As part of re-branding, I'm doing a new site. It's been a good exercise in getting clear on who I am, what makes me distinctive as a coach and how I can help others. I'm writing a section on my beliefs, because what I believe drives my actions. How I experience the world influences my behavior.
Recently, I shared this section with a friend, and based on her reaction, I thought it might be useful to share it here. Why wait until the new site is done, right?
So here's what I believe:
About Careers and People
- Career changers don’t want a new career. They want career integration—incorporating more of who they are into their work.
- Your best work is an expression of who you are. It is wholeness personified.
- Everyone has a story, waiting to be told.
- Genius is inside each one of us. Brilliance emerges when we detach from our ego and walk our own path.
- Everyone is creative. Your “level” of creativity is based on the story you tell yourself about being creative.
- We each have the opportunity to tell and live a better story.
- Everyone has thought leadership. Thought leadership is the application of your wisdom to your work.
- Everyone has wisdom, born out of one’s life experience.
- We need role models. They give us hope.
- Role models are no different than other people, at their core. Role models are susceptible to all human frailties. The difference is that role models have allowed their core to be seen by others.
About Human Behavior
- Your internal creates your external. All external goals start with your internal state of mind. This is especially true with career goals.
- Vulnerability is incredibly powerful. It has the ability to create seismic shifts in broken relationships, attract good-hearted people into our lives, and heal deep wounds.
- Tragedies bring people together because it generates vulnerability and compassion.
- Humility, in its purest form, is magical. You cannot be bought and for that, people will love you. False humility is a form of self-loathing.
- People act out of their deepest fears, no matter how remote the possibility is of their fears being realized.
- People dismiss their greatest strength, no matter how pervasively and intensely that strength is known by others.
- The need to belong is a powerful motivator.
- People yearn to be seen, but they are afraid of being fully seen.
- Our children reflect back to us the love and respect that we have for ourselves.
About Stories
- Messy stories contain great learning and big gifts.
- Telling Stories = Making Meaning
- Each person has a distinctive theme that runs throughout their life, independent of position, job title or role they are playing. Identify your theme and you will know your place in the world.
About Being Productive
- We are slowly killing ourselves in the name of productivity. What’s needed: More being, less doing. More reflection, less reactivity. More connecting, less transacting. Quality thinking over quantity achieving.
- Most problems, on most days, can be solved with a long walk.
- Pacing yourself is the key to productivity.
- Emotional distress is an invisible poison in the waters of productivity. It takes a larger toll on our daily lives than most people realize.
- Managing your energy well is one of the best things you can do for yourself. For most people, this takes a lifetime to learn.
About Life
- Light and dark co-exist, side by side. When you can see both, life becomes much easier.
- The answer is not “out there”. It is inside of you.
- Before true happiness comes peace.
- The Universe gives you exactly what you need, when you need it, and no sooner.
- What comes around goes around. There is karmic justice.
- Commitment trumps passion. I can be passionate without commitment and the world does not change. But when I commit, something in the world shifts.
- Being gracious is a lost art.
- You learn a lot about yourself when you examine your beliefs.
What do you believe? Add your comments below.
About Careers and People: when people are given only a paycheck, they will care about nothing else.
About Human Behavior: There is a marked difference between self awareness and self management. Understand your volume control knob.
About Stories: Everyone has a story. Does it define your or add to your glory?
About Being Productive: Stop being busy. Going all out is not progress.
About Life: Relentless optimism is my friend. Shit works out for me because I simply believe it will.
Posted by: KB | October 08, 2013 at 05:17 PM
The vehicle one takes on the path to discovery is fueled by curiosity. Curiosity is quenched by stories. The more people we meet and talk with on the path, the more we'll learn and the more potential role models we'll have. The other thing as we move along our path; the more respect we pay to those who help us and the more we help others, the more opportunities we have to be recommended. This is the key driver behind one of my two initiatives and it so dovetails into your beliefs Carol!
And the other initiative is all about authenticity. Too weird!
Posted by: Dave Rothacker | October 22, 2013 at 05:00 AM
Carol,
I read through your latest ezine this morning end-to-end. Thank you--you're Awesome, and I love that you're sharing your gifts with the world.
I'm in a reflective state today, as I just had Orthognathic jaw surgery yesterday, and i'm in recovery mode. All is going fabulous, and i'm enjoying my reading time.
Your "What I Believe" list is inspiring--thank you for sharing this. It sparks a few thoughts for me:
"Light and dark co-exist, side by side. When you can see both, life becomes much easier." -Carol Ross
About 4 years ago, I had the opportunity to see Debbie Ford LIVE @ Principia, an annual Leadership conference I go to that we have discussed previously. Debbie used to work with Deepak Chopra, and then found her own calling. I found out just recently that she passed away earlier this year of Cancer. However, the legacy she has left behind is inspiring. She created a movie called "The Shadow Effect" that specifically addresses the light and dark in each of us. She made it her purpose to help people come to peace and embrace their shadow, and thus in the process, transforming thousands of lives for the better.
You can learn about Debbie here: http://www.debbieford.com/
The Shadow Effect here: http://theshadoweffect.com/
I watched the entire movie again recently, as it is currently available on YouTube (with Romanian subtitles :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSJ9tgh_BXs
====================
Most of the items on your Belief list resonate with me and I believe many of them are based on universal truths. I imagine you may have read, and possibly talked about "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. The simplicity of these 4 agreements are SO POWERFUL. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is on a journey of learning more about who they are.
I am currently finishing up the sequel called "The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self Mastery". Ruiz revisits the Four Agreements from a new perspective that is magical before introducing the Fifth Agreement. So many of the items on your list are validated in this book.
Thank You for just Being You! -SRD
Posted by: Shawn Davison | October 22, 2013 at 11:18 AM
KB--Thanks for contributing your wisdom (pithy and concise) to this thread. Much appreciated!
Dave--you and I have a shared love of learning and being givers. It shows up in both our beliefs and actions, doesn't it?
Shawn--I had that same surgery about 15 years ago, to correct TMJ, so I can sympathize! I'm guessing you are on a liquid diet for awhile--at least that was part of my recovery phase. I hope you continue to have a smooth recovery.
I discovered Debbie Ford's work this year, right after she died, and read her book, The Secret of the Shadow. Powerful stuff. I love the compassion and courage that comes with her approach to embracing both the light and dark. Her take on life is inspiring. It must have been quite an experience to see her speak. Thanks for the links to her work.
I have read the Four Agreements and it's been awhile. They deserve a re-reading, as I agree they are both simple and transformative. Had not heard that there is a sequel but it sounds like it's worth checking out. So many books, and so little time! Thanks, Shawn, for your thoughtful comments and kind words.
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Posted by: facebook adsense | November 19, 2013 at 11:03 AM
this is soo nice. thank you for it.
Posted by: maryjane | June 28, 2017 at 05:50 AM