You Are Today What You Practiced in last year – Change What You Practice and You’ll Change You for next year.
You’ve probably heard that ‘practice makes perfect’ or that you need to ‘build good habits’. But - what if you are building a habit or daily practice that’s not so useful or healthy? This month, we’re turning to the cast of Netflix’s Queer Eye for some insights on creating positive daily practices and mindful moments!
On twitter a few months ago, Queer Eye’s culture expert, Karamo Brown, raised an excellent question. When Karamo asked, “What do you practice daily? Joy or Worry? Love or Fear?”, he points out that what you practice is what you get good at doing, and what you become good at becomes your life.
When working with their career and life coaching clients, Shinebright co-founders Meike Hennon and Shannon Philip often help their clients uncover all sorts of habits – “daily practices” that both uplift and deplete. Humans are complex and contradictory at times, and addressing a client’s habits head-on can be a huge breakthrough opportunity during coaching.
During Shinebright Career and Life Coaching, we ask clients to step back and be honest with themselves: Are you spending your precious time being judgmental and practicing negative self-talk, or are you spending it on building confidence and self-worth? Queer Eye’s Karamo puts the power in your hands by asking “What are the things I’ve been saying to myself three or more times a day? Those are the things you are practicing. And if you don’t like those things, you have the ability to change them. Practice saying something new and creating a different life.”
Staying aware of what you spend time doing every day is an incredibly important step to building the life and career you want. This month we’re going to focus on some of the daily habits that we’ve seen have the biggest impact in our own lives and in the lives of our clients.
The first habit we want to highlight is a practice of Mindfulness and Meditation.
In a GQ article, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness credits a daily practice of breathing and mindfulness as his way of keeping himself present and at Shinebright we couldn’t agree more with his efforts. He explains mindfulness by saying, "If the end-all, be-all of self-care was going on a vacation to Hawaii where there’s no Wi-Fi, and you can go completely off the grid—well, good news, with mindfulness you can create that same experience in just 3-5 minutes with some present moment awareness and breathing.” Mindfulness is a way you can give yourself mini brain breaks, opportunities to clear your mind, connect back to your breath and calm your nervous system. And, you don’t have to fly to Hawaii to feel the calming and centering effects.
Mindfulness is a positive daily practice that helps clients from slipping into anxiety or panic, especially when deciding on a major life change or searching for a new job. Next time you feel lost or swimming in self-doubt, try to get centered and connected to the present moment by allowing yourself a quiet moment of distraction-free solitude.
Not sure where to start? This Chopra Center article, “7 Easy Ways to Meditate with a Busy Schedule”, has a great list of focus-shifting strategies or, try downloading a meditation app, we like Headspace, Calm, and the Insight Timer. You can get unlimited access to much of their content for free! Meditation apps are one of Shinebright’s favorite options for beginners seeking to give mindfulness and guided meditation a try.
The New Year is a great time to start building new practices that will support you in showing up at your best in your life and career. Make sure to follow us on social media over the next few weeks to learn about a few of our other favorite practices that we give our clients to manage stress, be more present and live their best lives.
Want to learn more about building positive daily practices with the help of a coach during times of stress or transition? Shinebright Career and Life Coaches work with you to identify daily practices aligned with who you are and how to best tap into your energy & motivation. Schedule a complimentary call today to see if life or career coaching is right for you.
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