support your needs and desires.
We want to serve you with what you need support the most! Here are some ways in which we can do this together:
#1 - Check out our virtual, proven career and leadership training:
Learn the #1 success secret to becoming the highly impactful, influential leader you are meant to be without sacrificing your well-being. Get the details here:www.fearlessledershipmastermind.com
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#4 - Read our book, Fearless Women at Work: Five Powerful Strategies to Thrive in Your Career and Life!
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About Dr. Ginny A. Baro
Dr. Ginny Baro is an international speaker & executive coach, and the #1 bestselling author of Fearless Women at Work. She is the CEO and founder of ExecutiveBound™ and Fearless Women @Work™ and the creator of the innovative and proven method, C.A.R.E.S. Leadership Success System™.
Ginny specializes in helping executives develop great leaders. As a career strategist, she partners with talented individuals who are navigating a corporate hierarchy or transitioning into an entirely new phase of their professional careers.
She has successfully facilitated leadership training and coaching programs for global companies with over 140,000 employees and delivered keynotes impacting international audiences larger than 7,000 people.
For over two decades, Ginny held multiple Director and senior leadership roles in financial services and technology. Her academic degrees include a Ph.D. in Information Systems, an MS in Computer Science, an MBA in Management, and a BA in Computer Science and Economics. She's a Mastermind Professional and Certified Professional Coach (CPC), accredited by the International Coach Federation. For more information, visit www.executivebound.com.
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