Why we lose momentum and how to avoid it!
Sometimes business is hard. If it was always easy, everyone would be successful and life would be quite boring, we’re sure. Regardless, we have never met someone that wanted to lose steam or momentum in their business or towards their goals, and, while there’s a ton of advice on how to maintain momentum we found that it’s useful to understand why we lose momentum, what causes it and how best to avoid the circumstances that lead to a loss of momentum. Now is the moment! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! Why we lose momentum and how to avoid it: 1. Lack of goals and poor prioritization Nothing is more dangerous to our momentum than not having a sharp vision on what we want to accomplish and clarity on exactly what we need to execute on to accomplish it. Often, we find ourselves easily distracted, off target and working on urgent but not necessarily important items. By maintaining clear goals and emphasizing prioritization we can keep up our momentum for long periods of time. Avoid these triggers by regularly reviewing your goals and reviewing your priorities. We strongly encourage you to have annual (or greater) goals and priorities broken down by quarter, then by month, then by week and finally by day. It’s best to start with the bigger goals first (annual or greater) so that you retain focus on your greater vision for yourself and your business. 2. Burnout Burnout is very real and becoming more of an issue every year for professionals, especially in the United States. The millennial generation has even been described as ‘closet workaholics’ and is a great example of how we are unwilling to treat ourselves to vacations or truly step away from work. The challenge is without balance and without a chance to rest is it hurts us more than it helps us. Pushing ourselves to operate daily at 100% with no opportunity to step away is like revving an engine to the red and never shifting gears or taking your foot off the gas. It’s simply a recipe for disaster. To avoid burnout, we recommend maintaining a health work-life balance and prioritizing self-care. This means that when you create your priorities and goals in the first step you include self-care and personal time in your planning. It’s also helpful to review how and where you can either automate, delegate or outsource so you’re doing less and focusing your attention on the most important tasks and not just keeping busy. 3. Perfectionism Perfectionism is impossible but it doesn’t stop many of us striving towards it. Perfectionism and, also fear of failure can lead to procrastination or filling up time we wouldn’t otherwise fill up. One of the greatest ways to lose momentum is to self-sabotage by trying to be perfect. Perfection is one of the greatest stall tactics and destroys momentum. To avoid perfection, or fear of failure, remember that it is both unattainable and unnecessary. Focus on improvement, experimentation and execution and strive for greatness and mastery, not for perfection. Do this and you’ll be able to maintain serious momentum for good! How do you maintain your momentum and avoid losing steam? Let us know at info@jbandthedoctor.com Also read: Maintain Momentum by Writing Down Your Why Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
How to run an effective mid-year review
The halfway point of the year is an inflection point in our professional success. It represents a fantastic opportunity to review our wins and misses through the first two quarters and reflect on whether we’re on track to reach our goals, within reach of them or if we may need to hit reset on our expectations. With that in mind we wanted to offer a few tips on how to run an effective mid-year review for yourself or your team. You may want to review this! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! Tips to effectively run a mid-year review 1. Prep Review your original goals and compile any of the data you need to determine if you’re on track for those goals. It’s also important to carve out the time to review and reflect. We recommend at least 4 hours for the process. 2. Evaluate When you review your goals and what you have accomplished ask yourself some questions: Where have we seen the most success? Where have we struggled? Where are areas for improvement? 3. Reflect During the reflection phase you want to check to see what if anything has changed in the marketplace since you set your goals. Have any external or macro changes occurred that require you to update the premise of your assumptions. Are there any personal or personnel changes that have impacted the goals you set in place at the beginning of the year. Be honest with yourself and your team. 4. Revisit Are your goals still relevant and achievable? Does it make sense to adjust or adapt our goals to reflect changes in our business model or to align with challenges that didn’t previously exist? These are the questions you’ll want to ask to explore if your goals should be changed. 5. Decide Your goals are either something you’ll stick with, or they are not. Do not be afraid to pivot on your goals. While we, without much information, lean towards staying consistent with your goals, life and business are dynamic and so there are times that are goals must be as well! 6. If necessary, set new goals and strategize If you decide you need to set new goals, be as hyper realistic as possible in setting them. You’re making changes for a reason, after all. Address for some optimism bias and plan for how shifting your goals can impact the short-term as well as the remainder of the year. 7. Commit Don’t allow emotion to get in the way of achieving your new goals. Adjusting goals is not a failure, it’s a measured response to changes in your business that need to be implemented. By following the process before you can come to an informed decision and should have the confidence to proceed towards your new goals with gusto. Go get them! Mid-year reviews are powerful exercises that challenge the status quo and allow you to realign yourself with the true north of your business. Reflection and honesty are key to empowering a great mid-year review. By carving out an appropriate amount of time and addressing shifting market conditions and team conditions in a timely manner you’re setting yourself and your business up for a much stronger second half of the year. What’s your mid-year review process? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
