Insights Archives - Equanimity Executive

Keep Your Energy Flowing in an On-the-Go World

Jun 6 2019Sep 5 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Career Success, Insights, Women Success

Life is busy. Between trying to excel at work, keep up with household chores, spend quality time with our loved ones, and enjoy hobbies, we are all striving to balance our commitments on different fronts. The modern world is fast-paced and it can be exhausting trying to keep up if you aren’t taking proper care of yourself. Remember that your body and mind are your vessels, and they need maintenance to operate to their full potential.

Cultivating Good Physical Health

Physical energy is fully reliant on how you treat your body. Eating well and including proper nutrition is critical. Just like a car, if you put bad fuel into your body, it will run poorly. If you do not get enough rest, you will not have the focus or energy the next day to be at your best. Exercise is also an important part of good health. It not only builds stamina (which will lead to more energy) but it makes your body strong and gets out any excess jitters.

Taking good care of your physical self directly impacts your quality of life and happiness—when we don’t feel well, we don’t enjoy or make the most of each day. Of course, we all know how important it is to eat properly, hydrate, rest, and exercise (our doctors certainly make that clear), but those fundamental elements of self care are the first to go out the window when we get busy. We get involved in a project and work through lunch. We drink sugary lattes and soda to get through the afternoon. We crash on the couch, exhausted, after dinner. We stay up too late to watch just one more episode of our favorite show. All the things we know we shouldn’t do, and yet we do them anyway. These habits all add up to having less energy to attend to the things we care about in our lives.

Exploring Mental Wellbeing

Your mental state impacts your energy and motivation just as much as your physical health. If you are anxious, sad, or overwhelmed, it can be difficult to overcome those emotions to accomplish the day’s tasks. While you cannot always block out your feelings, especially when difficult things are happening in your life, you can explore your mental health in a way that allows you to productively experience and harness your emotions, rather than letting them take control of you.

Meditation is an excellent practice in clearing your mind and grounding yourself. Not only will you enjoy a quiet and peaceful moment to yourself, but you will feel refreshed and focused. You can use guided meditation from a video or podcast, or simply meditate on your own. Yoga is also beneficial to both the mind and body and allows you to reconnect with yourself spiritually and physically.

If meditation isn’t your forte, try to check in with yourself in the morning and throughout the day. How are you feeling? Are you relaxed and focused, or tense and anxious? By occasionally taking the time to acknowledge how you are doing, you can address your mental state as it comes. Similarly, practice deep breathing at different intervals. Sit back from your desk, take your hand off your mouse, relax your muscles, and take a moment to inhale and exhale. Assess how your day going and what you can do to maintain or change that.

There are many other ways to promote good mental health. Some people enjoy journaling, others consciously set intentions each morning, and those who are religious may take solace in their holy book. TED Talks or an inspiring podcast might also be uplifting for you and bring your energy level up to excitement. Experiment with different methods and find out what helps you the most; this may change over time, but you can always reassess.

Remember, it’s ok to have an off day. Sometimes no matter what you do, your energy simply is low. You are human and it happens. Be kind to yourself, do the best you can that day, and resolve to do better tomorrow. However, keeping up with mental and physical practices consistently will generate overall good health and energy and keep the bad days to a minimum.

Belinda MJ Brown shares her own healthy practices here.

How do you keep your energy up during your busy days? Let us know in the comments section!

What Lessons from Physical Therapy Can Teach You About Business

May 16 2019Sep 8 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Career Success, Executive Coaches, Insights, Testimonials

I recently had a hip injury that took several months to heal. After all of that time keeping movement to a minimum and exercise nonexistent, my body mechanics had forgotten how to move properly, not to mention I had lost a lot of strength and stamina. To combat this and keep me from reinjuring myself, my doctor sent me to physical therapy.

Without a long medical description, the first part of my PT experience involved reactivating muscles that were underused during my injury but are necessary for healthy and normal body mechanics (and would help prevent my back muscles from kicking in and causing further strain). These types of exercises are small, tedious, and painstaking, albeit very important. Being a former athlete, my instinct was to go big and push my limits, but that isn’t the goal of physical therapy. Instead, the best thing I could do was hold back, and let my muscles rebuild properly. So every day I did my assignments, regardless of how monotonous and boring they were.

