The name of the game in July was friendships. Reflecting on my month and looking at my calendar it’s colored with rich memories with quality friendships. A weekend in Tahoe with college friends. A stay in Sacramento with friends who gave birth in the pandemic and I got to meet their sweet babies. Swimming in the creek with a best friend from childhood. A wedding. My top values all center around people who I love, and feeling connected to them. I’m definitely my best self when belly laughing with loved ones. This year those moments felt so rare. So post-vaccines, July was all about saying yes and hugging my people.
Time for a personal energy audit
A beautiful piece written by a fellow co-active coach I highly respect, Chris Gaither. He emphasizes the importance of paying attention to your energy, especially as we navigate the social transitions post-vaccines.
Read the full article in GreenBiz here.
There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve Been Missing
Adam Grant writes about collective effervescence and the power of shared joy. I wrote a blog post “3 Performances That Tap Into Your Sense Of Awe And Humanity In 2020” about this concept on accessing this emotion pre-vaccines. Also, isn’t collective effervescence just a cool word? I recommend this lovely read.
Read the full article in the New York Times here.
How to Channel Your Inner Olympic Coach
Fun read connecting Olympic coaches to leadership, and shares tips on giving effective pep talks based on research on motivational language. Dr. Jacqueline Mayfield, a professor of management at Texas A&M International University, shares that an effective pep talk includes these three areas: the head (clear priorities and direction), the heart (connecting and empathy), and the spirit (inspiring, indicating belonging and purpose).
I liked this quote from Aimee Boorman, the head coach of the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team in Rio: “Listen, you are not responsible for other people’s expectations of you. You are only responsible for your own expectations of yourself.” Applauding this and inviting you to read that again. This comes up a lot in sessions with my coaching clients.
Read the full article in the New York Times here.
The Link Between Self-Reliance and Well-Being
This pandemic certainly has highlighted the importance of personal wellbeing and pointed to the value of both togetherness and a personal sense of agency. This article shares some ways to improve your well-being through individualistic practices. However, I appreciated the distinction between self-reliance and isolation. “I have never seen any evidence that individualists are less social than collectivists, or suffer less from loneliness. Almost no one thrives in isolation.”
Read the full article in the Atlantic here.
Different Cultures Define Happiness Differently
A great, short read on different approaches to happiness, centered around these four different perspectives:
“1. Happiness comes from good relationships with the people you love.
2. Happiness comes from a higher consciousness.
3. Happiness comes from doing what you love, usually with others.
4. Happiness comes from simply feeling good.”
When we look at models of wellbeing across cultures, there’s typically a play between hedonic and eudemonic approaches to happiness. This pandemic has challenged the normal structures for how you might typically find happiness. However it also provides an opportunity to take inventory and see how you want to build happiness more intentionally.
Read the full article in the Atlantic here.
Hair ties and no heels: The evolution of female superhero costumes is finally here
Ugh it’s time. Come on people. Let the female superheros be the athletes they are, and wear what they want. It’s a quick read and in conclusion, female superheros are badass and their clothes are irrelevant. Applauding Scarlett Johansson for putting her un-heeled foot down for Black Widow.
Read the full article in Entertainment Weekly here.
Have a great month, and enjoy the hope that springs brings. You can read previous months’ Coaching Industry News Roundup here.