Tips to Effectively Communicate Trust
Trust is the foundation of all relationships whether they are professional or personal. Trust influences the quality of our interactions and our well-being. Understanding what trust is and what it is composed of will help us strengthen our connections with others. In this blog we’ll offer some tips on how to effectively communicate trust so you can develop stronger and more lasting relationships. Trust us to know! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! The two dimensions of trust: Credibility Trust This is the can-do trust. It’s trust that you’re capable, competent, and proficient in the work that you do. Credibility trust is vital for establishing confidence and exuding reliability. Benevolence Trust This is the will-do trust. It’s the trust that you’ll do right by somebody and make decisions that are in the best interest of someone else. Benevolence trust is essential for creating emotional bonds and connections with others. It’s crucial in collaborating with others. Communication Tips to Foster Trust 1. Practice Active Listening People are more likely to trust you when they feel that you really understand them and that they are being heard. By practicing active listening and engaging with a speaker you can affirm their belief that you’re actually listening to them instead of preparing your responses. Also read: What is Active Listening and How to Use It! Top Tips To Excel At Active Listening 2. Be Authentic We want to know that people are being honest and one of the easiest ways to establish that with communication is to simply be authentic. People can tell when you’re being yourself and it helps develop trust very quickly. It also shows a willingness to be vulnerable which is often a great way to show someone that you trust them! Also read: How to be authentic without being cancelled 3. Follow Through on Your Word One of the easiest ways to effectively communicate trust is to do what you say you’re going to do. Trust is built over time and consistency and reliability are major factors when people judge their trust of someone else. To establish trust, long-term, be consistent and you’ll find this will help develop stronger and more lasting relationships. Be especially careful in your communication that you are being up front with others. People are highly aware of manipulation or purposeful deception or lack of communication. Between lack of transparency, inconsistency, and breaches of confidence you can quickly erode or completely lose any trust you have developed with others. How do you communicate trust? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
How to Own Your Brand and Stand Out
Branding is so much more than a logo or tagline. The best brands incorporate consistent messaging across all platforms and media to create a unified experience for the end consumer. Brands today are authentic, impactful and convey a business’s values. It is incredibly important to have a strong brand and to own it to separate yourself from your competitors and create trust with your end consumers. In today’s blog we’ll review a few ways you can ‘own’ your brand and stand out! Want to stand out? We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! We already covered why owning your brand is so important. We also recognize that most brands continue to evolve over time and we encourage everyone to consistently be reviewing their brand to make sure It continues to signify exactly what you intend! Here’s a few ways you can own your brand to better stand out! 1. Get a laser focused value proposition created Branding goes beyond fonts, logos and images and includes the value you offer as a professional and a company. Most people and businesses fail to offer compelling value propositions. Make sure your value proposition is crystal clear. People should be able to explain exactly what makes you or your products unique and worth purchasing. 2. Embrace candor Branding today is a delicate balance between authenticity and mob rule. While people crave and want authenticity there is a real risk of being canceled if your views divert from the masses. The best way to stand out today is to embrace authenticity and candor over your top values. This communicates what is most important to your consumers and shows that you’re willing to stand up for your beliefs. 3. Be consistent The biggest difference between the most successful and least successful often comes down to simple consistency. If you cherish consistency and process within your brand as a value that will permeate across all channels of your business. Consistency offers the greatest long term rewards for businesses and professionals. This is especially true within our branding. How we brand changes over time, but the importance of branding is a truism that will not go away. By understanding the importance of our brand and emphasizing our messaging and values we can truly stand out in any marketplace. How do you brand? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
Recognize the Signs: The Impact of Chronic Stress
