3 Tips That Have Helped Me Stay Grounded
Erik Leslie
Executive Coach | Leadership Development Trainer | Real Estate Investor | Motivational Speaker | 15+ yrs teaching, facilitating & training leaders for making resilient & high performing teams, cultures and organizations.
This past year was filled with some extremely challenging moments and changes, and I bet most people would agree. The uncertainty, the fear that creeps in, the self-doubt and of course the chaos. For me, I am a social person and I’ve been feeling the dread of loneliness—I feel off because I am at home way more than usual, and don’t get to see friends, family or my community as often.
This was okay for a few months… but after awhile it just adds up, and a year later I feel more stagnation or unbalance. Anyone else feel like this?
So, I ask myself how can I remain balanced in an unbalanced world? Over and over, I’ve returned to many of inner skills that mindfulness and meditation offers me. I have practiced more skills than I can even list here in one post, but they continue to aid and ground me through this time. So, I wanted to share a few favorites that I’ve been using lately, to help uplift anyone who’s having a little trouble.
The first tip is to stay present! Ground yourself to the moment and stop trying to predict the future, we aren’t fortune tellers (most of us aren’t good at predicting the future) and life is truly only found in each moment that passes.
Second: Stand back from your thoughts and observe them. Many times our thoughts are not always ‘right,’ they are simply just thoughts and we can acknowledge and let them go. When I notice uncertainty arising, I would ask myself if I could just be curious about it and say, “Okay, this is uncertainty, it is okay to feel uncertain… what is that like for me?”
The third tool I’ve used is the ability to reframe those thoughts into a teachable moment for yourself, turn it into something more positive or optimistic. This can be a challenge, but just think, “What did I learn?” and then take the answer lightly.
We must continue to train ourselves, to deliberately practice being aware of how our inner world effects our lives and even our outer world. Who here can relate, or has some additional tools or mantras they’ve been using? Share in the comments.