Each week, I made progress, though small, and after several weeks I moved on to strengthening exercises, which also start at a low level and build up, and feel fairly tedious. But each day I made the commitment to do my PT regimen, and am finally starting to feel stronger and moving correctly. I am now hitting my goals and making much more noticeable progress.

I find this experience to be an excellent analogy for life and for your career. Starting small, even when your instinct is to accomplish as much as you can, will help you build a solid foundation from which to work. You may not feel you are getting anywhere, but trust me, you are. Just put in the work one step at a time, and one day you will look back and realize the small progress has all added up. Once you get the wheels turning, you will suddenly have a ton of momentum and strength, which will propel you far, wherever you choose to apply it.

When I say start small, I do not mean pare down your aspirations or efforts. I simply want you to put first things first. In a new business, you may just want to hit the ground running with selling your product or service, but you have to do the sometimes tedious work of making a business plan, creating a pricing structure, and figuring out how things are going to work for you. These tasks create the very foundations of your business, and by having your affairs in order, they won’t come back to haunt you when you are doing bigger and better things. If you can push through those crucial first steps and stick with it, your business will be booming before long.

So trust the process. Every baby step contributes to the giant leap, even if you can’t see it know. My physical therapist is definitely right on this one.

What You Do in the Morning Does Have an Effect on Your Career—But Not in the Way You Think

May 2 2019Sep 8 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Career Success, Insights

The Internet is inundated with think pieces entitled “Here’s What Successful
People Do in the Morning” or “What You Should Do Before You Start Your
Day in Order to Be Successful.” These well-meaning articles often include
waking up at 3:00 a.m. to get work done or doing a full hour of yoga at
dawn, and imply that you need to be doing these same things order to
generate success for yourself.

In all honesty, waking up in the middle of the night to work sounds
miserable to me, and frankly, I’d be ready for a nap around 8:00 a.m.,
which would then put me behind for the rest of the day. And if you have
small children, you have even less time to get yourself awake and out of the
house in the morning than the average person, and taking time for yoga
probably doesn’t fit into that picture.

What these think pieces forget to mention, is that the schedules of the
successful people that they chronicle were crafted to fit that person at this
particular time in their life. The point isn’t meant to be about the specifics of
what they do to get a head start on the day; it’s that they’ve found what
works for them. And so should you. By doing what works for you in the
morning, you are setting yourself up for a productive day, even if that is
nothing more than drinking a good cup of coffee, taking a hot shower, and
getting dressed. If you try to adjust your routine in a way that doesn’t suit
you, you are actually throwing your attitude and energy off for the rest of
the day because you haven’t gotten an ideal start.

Personally, I keep it simple. I like to take the time to do my hair and
makeup (I find that I am much more ready to take on the day when I feel
good about how I present myself). Sometimes I listen to music or a podcast
while I am getting ready, but most often, I enjoy the sound of silence before
the day gets busy. After that, I spend a few minutes reading my favorite
morning e-newsletters over a cup of coffee. And that’s it—it’s simple and
effective for me.

If you like to get a workout in first thing—more power to you! If that sounds
crazy and exhausting to you, don’t do it. Find what makes your morning
most pleasant; by hanging on to the idea that you have to have a set
routine because that’s what people who are successful and powerful do, you
are setting yourself up to fail because it won’t be enjoyable or useful to you.
Your success isn’t tied to a specific activity or routine, but rather your work
ethic, your attitude, and willingness to learn. So don’t read too much into
the hype of articles that imply that you need to get a whole day’s worth of achievements in before 7:00 a.m.

By all means, if you are looking for inspiration for a new way to structure your morning and find something that you’d like to try, go for it! But don’t feel compelled to stick with it if it doesn’t work out. Mornings should be all about you; you have the rest of the day to take on the world.

How do you like to start your day? Tell us in the comments below or on our
social media!

Time Management for Women Trying to Have It All

Apr 10 2019Sep 8 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Business Success, Career Success, Insights, Women Success

In today’s busy world, between work and family commitments, plus any other hobbies or passions, you might feel like you need to be Superwoman to get it all done! There are ways to make the most of the hours you have in a day so that you can get maximum impact with some semblance of a work-life balance.

Get Control of Your Inbox!