Stress is perfectly normal and under the right conditions an extremely helpful mental state. We’d argue that stress, in the right doses, is vital to a healthy and happy life. Stress helps motivate us, helps us overcome challenges, and rise to the demands in our lives. Healthy stress is acute stress, as in we feel stress at certain points and times, it is a reaction to an incident or a moment. Chronic stress, stress that we feel all the time, is what we’d define as unhealthy stress. Chronic stress can lead to several mental health issues and impair our ability to thrive. In today’s blog we’ll discuss how to recognize the signs of chronic stress, the impact of chronic stress and some practical ways we can manage stress for greater mental wellness. Don’t stress! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! While anyone could be at risk for chronic stress, we often find that professionals and entrepreneurs are at a higher risk level to experience chronic stress during their lives. While several factors may contribute to this here are a few of the common causes that professionals and entrepreneurs experience that may lead to chronic stress: Work insecurity Money concerns Lack of community Self-doubt Any or all of these causes can create chronic stress. If you’re experiencing any of these you may want to be on the lookout for some common symptoms of chronic stress. What are some of the most common signs of chronic stress? 1. Decreased Energy Stress is a reaction that is supposed to prepare us for something. In other words, our body and our minds get us ready to handle whatever life is throwing our way. When we experience chronic stress, however, we tend to find that we have a decreased level of overall energy. In other words, chronic stress creates the exact opposite response that we’d normally achieve with healthy or acute stress. 2. Physical Symptoms Chronic stress can lead to physical symptoms such as hypertension, digestive issues, increased likelihood of illness and falling sick. If you find yourself experiencing a few physical symptoms on a regular basis you may be exhibiting signs of chronic stress. 3. Mental Changes Chronic stress may lead to changes in the way the brain functions. These changes in the brain may lead to anxiety, depression and addiction. When we consider the symptoms of chronic stress, the impact becomes glaring and concerning. Chronic stress can have a significant role in our mental and physical well being and can impact all areas of our lives. Luckily there are practical ways we can manage our stress. Play Believe it or not, playing and having fun can seriously reduce stress levels. While work can be stressful and life does not always seem fun, if we make a conscious effort to enjoy ourselves, we can really make a difference on our stress levels. Meditate Practicing mindfulness and staying present can help reduce stress levels by helping us maintain a health perspective and keep ourselves grounded in the moment. It is easy to create stress by getting stuck thinking about the past or worrying about the future. When we get better at staying present, we can greatly reduce the impact of stress on our lives. Meditation is a great vehicle to learn to be more mindful and to stay present. Get Outdoors Nature has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress levels. If you’re experiencing chronic stress make it a point to get outside at least a few times a day for 5-15 minutes. The exposure to sunlight and nature can have a wonderful influence on our mental health and wellbeing. Overall, chronic stress is a real risk we face as professionals and entrepreneurs. By acknowledging the common causes of chronic stress, identifying the symptoms to be on the look-out for and having some actionable and practice methods to manage stress we can position and defend ourselves against the risks of stress and poor mental health. How do you manage stress? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science
From Reactive to Proactive: Cultivating Intention
Acting with intention is extremely important to professionals and leaders and there are tremendous benefits that derive from being intentional. Intention comes with better decision making and discernment of opportunities, enhanced productivity, and improved focus. On the flip side, when we start to act without intention, we end up struggling with challenges like being reactive and feeling under increased pressure, wrestling with overwhelm and losing out on game-changing opportunities. In this blog we’ll discuss how we can go from being reactive to proactive and cultivate intention for ourselves and our teams. Be intentional with your business! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you Access it here! Let’s look at some practical strategies for cultivating intention in our day-to-day. 1. Set a long-term plan Long term plans are essential if we want to cultivate intention in our daily lives. It’s also important to break down the long-term plan into manageable decisions and goals that we can achieve daily. Small, manageable goals will help us act with great intention and keep ourselves pointed to the true north of our long-term plan. Also read: The Problems with Short Term Thinking and Why We Need a Long Term Perspective 2. Be mindful There are so many benefits that come from being mindful. One of the greatest must be the ability to control our immediate reactions to events as they unfold. The very best professionals and leaders have adopted and become excellent at absorbing information and asking questions before they allow their emotions and impulses to take over. By being mindful we can move from being reactive to being responsive. When we’re responsive we’re able to make the best decisions and we can find ourselves being proactive more often instead of being reactive, which is a slippery slope. When it comes to creating a culture of intention in a team or organization here are a couple of tips as well 1. Be consistent Cultivating intention requires consistency from leadership. Creating a culture that eliminates micro-management allows a leader to trust their employees to be intentional with their decision making. Since results from decisions can, and often are, different than we expect, it’s important to let our teams know that the intention behind the decision-making process is of utmost importance. 2. Eliminate Excuses and Yes People Intention requires courage and for effective leadership we need our team to be able to move and act with courage to be proactive. Very few things are more dangerous to a business or team than excuse making and people who are acting out of fear instead of being intentional when sharing their thoughts. The most successful businesspeople in the world are rarely the smartest person in the room. Be sure to encourage a culture of accountability and discourse to build a team that is intentional and proactive. How do you cultivate intention in your life or for your teams? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
