It's official. Fall is here. And how does that work for you?

For some, turning leaves bring the excitement of cooler air and holidays to come.

For others, they bring an uneasiness. School calendars are getting jammed. And yikes! Before we know it, the holidays will be here. And cold weather, too.

This issue we'll look at some techniques that can help you rise up from fall and other life challenges, understand better what makes you tick in a crowd, and communicate more memorably - like good poets do.

• Plan your busy day the night before for a smooth exit in the morning. Great starts tame chaos.
• Be clear about what you're actually in control of and what you're not. Then work on simplifying those in-control areas.
• Pay attention to how you're responding to the out-of-control areas. Do you immediately jump to the worst-case scenario, or assume the more likely outcome?
• Savor and celebrate those moments that go well.
• Get some sleep!
• Surround yourself with those who cheer you on and make you feel good about yourself.
• Be one of those people - to yourself and others.

In her latest book, Rising Strong: The Reckoning, The Rumble, The Revolution, social scientist Brené Brown, recommends serious soul-searching when we fall to serious adversity.

Rather than gloss over failure and heartbreak as a stepping stone to success, she sees failure as the hurtful place where courage is tested, values formed, and all-important grit developed.

Those who rise strong after a failure have learned, she says, to engage their creative processes and also have developed a spiritual practice, which could be as simple as teaching, leading, parenting, or asking for and receiving help.

 

 

Do you sometimes feel very outgoing?  Other times want to be off by yourself?

 

Could be that you're neither an outgoing extrovert nor a more introspective introvert. You may instead be an ambivert, someone who's at a midpoint on the continuum between the two.

 

If you are, it can be good news. Ambiverts are said to be flexible, able to adapt to contexts and situations more easily than more extreme types. They offer a good balance between extreme sensitivity and domination. And they tend to be intuitive.

 

As author and career analyst Daniel Pink puts it, ambiverts "know when to speak up and when to shut up, when to inspect and when to respond, when to push and when to hold back."`To find out whether you're an ambivert, take his quick online assessment  

   

Copyright 2015 Pat Snyder