Choosing meaning with intention

Leaders are constantly required to interpret complex, ambiguous situations. Whether it's a missed target, a team conflict, or a career crossroads, the story you tell yourself about what’s happening will either empower you or hold you back.

As a coach, I help leaders explore the stories they are living by:
· Is this challenge a threat, or a signal for growth?
·  Is that tension in your team a problem, or an invitation to lead differently?
· Is your current frustration a dead-end, or a turning point?

Reframing isn’t about denial or false optimism. It’s about choosing meaning with intention. It’s about emotional mastery. It’s about creating space to respond rather than react. And I think it’s one of the most powerful tools in a leader’s toolkit. If you are at a place where your old stories are not serving you, maybe it’s time to rewrite them, with support from a coach. Contact me via email to book a free 30 minute discovery call.

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You Know What I Mean

We currently live in an information-rich, time-poor world and as a result, it is easy for us to behave like rats - in other words, we see an opportunity (stimulus) and we jump at it (response). The great thing about being human (aside from our ability to use a TV remote) is that we can exercise choice. So unlike one of B.F. Skinner's rats, our behavioral equation is Stimulus > Choice > Response.

The challenge is that sometimes we move so fast we whoosh right past our choice and feel like we are simply reacting to the multitude of stimuli - demanding customers, boss' deadlines, screaming children, "you've got mail" notifications, web page pop-up ads, Facebook status changes, GPS voices telling us to "veer right", text tones on our phones, etc. So, to help you intentionally respond to inbound opportunities and requests, here are four useful questions:

1. Does it interest me?

2. Do I have the resources (skills, money, contacts, knowledge) to make a positive impact?

3. Do I have the time (our most precious resource) for it?

4. Can I make the personal commitment necessary to be successful or fulfill the demands?

These questions reveal a thought process that highly successful people use to live intentionally. They never lose sight of the "C" - choice.
The choice is ours. Our success can be accidental or intentional. Choose to live intentionally.

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Stimulus > Choice > Response

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Victor Frankl

We live in an information-rich, time-poor world, as a result, it is easy for us to behave like rats. In other words, we see an opportunity (stimulus) and we jump at it (response). The great thing about being human (aside from our ability to use a TV remote) is that we can exercise choice. So unlike one of *B.F. Skinner's rats, our behavioural equation is Stimulus > Choice > Response.

*B.F. skinner was an American psychologist who developed the Theory of Operant Conditioning. The idea that behaviour is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again.

The challenge is that sometimes we move so fast we whoosh right past our choice and feel like we are simply reacting to the multitude of stimuli - demanding customers, boss' deadlines, screaming kids, requests to volunteer, web page pop-up ads, Facebook status changes, "you've got mail" notifications, GPS voices telling us to "veer right", text tones on our telephones, and on and on.

So, to help you intentionally respond to inbound opportunities and requests, here are four useful questions:

1. Does it interest me?

2. Do I have the resources (skills, money, contacts, knowledge) to make a positive impact?

3. Do I have the time (our most precious resource) for it?

4. Can I make the personal commitment necessary to be successful or fulfill the demands?

These questions reveal a thought process that highly successful people use to live intentionally. They never lose sight of the "C" - choice.

The choice is ours. Our success can be accidental or intentional. Choose to live intentionally.
Contact me here to book a 1:1 session