Cultivating Executive Presence – A Guide for Executives and Professionals
Leadership is a skill set requiring us to constantly sharpen the ax. Developing and refining the skills of leadership has a serious return on how our team, and we, perform. Within the sphere of leadership, executive presence plays an important role of how we handle challenges and how people perceive us. In our blog we’ll explore how we can cultivate a stronger executive presence to enhance your leadership skills. We spend a lot of time cultivating the information in our guide for entrepreneurs and we’re offering it as a gift for you. We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! Executive presence can feel intangible and yet it is made up of very tangible components such as gravitas, decision making, appearance, confidence, awareness, and communication. The benefits of executive presence extend to inspiring confidence in your team, projecting authority and engage others. We’ll outline some tools you can use to develop your executive presence to the next level. 1. Appearance Although executive presence requires much more than a ‘good’ appearance, we often make impressions within half a second and appearance counts. For executive presence it’s less about defining what ‘good’ means and more about making sure we are well groomed, conscientious, and diligent in our appearance. This means that the initial driver of executive presence means preparing how we want others to view us before we ever set foot in a room (virtual or real) with them. Dress well and with intention Maintain excellent personal hygiene and grooming Display strong posture and body language 2. Confidence Confidence is the foundation of executive presence. Confidence can be established physically, vocally, and mentally. It provides your team with inspiration and security and helps you cement loyalty. Have faith in your decisions regardless of results Accept responsibility for your actions and your teams Be willing to take risks Also read: How to find and grow your confidence Tips To Build Confidence Quickly 3. Awareness If confidence is the foundation of executive presence, then awareness is the cornerstone. Understanding our own skill set, how we react and respond and how others perceive us is essential if we want to better develop our executive presence. Create a feedback loop and receive feedback from transparent and trustworthy people Understand your triggers and the red flags that identify when you are reacting instead of responding Review and assess your own skills and repeat the behaviors that are beneficial Also read: Self-Awareness: Do You Have It? Self Awareness And How You Self-Sabotage Yourself Every DayTips To Build Confidence Quickly How do you develop your executive presence? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
Productivity and Tech: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
We all want to be as productive as possible, and we’ve never met anyone who was happy filling their time with busy work (once they realized what they were doing at least). Technology has transformed our lives and continues to do so, and our default is to believe we are much more productive than we used to be. Yet by economics standards, productivity has been falling for years. What we’ll explore today is how technology influences productivity and we’ll go into the good, the bad, and the ugly of productivity and technology. It may be productive to learn that we have a free gift that you may be interested in We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! Productivity shows up with technology in the ways we communicate, the tools we use, the ability to outsource and delegate and so many more ways. For today’s article we’re going to take a look at what we consider the best benefits of productivity from technology, where it doesn’t make a difference even when we think it does and how it can actually hurt us! 1. The Good Technology has enabled us to communicate and work with other people in ways we could never have imagined in the past. Today we can communicate synchronously and asynchronously, we instantly video chat with people around the world and has truly allowed us to globalize in a way we would never have dreamed of just a few years ago. We also have access to a tremendous amount of information, nearly instantaneously. Access to this amount of information can make us all capable of doing amazing things and eliminate barriers that would have been in place for so many of us. 2. The Bad Technology certainly makes us feel more productive. But how much of what we do is busy work instead of productive. If you’re in sales this hits home when you think about all the reporting and dual reporting, you sometimes feel you must do! Constant notifications, distractions and the erosion of personal boundaries has put us in a position where we are often working and busy but not always productive! 3. The Ugly Technology makes us feel like we can multitask. Our brains are simply not wired to multitask. We are very capable of automating tasks and for some of us, we’re very good at this. It allows us to quickly shift between different tasks. But the part of our brain that consumes the most resources, the part of the brain required to solve complex and difficult problems, that part of the brain struggles to focus on one task at a time let alone multiple. In fact, that part of the brain hates working so much it often helps us reduce complexity and take short cuts instead of working through problems. Multitasking only exacerbates this. We call these heuristics and while they can be helpful, they absolutely confirm our inability to effectively multitask. We are also at risk of technology burnout and overload. With access to social media, videos, entertainment and a never-ending supply of content it’s easy to get lost in the internet and lose hours a day, week and month using technology to no productive effect. Technology addiction is real and dangerous, and we are more at risk of this today than we have ever been in the past. What do you think of technology and productivity? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
