Best of Ourselves

Focus is a key for elite athletes -- it not just the physical practice that makes them great, it is the mental game as well.  What can we learn about focus that might apply to us. Lessons from the book Mind Gym by Gary Mack.

In this edition of "The Best of Ourselves" with Marcia Hyatt - we are not wired to savor the positive moments in our life, yet if we do, we can cultivate resilience, better relationships, health and an overall sense of well-being.  According to the most recent book and research by Barbara Frederickson, we can learn how to increase our positivity ratio.

Marcia Hyatt is a leadership and life coach and a regular guest on WTIP's North Shore Weekend.  Each week, Marcia explores what we can do to be intentional, creative and joyful in our lives.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons: Thumbs_up_by_Wakalani.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

In this edition of "The Best of Ourselves" with Marcia Hyatt - How do we hold our hearts open when people disappoint us or see things differently than us? Reflecting on Parker Palmer's most recent book, Healing the Heart of Democracy and an earlier article, "Politics of the Broken Hearted".

Marcia Hyatt is a leadership and life coach and a regular guest on WTIP's North Shore Weekend. Each week, Marcia explores what we can do to be intentional, creative and joyful in our lives.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons - by Frank Vincentz.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A community is a place where we can be ourselves.  The irony is for us to fully blossom as individuals, we need the support and lessons from community. It is a both-and deal.

Dr Brene Brown's work on shame and vulnerability helps us understand how universal shame is; we can be more resilient with shame.  Vulnerability is what lies beneath shame and is the place of creativity and connection.

The choices we make compose our life.  And often we do not see them as choices.  We get locked into this is the way things are, there is nothing I can do.

We can learn how to increase our positive self talk and curtail the inner critic.  Using lessons from neuroscience and the work of Carol Dweck, we can change our inner dialogue. It is not easy, but it is possible!

How do we bring compassion to our conversations?  How do we extend compassion to ourselves when we mess up?  From the work of Crucial Conversations and Self Compassion

Gallop has done research on how well and how often we use our gifts -- it seems we  have an opportunity gap.  What are our gifts or strengths and how do we deploy them more often?

Synchronicity, a term created by the late pyschologist, Carl Jung, is a form of meaningful coincidence.  Marcia describes how she started to pay attention to John O'Donohue after his name and work came up over and over again.