5 Strategies to be more yourself at work
Set yourself up for success
Use intention setting for the day, meetings, and interactions.
Do you set intentions for your personal life? Often, we do, and we forget we can also use in our work life too! Start each day, meeting, or interaction by setting an intention for the outcome. This is especially important when going into a meeting or interaction that might become challenging. Don’t jump to conclusions about all the things that could go wrong (your brain will start looking for evidence to support this and it will end up there). Set a positive intention and you get to ‘create’ more of a positive experience.
Keep in touch with yourself
Pause, listen to yourself throughout the day.
Do you sometimes get caught up in the moment? Pause and breathe. Sit in a ‘whole brain posture’ if you can, to balance your hemispheres (trust me I do this all the time, and no one knows!). Take time to connect with yourself in the moment, what you are feeling and what you want to be feeling before acting or responding at work – especially in a situation that could be challenging.
Choose your words with intention
Listen to your body
Focus on what you think about yourself
Be the conscious observer of your language.
Words are powerful, select them wisely with what YOU actually WANT to communicate. Don’t use corporate or workplace jargon if it doesn’t feel right or align with what you want to say.
Words are like magic, so observe what you say, as well as what you think to yourself. Enquire and unpack words you say or think that don’t align with you. The more you speak your truth, the more you’ll feel like yourself.
Your body gives you signs about your mental and emotional state.
Do you know that your body speaks to you all the time? The jitters in your stomach, the sweaty palms, the red rash that appears on your throat when you are about to do a big presentation are all signs from your body. Start to build up a reference library of your body’s actions and reactions, learn them.
These responses show you 1. where you have trauma that you can look at and shift, and 2. where your heart and your mind are out of alignment. The more you learn to connect with your body and be in tune with yourself, the more you’ll show up as a fuller version of yourself.
Instead of being worried about what others think of you.
Do you put too much weight on what other people think of you? It can drive our decision making, influence our thoughts about ourselves, it can be debilitating, disheartening and impact our confidence. But the reality is, what other people think about you, is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.
You know why? Often people are projecting their own issues into the situation, and by taking on their thoughts about you, you are taking on their issues, not a real reflection of what they THINK of YOU.
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