Trying to keep up with your email can be a huge time commitment. Answering questions and attending to the needs of others is of course, part of most jobs, but it does detract from the other tasks you need to complete. You can get this time spent answering emails back in two ways. The first is setting designated times throughout the day that you check your email—and then let coworkers and clients know. This way, they know when to expect a response from you and you do not have to feel “on-call” while you are trying to be productive. If anyone has an urgent matter that requires immediate attention, they can call or come talk you in person if they are able. Secondly, remove all email notifications from your phone or computer. This will prevent you from being tempted to check your inbox as emails come in and will keep you from being distracted. Both of these methods will help you stop feeling tethered to your email and free to get your work done. An added bonus is that you will not feel you have to check your email at home when you are off the clock, so you can dedicate your evenings and weekends to your family, friends, and hobbies.

Think Ahead: Choose Where Your Energy Goes

Many tasks and opportunities vie for our attention every day; however, the ones that are urgent and need to be handled immediately tend to absorb most of our energy. However, this means we don’t have time to attend to the important (but not urgent) agenda items, which later become “fires” that we have to put out. It is important that we work proactively, as well as reactively, to prevent any crises from flaring up down the road. Your goals shouldn’t just reflect an outcome, but also practical steps to achieve that result, which will put you ahead of the game.

In order to free up more time, you need to choose what gets your attention and energy. Putting away your cell phone and avoiding social media will absolutely give you more time in your day and help you be more present in your work because you will not be constantly checking notifications, returning texts, or tweeting a random thought. Studies show that it can take up to ten minutes to get refocused after an interruption; by eliminating some of these distractions you will be able to focus and put your best foot forward. Choosing to direct your energy towards your work, rather than the outside world will ensure that you accomplish tasks that get you ahead in your career, rather than surrendering to the modern technologies that eat up your precious time. Similarly, being conscious about distractions and focusing your energy will help you to be more present when you spend quality time with loved ones.

Evaluate Your Energy Levels Throughout the Day

In order to make the most of your day, you need to understand the times and situations you work best in. When do you have the most energy and focus? When do you begin to feel tired and sluggish? This is different for everyone. Take the time to notice how you feel during your day. Do you like to jump right into your day and start to get tired after lunch? Or do you need a few hours in the morning to wake up before you hit your stride? Once you learn your body’s internal clock, you can plan the best ways to use those peaks and valleys of energy. Strategizing and complex projects should be reserved for when you are feeling your best, whereas the simple, mindless tasks can be done when you are feeling low-energy.

Of course, in many jobs you do not always have the luxury of planning out your day in the way that you would like. At those times, a nutritious snack or some coffee can help you summon some energy and motivation.

Women often try to do it all, to varying degrees of success. However, by reclaiming your time, removing distractions, and listening to your body, you can unlock extra pockets of time that have previously been used inefficiently. You’ll be surprised by the balance and productivity you will achieve simply by managing the demands on you in new ways.

How to Recycle Negative Energy from Today’s World Events to Make a Difference

Feb 25 2019Nov 20 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Business Success, Career Success, Insights

There are many dramatic and saddening events that have happened in the world as of late. We’ve been almost overwhelmed with stress and negativity related to politics and world events.

This energy is contagious. Negative things are absolutely everywhere online and offline. I’m usually optimistic and I know how to practice detached involvement, but still this negative energy has had an impact on me.

Two places that I call home, Paris and Orlando, have been targeted in terror attacks. I didn’t want to blame anyone for this and feel a sense of victimhood because that’s just who I am. I believe there is a way for people to redeem themselves and I don’t want to judge at all.

Take Responsibility for Your Emotions

At the same time, I felt powerless. This is one of the worst feelings ever. When a situation seems unfair, negative thoughts and patterns follow that end up having an impact on everything in your life.

Many of us choose anger in this situation because it seems better than feeling powerless, but this catabolic emotion is actually draining you and making you feel worse. Even if you aren’t aware of it, you will bring heavyness to your environment and the people you’re with.

What can you do to channel the energy of victimhood to something more constructive?

As a coach, I’ve been practicing this for a long time, but when overwhelming events occur, anyone can get in a place where they just want to be angry. When this happens, make sure you are in charge of how you feel and how long you’re staying there. If not, everything around you will fall into a negative spiral.

