Stop Coping, Start Growing and Thriving
Craig Dial 
Take time to celebrate your wins today. Do it right after you read this, if you can. If not, go to your calendar and block time for it today. Claim your wins – every Intention that you met. Celebrate your lighthouse moments, where you were conscious and deliberate about living your most important values. Noticing … Read more
This is a continuation of The Fog and Fog Lights. Change is hard. You act the way you do based on deeply-held values and beliefs, and long-practiced habits. You’ve learned that certain actions “work” for you, so you repeat them. Values When you decide that you want something different in your life, it’s a sign … Read more
Being Aware of the Fog This is a continuation of The Fog. It’s about those moments, where the anger, or fear, or stress descend like a fog. You’ve made an Intention to change, and reflected on what that change will be and how that change serves you positively. Now, let’s look at the next step. … Read more
You have those moments, where the anger, or fear, or stress descend like a fog. A fog made up of all of those emotions you’ve suppressed, pushed away, buried. And to avoid being overwhelmed by that stored-up intensity, you look for a way to cope. The first coping option is to Lay Blame. The cause … Read more
Stop and think about it – what did you scold yourself for today? When did you tell yourself you were “wrong” or did that “badly”? “I’m such an idiot.” Why? What’s the payoff? It’s a coping strategy, it makes accepting the problem easier because you can tell yourself you’ll “do better next time.” Or perhaps … Read more
You have feelings; feelings of happiness, joy, contentment, exuberance, peace, love. Also fear, anxiety, stress, irritation, anger, resentment, tiredness, grief, isolation. Which of those groups did you welcome, and think positively of? Which of those groups did you dislike, and probably shame yourself about having? Feelings Simply Are “Feelings are neither right nor wrong, they … Read more
You’ve read tons of things about goals and Intention. There’s good reason for that – conscious Intention is a powerful force. Nothing gets done without Intention. And Yet What is the value of Intention that takes you away from what you really want? Or of Intentions that help you complete low-value things? You’ve probably had … Read more
Think about a moment where someone in authority or power made a demand of you. That moment may have happened as recently as this morning. Maybe it was changing a project scope or direction, or “asking” for a chunk of work to get done by a seemingly arbitrary deadline. Or any one of countless demands … Read more
Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention. – Sharon Salzberg You made many decisions this week. You took many actions. Each of those happened because of your Intentions. Many of them were conscious Intentions. Some of them happened due to Intentions you weren’t even aware of. Take time … Read more
You are not You are “The point is that our true nature is not some ideal that we have to live up to. It’s who we are right now, and that’s what we can make friends with and celebrate.” — Pema Chödron Celebrate who you are right now. You can do this.