I AM TAXONOMY PAGE

Chapter: UAE

Sustaining Employee Engagement During This Pandemic

Marna used to think of herself as a team player. She was the one who brought balloons and cake to the office for everyone’s birthdays. She used to make a point to walk around and say hi to every member of the team at least once a day. She was the first to contribute in brainstorming exercises, and often the last to leave the office at night.

Then one day, she was told to stay home. “Work From Home,” they called it. Suddenly remote work was not an exception to the rule, it was the rule. She received an email telling her that if it wasn’t necessary to come to the office, she shouldn’t. Instead, she should work from home.

This was a dramatic change for Marna, who was used to shaking hands with her colleagues every day, setting the bar for energy and enthusiasm in the office, and caring for the social environment of her colleagues. Now she was alone, in an empty apartment, struggling to remain connected and engaged.

There are only so many Zoom calls you can take in a day before the frustration of never being able to make direct eye contact start to wear on you. And pyjamas are so comfortable, and Netflix so accessible, and the refrigerator so close-by. It wasn’t long before Marna’s quality of work started slipping. Instead of charging through her work, she started “getting through the day.”

Months later she was allowed back to the office, only to find that on a day to day basis, dozens of her colleagues were missing due to “close contact” and quarantine restrictions. The office she was so looking forward to returning to had become a ghost town. And since half of the staff was gone, the meetings were still online. And that meant there was still no eye contact. The isolation she felt at home was bad enough. Now, she felt it at the office as well.

It’s a sad fact that the flexibility that comes with remote work is often accompanied by social isolation and disengagement. Many of my clients are struggling with change fatigue and digital burnout among their staff, and they’ve been sharing stories with me about how historically high performers like Marna are finding it hard to remain engaged in the new norm. If that describes you or your team… here are three tips for improving employee engagement during a global pandemic.

1. Flexibility: Encourage your staff that are working remotely to work during times that are conducive for them. With the exception of meetings that they should attend, employees will work better if they can work at their own high functioning times. Some people function better at night, others in the morning. Having that flexibility can help employees stay engaged.

2. Mental Health Checks: Employees won’t tell you if they’re struggling with loneliness, depression, or isolation, so you’ll need to ask. Remember, they’re humans not resources, so they’ll have hard times, and the isolation of an empty apartment and remote work can be mentally draining for people. Humans are social creatures, so make sure to ask about your teammates’ emotional support structure and mental wellbeing.

3. Over-Communicate: Without the break room chitchat and the water-cooler gossip, remote workers are missing out on a lot of the informal information sharing that usually goes on at work. So even though we are still receiving emails and making calls, we might not realise

that the general quality and volume of information goes down considerably when we’re not in the office. As a rule of thumb, you should be checking in on everyone every day, and meeting on video chat at least twice a week.

These quick tips will help employees remain engaged while working from home. Humans haven’t evolved to live and work in isolation from each other. So managers and leaders need to work extra hard to keep remote workers engaged and bonded with their teammates. If you are struggling with managing remote teammates, consider checking out my course Managing Remote Teams here: https://learn.drcorrieblock.com/courses/managing-remote-teams

If you are struggling with your own mental health during a time of quarantine or remote working, remember that what you’re feeling is very human. Reach out to a mental health professional, or send me a message and I’ll try to help.

Starting young- Helping youth truly live up to their potential

Do you remember being 13 or 16 or 18 years old? 
 
If you were like me or like hundreds of other teenagers it is a time of confusion, lack of confidence, and lack of awareness in oneself. It is also a time when you often look in the mirror and may not like what you see. 
 
I vividly remember my awkward teen years. I went through a period of intense awkwardness and an ‘ugly duckling phenomena’ inside and as a result on the outside. A teenager who really did not have any confidence and could not live up to peer pressure. 
 
As an educator and a life coach I quickly came to realize that I had not been alone, many teens all over the go through the same painful experience. If not handled properly, unfortunately, many adults carry those invisible scars with them.

Youth nowadays more than ever are dealing with a multitude of challenges. Some key challenges the youth often deal with are expectations from the people around them whether that be school, parents, or peers. In many cases, youth do not like speaking to their parents about the issues they have which makes it all the more difficult. 
 
With the advent of social media youth more than ever are prey to negative influences causing further chaos from within often leading to comparison, lack of confidence, and general dissatisfaction of who they are. 
 
