Finding Opportunity in Frustration

Each of us faces days where we just don’t “have it.”  Those who rely on the spoken word find difficulty with expression and annunciation.  Others that exert themselves physically find their strength compromised and stamina diminished. Writers experience “block.” Athletes such as baseball pitchers can’t seem to direct the ball over the plate; golfers struggle for solid impact with their 2-iron.   When these times occur how do you compensate? I posed this question to an executive client recently.  A bright young man, he was sharing with me his philosophies for communicating with not only peers and subordinate staff, but customers as well.  Highly and impressively articulate during our conversation verbiage seemed to flow effortlessly from his tongue.  It was clearly apparent that he had a remarkable gift for dazzling people with linguistic mastery.  His response to me about compensating for his “off” d...

Life has a rhythm. Sometimes it’s upbeat and snappy; other days it’s a slow methodical grind. I lead several group exercise classes each week as a Spinning Instructor.  One of the critical elements in facilitating a cycling class is establishing a tempo that appeals to the “mind-body” connection of a workout.  Participants will be any or a combination of visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners. Choreography, music, and tempo are important.   For example, while the music of the theme song to “Rocky” blares in the background I might instruct the class to: “Put on light gear...In 15 seconds we’re going to do a 20 second sprint… Visualize  a flat road and  feel  a light breeze…Match the beat of the music you  hear  with your cadence…Let’s go!” Now that you’re either invigorated or worn out, how do we apply rhythm, cadence, and beat to our days? For as long as I can remember weather has held a fascination...