Stay in Observation Mode

Change doesn’t occur with the snap of your finger. Preparing for change begins with simply noticing what’s happening. When emotions are coming into your mind and negative thoughts are popping up, stay in observation mode as long as you can.

Watch what is happening and write down your thoughts. Write down all the emotions you’re experiencing. When situations are difficult, you won’t just feel one emotion. You’ll see anger, guilt, conflict, and more. Write it all down to get it out of your head.

When we notice these emotions, sometimes we tend to get more upset. Be comfortable with it. You are in the right place. Observe and keep going. This is an important step to recycle negative emotion by first identifying the story you’re telling.

Plant the Seeds of Change

Write down where you want to be, how you want to feel, and what the ideal solution would be. Simply take out a piece of paper or take notes on your phone. It takes a few seconds.

This step will help you lower your level of stress and reconnect with your thoughts. You’ll begin to see potential opportunities in your situation.

When I was in the situation of processing all these terrible situations in the world, I was angry, sad, and powerless. The only thing I was thinking about was talking about it in a negative way. At first, I felt a bit better, but then I realized I was sharing my negative energy with the people around me.

I decided it was time to create something out of this negative energy. I wanted to channel it to build, design, or create something powerful. Negativity takes everything out of you, but what if you could create something that served you instead of drained you?

I imagined how I want to show up and make a difference in this world. What could it be? How would it make me feel? What could be the potential outcome?

Transform Energy into Action

The intention was about channeling my sense of powerless and anger toward something that would make me feel good and empowered. So I drove to Home Depot and set up a raised garden bed in my yard in less than 45 minutes. I planted herbs and re-planted all my other plants.

I felt accomplished and positive while I was setting up my garden. My stress level lowered dramatically. My mind was filled with positive thoughts of upcoming plans and delicious recipes with fresh fruit and vegetables. As my body moved muscles I didn’t remember existed, I felt alive. Mentally, I was given so much energy and creative ideas about how to help others. I was so confident that I could do something about it.

Today is the time to plant the seeds of change and focus on what will make you happy. What will help you bring change and positive energy to your life?

Timid, self-centered, alone: how women can overcome false stereotypes in the workplace

Sep 9 2015Sep 29 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Insights, Leadership, Women Success

Only about 15% of executive officers in America are women. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that women don’t have what it takes to lead a company or hold high leadership roles. Yet the number of women in leadership roles is lacking. There are many factors that keep women from attaining the career and job position they want, and timidness may be one of them. Consider these tips to give yourself the boost you need to achieve your goals and break the glass ceiling:

1. Promote your work

Women often fear coming off as self-obsessed when they talk about their achievements, more so than men. In many ways, society does tend to view men who brag about their success more favorably than women who do so. But one of the best ways of moving up in your company and career is to make your accomplishments known. To avoid negative reactions, it’s key to focus on promoting your work, not yourself. Instead of emphasizing your successes, awards, and degrees, talk about projects and work you did, and how they benefited your company as a whole. This way, you show that your work provides valuable contributions without looking like you’re bragging about yourself.

2. Find a strong network

Because men have dominated many fields for so long, they tend to have easier access to strong professional networks. Clubs, fraternities, and men’s organizations often provide them a strong network of professionals that they can reach out to for career help. As a woman, it may be more difficult to find this network, but it can certainly be done. Think outside the box, and reach out to old professors, college alumni, members of organizations you volunteer with, and other women in your field.

3. Don’t wait for things to come to you

Even if you do a great job of promoting yourself, building your network, and doing overall excellent work, you still may not simply be given the job or promotion that you want. Women sometimes tend to do everything right, but then back off and wait for their efforts to be recognized. If you want a promotion, speak to your supervisor about it, and ask how you can improve your performance. If you’re really getting nowhere, maybe it’s time to look at similar companies that have openings you are interested in, and go where your skills will be recognized.

