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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
When I realized this newsletter would be going out
on my birthday, I remembered a day, 18 years ago today, when I stood in
front of 250 accountants as keynote speaker, and asked them to sing me
Happy Birthday!
When they were done singing I asked them to notice
their automatic reaction to my request. What thoughts were triggered? How
did they feel in response to those thoughts?
I ask you the same. Notice what automatic thoughts
were triggered for you reading about my request. Imagine me in a business
suit, addressing 250 ACCOUNTANTS at one of the largest ACCOUNTING firms in
the United States! Imagine me asking them right off the bat to sing to me!
When they were done singing, I took a vote. By a
show of hands how many:
- were ready to walk out the door
- judged me as unprofessional
- found yourself curious and intrigued about my
topic
- had fun
- other?
Which one were you?
The fact is something happened. I asked them to sing
Happy Birthday to me.
What they did with the fact, 1,2,3,4, or 5, was a
result of the meaning they put on the fact, the way they 'storied' the
facts.
I had a client years ago who told me during a
session she was going broke. The facts were she was just laid off due to a
downsizing and was living off her savings. The fact was she was scared.
The story she told herself was that she was going to use up all her money
and end up on the street. The made up story about her reality scared her
to the point of being frozen and unable to take action.
I assisted her in merely describing the facts.
"I was laid off and am now living off my savings." She found
herself able to relax. In two weeks she had found a new position.
The accountants who sang to me (or not) also put
meaning on the facts. Those who judged me unprofessional and wanted to
leave storied the singing differently than the ones who had fun and were
more open to my presentation.
Language creates reality. How we talk to ourselves,
or to others, impacts the experience we are having. Pay attention to what
you are telling yourself. If you find yourself miserable, stop and clearly
describe your current reality, without interpretation. Discover if you
find yourself more at ease and open to possibilities as a result.
QUOTES
"When it snows, some people get cold, others
go skiing."
~ Anthony Robbins ~
PRACTICALLY SPEAKING
When you find yourself stuck, contracted, upset,
stop and notice what you are saying to yourself. How have you 'storied'
the situation so that you have shut down?
Take a moment to merely describe 'what is'. State
the facts without the interpretation.
Notice if you relax and open.
WONDER
QUESTION:
Are you willing to win in the stories you are
telling yourself?
UPCOMING
WORKSHOP
Healing Trust and Aliveness Workshop
for Women
January 26, 27, 28, 2007
For
additional information visit this link
QUICK LINKS:
COPYRIGHT/CONTACT INFO/REPRINT PERMISSION
Copyright 2006 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:
Copyright 2006 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved.
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com
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