Thanks to those who joined us for our Ask the Expert conversation with Nicola Ries Taggart, coach and creator of the Calm the Chaos journal and card deck. From a personal perspective, this was an incredibly timely conversation filled with lots of practical tips and strategies.
Here’s the link to the session and, as always, here are my personal big 3 takeaways:
1) Create a New Transition Ritual
Since the start of Covid, many of us have lost our ‘transition’ time – whether that be the lack of commute to work, the time spent walking the hallways of our offices to get from one place to the next or the simple space that’s created between your morning coffee and your work ritual. Work has seeped into these transition spaces and overtaken all areas of our lives. It’s time to create some new transition rituals to build buffer and boundaries. Rather than letting work seep into all our ‘found time’, what new rituals can you create that replenish and rejuvenate?
2) Find Your Buoy
With the pandemic came an opportunity to pause and, alongside it, the pressure to do something ‘important’ with this ‘gift’ of time and space. The pressure to reinvent a career, write a book, finally renovate that bathroom etc has made many people feel like they’re falling short on accomplishing something meaningful. Rather than trying to launch a new grand plan, consider finding a small project that can act like a buoy in the middle of the uncertain psychological storm that all this uncertainty is bringing. Choose one small action and get intentional about sticking to it. Drink that glass of water before each meal. Do 10 pushups before bed. Clean that corner of your closet that’s been driving you crazy. Each small action brings a sense of calm and accomplishment. And small actions, over time, add up to big psychological benefits.
3) Simplify and Prioritize Self-Care
What can wait until tomorrow? Rather than adding to your to-do list, continually review what you and your team can STOP doing. Check in with yourself to see how you’re feeling in each moment and then dig deeper when you hit feelings of dissatisfaction and overwhelm. What do you want to feel instead and what will help you get there? For high performing, over achieving types, this exercise can feel uncomfortable but it’s important to challenge ourselves to think about self-care as a high performance super power instead of something that feels indulgent. Practice being mindful in the moment to bring more calm to both your inner and outer worlds.
To grab your own copy of Nicola’s Calm the Chaos journal or card deck, go here. And check out Nicola’s complimentary Winning and Well-Being Guide plus Workbook available at nicolataggart.com
See you next time for Ask the Expert on November 11th when I’ll be joined by Amy Laski of Felicity PR who’ll be sharing her first-hand secrets to leading virtual teams and creating culture at a distance.