Later on in their youth, important decisions need to be made about possible paths. However, the brain of a teen is still maturing. David Walsh imparts, the brain is not fully mature until around the age of 25. Thus teenagers are not able to make good judgments in difficult situations. 

What if things had been different when you were growing up. If you had the guidance of a trustworthy confidant that was not going to share your deepest secrets with your parents or anyone else? What if you had someone in your life that taught you how to handle obstacles and setbacks; to truly understand what your values are and how to monitor  growth? 
 
I can remember wishing I had someone to talk to, to help with confidence and self-awareness. When I was choosing a career path, I was unsure and didn’t look into my values. I had no guidance and no true inkling  of the path I wanted. I know that things would have been completely different if I had that sort of guidance.

This is exactly what a life coach does. We empower youth to truly live up to their potential. Nowadays teens don’t need advice; they need compassion, trust, and someone to empower them to grasp skills and talents within them to rise to their best. 
 
With a Life coach, youth get an unbiased person to truly listen to their needs and wants without judgment or a desire to correct. A coach sees the world from the youth’s map of the world and points out a different perspective they may have not thought of previously. 

By holding accountability, youth learn how to set and achieve goals – a skill they can take with them throughout their life. Along with this, teens learn how to manage emotions- particularly the turbulence that is related to being adolescent and the emotions that come with managing challenges.

A youth coach instills confidence and helps teens focus and shine their strengths to achieve their goals. The aim is to turn their big dreams through direction, planning, and action creating possibilities for the future.
 

 Ultimately, to build a future generation of strength, determination, and fulfilled dreams in a generation that is our hope for the future. 

 


 

 

The Psychology of Self-Motivation: Are Self-Efficacy and Motivation Related

Self-Motivation will become a Natural State if you are doing something that you truly love, something that you deeply believe in. when you are in this state, you are completely aligned with your true Values, your Thoughts, and your True-Self, your Authenticity, and above all with your Actions. From this place, Self-Motivation is a Natural State of the Art, it comes organically to you; You are constantly in a state of Flow – You are not forcing yourself to do the work: You are simply motivated enough; Doing what you love and loving what you do. It is a reciprocal relationship with work, you don’t feel that you work for a single day. You are just following your intuition, and your inner guidance will lead just right! Now the question is: How about Self- Efficacy? The answer comes within the question, you show your best, when you are internally motivated. All your Talents, Skills, and your Strength Points will be awakened, and so you will become UNSTOPPABLE! 

After indulging in spotting your Strength Points, your main interest, or  your State of FLOW, your IKIGAI, you simply solve the Equation and reach the intersection of the following 4 questions: 

  1. What you love?
  2. What you are good at? 
  3. What the world needs? 
  4. What you can get paid for? 

Your Answer to these four questions is exactly your” IKIGAI”. Once you put your hands on; Congratulations! Your Self-Motivation and your Self-Efficacy will interconnect. 

What are the 7 Steps to ensure continuous and consistent Self-Motivation; How to keep that Initial Spark (of doing what you love)to get going: 

  1. Start before you are ready, the first step is always difficult. By just starting, you are doing the hardest part and the rest will follow. Beginnings are hard, but they help ignite your Enthusiasm, creativity, and most importantly your actions. 
  2. Look for completion and not perfection; it doesn’t have to be 100%, but if it is 80% done, it is better than never done. 
  3. Keep on tracking your progress, if you progress 1% every day, then through the year you will reach 365% 
  4. Surround yourself with a Network of Successful people (those who reach the success you are looking for), like-minded people, supporting people, motivating people, and people who believe in you. 
  5. Celebrate your successes, even small ones. Success breeds Success! 
  6. Keep Learning: Studying, learning, attending related seminars and sessions, asking questions. 
  7. Reaching optimum success is a matter of consistency, persistence, and never quitting on your dreams. 

 

 

Holistic wellbeing: an integrated approach to being your best

What is holistic wellness? 

“The broader definition of holistic wellness uses the literal meaning of the word “holistic.” That is, it defines wellness as the interdependence of several dimensions of health. The whole person, therefore, isn’t well unless they’re well in every area of life — not just physical health. While experts debate which areas should be included in holistic wellness, most agree that it encompasses mental, emotional, and physical health.”  

