“The most important story you will ever tell about yourself is the story you tell to yourself.” ~ Jim Loehr, The Power of Story, Free Press, 2007

Stories that don’t work happen to everybody. Each of us operates with a variety of organizing principles, or “stories,” that swirl around our brains. They often prompt us to work harder and faster, even though we’re not getting any closer to achieving the life we want.

Even the most successful people, with brilliant professional histories, carry old stories in their minds.

One of the most commonly shared (and seriously flawed) beliefs is that simply spending time on something will generate positive results. If you buy into this premise, then you’re probably rushed much of the time.

High-quality, focused energy is necessary to achieving results. As performance psychologist Jim Loehr writes in The Power of Story (Free Press, 2007), “…the key to almost all of our problems, more fundamental even than poor energy management, is faulty storytelling, because it’s storytelling that drives the way we gather and spend our energy.”

Indeed, energy is the most precious resource we possess—the heart of the solutions to our most pressing problems and needs. The stories we tell ourselves, however, cause us to lose valuable energy, leaving us too tired or stressed to perform at optimum levels.

Find a Faulty Story

To generate the energy you need to fulfill your greatest desires and goals, you must identify your faulty stories—the erroneous old chestnuts that you tell yourself over and over again. We rarely examine them or question their usefulness. We simply go about our workdays and lives, telling ourselves these familiar tales to convince ourselves that we’re OK.
—

This article suggests 3 steps to rewrite your faulty stories, to inspire more energy and to create the life you want.

———————

This is a brief synopsis of a 1000-word article suitable for coach newsletters. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1,000 word article includes the following concepts:

• Find a Faulty Story
• Stories Create Our Reality
• Consequences of Negative Stories
• 5 Kinds of Stories
• 3 Steps to Rewrite Your Story

——————————————————————————–
If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

1. Click HERE:  What’s Your Story? Text, 1000 word article, full reprint rights, $57 -

2. Click HERE:  What’s Your Story? 3 Article Nuggets, full reprint rights, $64 -

Without empathy and focus, you’ll never be able to communicate effectively and relate well to others. People who lack empathy are sure to face interpersonal difficulties that lead to inferior performance, negative outcomes, and poor relationships with coworkers and customers.

As a competency skill, empathy is poorly understood by those who need it the most. Some hard-driving managers eschew the need to develop it because they assume it’s for “touchy-feely” types. Other tone-deaf leaders blindly walk around, relying solely on logic and wondering why others fail to see things their way.

Research by the Center for Creative Leadership reveals that executive “derailment” is primarily caused by deficits in emotional competence:

1. Difficulty in handling change
2. Inability to work well in teams
3. Poor interpersonal relations

The inability to understand matters from others’ points of view means some people lack the flexibility required for change. These individuals simply cannot work well with, or relate to, others, which makes them workplace liabilities.

Successful leaders score high marks in five areas of social competencies in the workplace, for which empathy is the foundation. Understanding others leads to goal completion—not to mention opportunities for promotion. When combined with focus, perseverance and concentration, empathy breeds achievement.

This article suggests 10 steps to practice and improve our ability to experience empathy.
_______________________________

This is a brief synopsis of a 1000-word article suitable for coach newsletters. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1,000 word article includes these five the following concepts:

• Defining Empathy
• 5 Social Competencies
• The Trickle-Down Theory
• Fundamental Interactions
• Nonverbal Cues
• 10 Steps to Improving Empathy

——————————————————————————–
If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

1.  The Power of Empathy and Focus, 1,000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights $57-

2.  The Power of Empathy and Focus, 3 Article Nuggets with Full Reprint Rights, $64-