I was running a few mornings ago, planning how to address my challenges for the day as well as my idea for this coaching tip, when I turned on to a road and was greeted by a sight of the dawn coming up behind a hedge and through some clouds.
The beauty of this image instantly shook me out of my thought processes and took me to a feeling of gratitude, mixed with inner contentedness and a sense of positivity. I do realise that the thought of running 5 miles (mostly) in the dark does not easily conjure similar feelings for some of you, but allow me my eccentricities.
Anyway, what it felt like to me was that I had taken off my "problem solving" lenses and replaced them with my "thankful and at peace with the world" set through which to view the world.
This, in turn, made me curious about the different lenses through which I most often view the world.
Some of the lenses I'm aware that I look through are my "'money is hard to come by" pair, my "this is going to be tough" pair, my "you're going to be really negative about this" pair and my "I'm hopeless, just as I thought" pair.
As you might expect, life is not very exciting, full of energy or fulfilling when I choose to wear any of the aforementioned lenses.
However, I have also been known to wear my "everything is aligned to help and support me" pair, my "life is perfect exactly the way it is" pair and my "today just could be the best day of my life" pair.
Like my "grateful, content and positive" pair of lenses that slipped on to me while I was running, the latter set are all inspiring, energising and hugely motivating.
What I've found is that although it's not easy to slip on the most empowering set of lenses at will, it does help to spend some time and thought examining the typical lenses I most often wear. It's also helpful to stop, take off the lenses and check which ones I'm wearing when life feels less than it could be.
So, what are the lenses you wear most often?
Which of those lenses help you feel empowered, energised and inspired?
Which of the lenses have the opposite effect?
Which ones are you wearing right now?
Anyway, time to put on my "this is definitely good enough as it is" lenses.
See you soon.
"Supercoach" by Michael Neill. I have already recommended one of Michael Neill's earlier books, "You Can Have What You Want" in a previous coaching tip a couple of years ago. This is another good book with several exercises that I found fun and useful (the "10 types of goals and wants" exercise and also "Waking up your dream" spring to mind).