How to engage your employees

Sep 9 2015Sep 29 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Business Success, Career Success, Insights, Leadership, Team Success

Faire participer vos employés et leur remonter le moral est l’un des principaux objectifs de chaque dirigeant. Les meilleurs employés sont ceux qui aiment leur travail, s’efforcent de bien faire et sortent des sentiers battus. En tant que leader, vous encouragez le développement de toutes ces fonctionnalités chez un employé et savez que l’engagement des employés est la clé d’un milieu de travail réussi. Mais pour que vos employés soient vraiment impliqués dans leur travail et heureux sur leur lieu de travail, il faut plus que quelques pizzas ou des primes de vacances. Utilisez ces méthodes pour faire sentir à vos employés qu’ils font partie intégrante de votre équipe et pour les inciter à aller au-delà:

1. Travaillez toujours avec eux, pas sur eux

No one particularly enjoys someone standing over them telling them what to do, even if they love their work. A boss with great leadership skills will join in the nitty-gritty work and make the work their mission as well as their employees’. If you can demonstrate that you too are willing to work hard and care about your work, employees will be much more motivated about their role.

2. Be someone employees can talk to

Any problem in a workplace, big or small, probably won’t be solved if no one ever brings it up. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to deal with problems or issues amongst your employees, but you can’t even begin to do so if you don’t know what those problems are. Employees need to feel not only that they can approach you with concerns, but also that you will listen to them and take action.

3. Employé d’abord, société ensuite

Personne ne veut se sentir comme un seul rouage dans une machine géante. Oui, les entreprises sont alimentées par le travail des employés, mais les entreprises fonctionnent aussi comme une chose vivante, en constante évolution et en adaptant. Ce sont les employés humains qui rendent possible le succès d’une entreprise, en proposant constamment de nouvelles idées, méthodes et solutions. Assurez-vous que les employés sont à l’aise d’exprimer ces idées, et pas seulement de se conformer aux anciennes méthodes et pratiques. Un environnement ouvert et créatif est idéal pour réussir.

How to use your career accomplishments to achieve greater success

Aug 21 2014Sep 29 2020 Belinda MJ. Brown Career Success, Insights

If you want to achieve greater success, you need to monitor and control your own actions once in a while.

Keeping track of you small and big accomplishments is important. Now that you have a list of your career achievements, it is time to use it for even greater success. It might feel like focusing on the past, but sometimes this can be the best way to set your long term plan for the future.

Sometimes we all feel like we are not moving forward – it might really be the case. You need to regroup, evaluate and make a plan for the strategic changes and actions you need to take. Open your document with the list of career achievements and let the evaluation begin – it looks a lot like a SWAT analysis, but here you will only be investigating the factors that depend on your own actions.

1. Find what’s common – Probably your list is structured based on the small things you made possible for every project you worked on. Your biggest strengths are the things that you have noted for more than 1 project. Maximizing ROI, meeting deadlines for every project, optimizing the process, etc. All those common things should go in a new list – the one that focuses on the stable growth of your professionalism. Most of your long term goals are not defined as small achievements so you need to find which one of those cover the main expectations you set for yourself. You will hopefully find that you are indeed moving forward and you are going at the right direction and speed.

2. Find what’s missing – Now that you have compared your strong points with your strategic goals, you might find that some achievements are not on your list yet. Make a new list – think of it as an inspiring to-do list. Those are some steps that require extra attention from your side. You need to evaluate if those missing points are still relevant based on your plan. If they are, you should first think of what had stopped you from achieving them until now – when you address the reasons, you will be able to find solutions. Keep in mind that this step is not about making yourself feel week, it’s about giving yourself the power to become more successful.

3. Make a list of goals – Now that you know your strengths and weaknesses, it is time to plan your next steps. If you feel like you need more training – take it! If you find that an industry approved certificate would help you become better and more successful – you better start preparing for the exam. This list of goals should be a complimenting addition to your strategic career plan – make sure there are no contradictions between them.

4. Revisit and edit the list of achievements – Hopefully, making this list is an inspiration for you. This is why you need to reevaluate it at least once a year. Always remember to look at the bigger picture and don’t focus on the small rocks on the road. As your career changes and progresses, it is normal that some goals would become irrelevant or more important than you first thought. This small control mechanism will reassure you that you are focussed on the right things and can help you achieve even greater success.

Sometimes when we feel like our career is not moving forward, this might really be the case. This would be a good moment for you to evaluate your bigger plans and how you feel about them. Don’t forget that you should comply only with your own term of what success is. If you decide to start a transition to a new career, but don’t know how to do it – professional help is a good idea. It would save you a lot of time and sleepless nights and will ensure you are confident and happy with your decision.