In my own experience, this is very true. I have always strived to achieve my fullest potential in all areas and aspects of my life. In school, I was a straight-A student, but I wasn’t very conscious of my nutrition habits or fitness levels. In my early career, I was very creative and driven, working hard to achieve my professional goals, but I often neglected my social network and lost touch with many friends. There have been times in my adult life when I strayed from the path and got caught up in lust, power, and greed. So would say, all of this is necessary for me to become who I am and unlock my full potential.  

These experiences have enabled me to develop an integrated coaching model to simplify and synthesize my understanding so far. I am sure we will agree, and also disagree. You may consider it a way to trigger powerful inner dialogue and hopefully, empower positive change. 

Mind 

Self-awareness. Responsibility. Meta-cognition. Presence. Non-judgement. Self-validation. Positive Self-talk. 

Know yourself. Find your purpose. Live your path. Be authentic. Take personal responsibility for the things in your life that you can control. Stop playing the victim. Step up and if you don’t like something – change it! Steer and guide your mind towards your desired states and re-frame negative and/or toxic thoughts. Tame your gremlin. Laugh at your monkey mind. Breathe. Be present. Get yourself out of crisis mode. Learn to do nothing (consciously). The past is gone and the future is never here. Be understanding of others, you don’t know their stories. See-through your subjective narratives. Be patient with yourself. Have an internal sense of validation and always do your best. Realize that you can only control your actions, emotions, and thoughts. Be the rock, not the leaf. Consciously practice positive self-talk. Be aware of your own stories. Become aware that you are not your thoughts. Design your intentions. Commit to your actions.  

 Heart 

Love. Celebration. Passion. Gratitude. Acceptance. Forgiveness. Compassion 

Love yourself. Love others. Love your life. Be open to receiving love. Be generous to give love. Laugh! Do the things that give you joy! Reconnect with your inner child. Be curious and be infused with a sense of wonder. Create beautiful moments for others. Live with courage and fire! Do the things that motivate you and compel you to be great. Fuel your confidence by being super brave. Take action despite of fear. Maintain a constant feeling of gratitude. Diffuse negative emotions with positive affirmations and (opposing) actions. Accept impermanence, randomness, death, change, duality, and the things that you cannot control. Accept yourself but move towards change. Learn to accept that ‘paradox’. Forgive others. Forgive yourself. Forgive everyone for what they have ‘done’. Emotional suffering is self-inflicted. Rid your heart of comparison to others, criticism, jealousy complaining, and envy. See our similarities. Find your inner peace. 

Body 

Hydration. Nutrition. Action. Self-care. Sensuality. Play. Rest 

Drink water. Yes everyone knows this but do you drink 2 liters of pure water every day? Eat real food. Eat balanced meals. Eat natural. Avoid processed, chemical, and mutated junk.  

But – allow yourself to indulge every once in a while. Take radical action towards your goals! Get active. Exercise and mix it up. Sweat! Push yourself physically and get strong. Find and feed your ‘flow’ states. Take very good care of yourself (health, style, grooming, hygiene, etc.) Be generous and loving with yourself. Experience pleasure, peak states, joy, adrenaline, etc. Become aware of your 5 senses. Get a massage, cook a meal, make love slowly, smell the flowers, go for a swim in the ocean. Play, dance, jump, run, skip, spin and tumble. Fall and then get up and do it all over again. Sleep 7-8 hours every 24 hours. Get rid of the things that affect your sleep quality (TV, social media, ambient light, etc.) In the words of Covey: “Sharpen the saw!” 

Spirit 

Connection. Humility. Integrity. Humanity. Contribution. Creativity. Progression 

Connect with yourself. Connect with god. Connect with people. Connect with nature. Accept your place in the natural order of things. You can be great and still be humble. Treat everyone as a teacher. Accept that you can learn from everyone. Be honest. Tell the truth to yourself and others. There is no reason to lie. Be kind and gentle with others. Realize that we all share the same human condition. Relieve the suffering of others. Smile. Be kind. Be generous. Contribute and be part of something bigger than yourself (charity, education, family, altruism, community, etc.) Channel your creative energy through writing, dancing, music, drawing, sculpture, painting, etc. Experience art. Be comfortable with catharsis. Continue to progress on your spiritual journey but remain grounded in the things that make us human. Find balance. Be your best.