I already knew that...

Have you ever come across this statement before? Were you the one that said it? Was it someone who said it to you? Did you know that this is considered a killer statement in communication terms?

Think about it... You have information that you want to share with a person, or a group; then someone says "I already knew that." That means (if you allow it) that you have been shut down/off. Not only that, the learner or receiver of knowledge has just closed them off to learning possible new information.

If this was the case "I already knew that" then why does medicine that heals one day, kills the next. Take the wonder birth control pill Yaz! It was created to help women on so many levels, only to find out a year later it was killing those same women. Apparently someone along the way shut down communication.

What would we benefit for an opportunity for "hind sight 20/20" by just listening to the person talking to us? Even if we already knew what they were talking about, because do we really know what they are about to say. Assuming is the second killer of communication.

The next time you find yourself about to make this comment, stop! Become an active listener; maybe you can pat yourself on the back for already having the knowledge. You might find that the person is giving you MORE information. Information that could be valuable in the end....

Listen to your fellow human, you never know what you are going to hear next....

A New Normal

With all the happenings in the news, and all the bad news coming our way, we tend to lose sight of our own thoughts. Whenever someone says that things are about to change, people freak out. Change is bad, change is good, and everyone has an opinion about change.

I say, change is just a New Normal. If you think about all the changes you've gone through in life, wouldn't you tend to agree with that statement? When you graduated from school (High School or College) you changed. It became your "new normal." When you got married or divorced, you accepted the new normal. We fight change; we strive for the "normal." What would you do to hold on to normal?

I finish my Life Coach Certification tonight, I'm more nervous about being finished than I am about the 10 minutes presentation I am to give. I am on the edge of a new normal. Here we go...both feet!

The light at the end of the Tunnel

Today I decided that I am no longer going to shy away from being a Life Coach and get started...helping people. For the past five years I have enjoyed teaching a class called “Strategies for Success.” I have watched people come in with the lowest of self esteem, and after 11 weeks be well on the way to not only having great self-esteem; but starting to experience life a different way. The light at the end of the tunnel was no longer fearful to them.
How come we tend to fear success? Why does success scare me so? Have you ever wondered why other people talk you out of doing something you know you are successful at? I will tell you this, we fear success because we think we are not worthy of it. How about that, we tend to shy away from success only because we don’t think we deserve it. That has always bugged me, even after teaching this class for five years, I was stuck in the fear of the potential of being successful.
I have always had a calling for helping people, growing up people came to me to get advice. I have a knack for seeing outside the box. I have a pretty vivid imagination as well. Listening and talking through situations and issues have been a hobby of mine since I was a child.
Life experiences has had an effect on me as well, I spent my early teens in Germany. I traveled all over Europe playing softball. I have just about traveled to or driven through every state in the United States. I have great pride in my Military Father; if it was not for his service in the Military I would of never of received those life experiences. But enough of that, that is for a future blog.
The light at the end of the tunnel is not a train, it is the sun, shinning bright and waiting on you to get there so that you can bask in its warmth. Do not shy away from being successful, the only person you are hurting is yourself.