3 Easy Tips to Strengthen Your Communication
Communication skills are some of the most important skills we can develop. For many of us, our development of these skills started as children and ended by the time we graduated from school. Yet there are many powerful techniques we can implement that can easily strengthen our communication skills. In this blog we explore 3 easy tips anyone can use to strengthen their communication skills. Have we been clear that we have a free gift that you may be interested in? We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! If you want to strengthen your communication skills then check out these great tips that are easy to start using today! 1. Practice Active Listening Active listening is an incredibly simple concept that anyone can put to practice today. It requires us to pay attention to more than the words that are spoken. We can pay attention to body language, what’s not being said and carefully consider what it is someone is trying to say, not just what they have said, to achieve active listening in our conversations. 2. Reflective Language Reflective language is a way of responding back to someone that allows us to ensure we understand what they are saying. We can do this through statements or questions. A reflective question or statement confirms if we understood what was being said. Implementing reflective language means we don’t take what someone says at face value, we dig deeper to ensure better comprehension. 3. Motivational Interviewing Motivational interviewing is a series of techniques designed to help bring two different viewpoints together. Motivational interviewing can be used to help reframe, to agree with a spin or shift focus onto something to reduce friction. When we communicate with someone and feel like we aren’t getting anywhere this type of communication can be essential to making progress towards a meeting of the minds. What are some easy tips you suggest to strengthen your communication skills? Let us know your thoughts, you can email us at info@jbandthedoctor.com! Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.
Self-Awareness: Do You Have It?
We’d all like to believe we have a tremendous amount of self-awareness. It’s hard to find someone that believes they aren’t self-aware. Yet it’s also hard to find individuals that can honestly say they have spent any time being trained on how to develop self-awareness or who have dedicated extensive time into the practice of self-awareness. What’s worse research has shown, introspection doesn’t necessarily lead to better self-awareness at all and it can actually hurt us! When it comes to self-awareness, the real question is, do you have it? Are you aware that we have a free gift that you may be interested in! We put together a FREE guide identifying the Top 6 reasons businesses fail and give you actionable steps you can take on every one of these to make sure it’s your competition failing and not you! It’s our free gift to you. Access it here! 95% of us believe we are self-aware. Yet, studies suggest only 15% of us actually are! Chances are we are completely unaware of just how unaware we are (yes we understand the irony in this)! More than that, we tend to lie to ourselves about whether we’re lying to ourselves. In other words, we don’t want to admit that we aren’t aware even though we kind of understand that we’re not all that aware in the first place. Self-awareness is a skill that can be taught and developed. For some of us, a small percentage, we naturally have a high level of self-awareness. Like professional athletes, a very small percentage of us have exceptional self-awareness. The difference is, many of us grow up learning about sports, practicing and devoting substantial time to developing physical athleticism. Rarely do we find that people spend any sort of time developing their awareness to the same extend they might develop skills such as throwing a baseball or shooting a basketball. Somebody who never spent time throwing a baseball very obviously can see that they aren’t very good at throwing a ball. People who never spent time developing self-awareness, unfortunately, have no idea that they aren’t good at it. They’re blind to it, typically. It’s why we consider awareness one of the most under emphasized skills for professionals today and one of our core skills we believe every professional and entrepreneur should focus on! Also read: Self Awareness And How You Self-Sabotage Yourself Every Day Do you still believe you’re in the small group of truly self-aware people? Let us know at info@jbandthedoctor.com Did you know we work with professionals and leaders with 2 on 1 coaching that marries the expertise of a Doctor of Psychology and mindset coach with the business savvy of a former Fortune 50 sales executive. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs and professionals like you master your soft skills to evolve you to your greatest potential. To learn more about our coaching you can contact us here! Feel like you need coaching but not sure you can afford the investment in yourself? That’s ok! We have a scholarship available to diverse candidates of need. You can apply for our scholarship for our coaching and our courses here. Not enough time in the day, we get it. Check out our AYOP course, 2x Your Time, right here. We walk through everything from time management and calendar basics to how you can supercharge your days weeks and months through practices and techniques that are grounded in experience and proven by science.