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Wake-up Call This week’s exercise is inspired by high performance and sports psychologist Michael Gervais. Gervais helps Olympians and CEOs reach optimal performance through mindset training and intention setting. Are your workdays filled with a laundry list of requests and demands from others? Our days often begin with countless obligations, making it hard to find time to focus on what you need. Gervais argues that starting your day like this is "just getting into the business of everybody else’s story.”  Instead, he believes it is important to start your day with your story by setting a personal intention that helps you zero in on your main priorities for the day. Introducing Your Wake-up Call Exercise What It Is A 2-3 minute way to start off your day with a micro-dose of intention setting. Why We Love It  It is so easy to jump out of bed and attend to emails, tweets and instas without ever giving your own needs a thought. This exercise grounds your initial waking moments in what your top priorities are for the day. How It Works 1. When you wake up in the morning, stay in bed (yeeeeeas!). Take one full deep breath by counting to six on your inhalation and exhalation. On your second breath, think of something you are grateful for today. 2. Then, set an intention for yourself for the day and ask:  - How do I want to feel today? - What will I focus on accomplishing today? - What energy do I want to put out in the world today? As you identify your intention take a few minutes to visualize it and picture yourself moving through your day with this intention in mind. 3. Move to the side of your bed and set your feet down on the floor. Take a minute to feel your feet settling on the ground beneath you before you stand up and get started with the rest of your day. Source: Finding Mastery Want to dig deeper into this topic? To learn more about why MSFT's CEO is a huge fan of this exercise, read this. To learn about how Olympians use goal and intention setting in performance training, read this. To learn about how Alex Honnold used visualization to prepare for El Capitan, listen to this podcast.  Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks:   "The creative recovery exercise was one of my favorites. This exercise helped me push past my creative blocks. I love using it to clear my mind and reflect by rereading it at the end of the week." - Dama Dipayana, Founder of Be Frank Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Conversation Critique This week’s exercise is inspired by Stephen Covey's concept of empathic listening. He argues that in any conversation it is important to first seek to understand and then be understood. You know that moment when a conversation takes a turn for the worse? It's when you move from having a discussion to #awkwardsilence or stalemated debate. You aren't quite sure how you got there and or how to move forward. Experts like Covey would say that part of identifying what went wrong is understanding the level of conversation you were having in the first place. Introducing Your Conversation Critique Exercise What It Is A way to analyze your conversations so you can identify better ways to communicate with others. Why We Love It  No one likes leaving a conversation feeling underwhelmed. We all want to be heard, understood and validated by others. This exercise helps you understand the different mindsets you bring to your interactions so you can learn to listen more effectively.  How It Works 1. Recall a conversation you've had recently. Take a look at the following levels of listening and identify which you reached during that conversation: Gist: This is "intermittent listening; listening long enough to get the gist of what the other side is saying before we refocus on our internal voice which is formulating a reaction from our world view."   Rebut: We listen to the conversation long enough to find something we can rebut. "Once heard, we just wait for the other side to shut up long enough so we can tell them how their position is faulty and by extension, how much smarter we are." Logic: Here we try to understand the internal logic behind what is being said and make inferences about the person based on what they're saying. Emotions: At this stage "we listen for any emotions and/or identity issues that may be driving their argument," and we try to understand how important these emotions are to what they're saying.  Empathy: At this level "we filter their emotion and logic through a prism of empathy" with the ultimate goal of "getting beyond the cursory level of understanding to a deeper appreciation of their world view."  2. Now, consider a meeting you have in the coming days and reflect on which listening level you'd like to reach during that conversation. Write out a list of questions you might bring to that chat in order to obtain this level of understanding. 3. After your meeting, reflect on the differences between the conversation in #1 and #2. In which situations might you select one over the other? Are there things you might do differently in conversations moving forward? Source: BSG Want to dig deeper into this topic? To learn more about the habits of great conversationalists, read this from FastCo. To read about a study on the common behaviors of great listeners, check this out from HBR. For tips on effective listening, check this out. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks:   "The Tutu exercise was one of my favorites. Bob Carey's story was really inspiring and the exercise motivated me to reflect on a number of things that I feel vulnerable about in life and the work place." - Alex Farivar, Product Manager @ Google Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Leadership Triggers This week's trek is inspired by Dr. Mitchel Adler's work on leading with self-awareness. Academics like Adler believe that "self-awareness, the skill of being aware of our thoughts, emotions, and values from moment to moment, is the starting point of leadership." Are you guilty of throwing too much shade at work? It happens to the best of us. Our teammates do something a little out of line and we find ourselves throwing shade to signify our disapproval. The problem occurs when we do this a few too many times and build a reputation for lacking self-awareness and being hard to work with. Introducing Your Leadership Triggers Exercise What It Is An opportunity to explore your leadership triggers and the influence they have over others.  Why We Love It  We all have our pet-peeves at work and most are founded in what makes for a more efficient and productive workplace. However, if we let our emotional selves govern our reactions to these sticking points, we're creating a lot of energy that isn't so productive for ourselves and our teams.  How It Works 1. Ask yourself what actions or behaviors of your team members make you angry or frustrated? What are the things they do that really push your buttons? Ex. showing up late for a meeting or dropping the ball on a deadline.  2. Consider the physical reactions you have when these triggers occur. Do you squirm in your seat? Sigh loudly? Roll your eyes? Change the tone in your voice? Consider the 'why' behind these physical reactions. 3. Next, consider how those physical reactions influence your team. What do they signal about how your team's behavior might need to change? Is there a better way you could communicate verbally or nonverbally with your team to encourage new behaviors? 4. Finally, consider what you do to cope after a long day of a lot of triggers. Do you exercise, go for a drink, or vent to your friends? Are there ways you can cope that might be more productive for you? *Source: Mitchel Adler Want to dig deeper into this topic? To learn more about how you can become a more self-aware leader, read this from HBS. For additional tips and tricks on how to be more self-aware, check this out. For 9 ways to practice more self-awareness, read these tips from a mindfulness professor. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks:   "Inspiration Reservoir was one of my favorite treks. It helped me understand the many sources of inspiration (many of which are in my own backyard) that I can draw upon when needing to unlock the right side of my brain." -Liz Tverskoy, Account Manager @ Google Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@trekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.