Hi Friend
This week has felt really really great. Our new consulting project began that has us out in the streets of Oklahoma City, exploring and experiencing the landscape like never before. We’re observing, investigating and considering the possibilities. I’m remaining intentionally vague about it for the time being. Suffice it to say, it has us moving!
Something else that feels rewarding is how we secured a new client this week. I already love them and am anticipating our event. At Hawks Agency, we are always attempting new ways to let people know we want to serve them and their teams. This was the first time this approach generated business. That’s super fun!
The way I mostly get business is word of mouth. Someone sees me and goes back to their company and says “We should get this guy, he’s got great energy!” Or someone at one company sees me and recommends me to their friend in another company. That layer of confidence that comes from the recommendation makes all the difference.
This one didn’t happen that way. It was an entire team effort on our part that generated this opportunity. I’m incredibly proud of our team and equally humbled by the experience. We have so much to be thankful for, and even when it feels like we don’t… we do.
Gratitude Produces Reasons to be Grateful
I prefer occupying a place of positivity though persistence is a prerequisite for it to prevail. Remaining hopeful without results requires a readiness to resist doubt and disappointment which can be relentless!
When I was a kid I recall different teachers telling me not to slouch in my chair. They wanted me to sit up and have good posture. In work places ergonomics chairs and standing desks promote healthy posture. Yet, I don’t recall anyone talking to me about my mental posturetowards life, work, relationships, conflict or challenges.
How would you describe your Mental Posture? It encompasses your attitude but it also envelopes your emotional state, your capacity to respond and your self-expectations.
Posture Offers Peace
In a world where very little is in our control… like how other people act, how decisions get made, circumstances occur, the weather, technical difficulties, etc, etc… our posture remains ours to retain. Have you heard that old phrase “He really got bent out of shape!” It indicates when we hold our form – our predetermined posture – it also thankfully restricts our response.
Our posture acts as a filter for interpreting information. Have you seen two individuals get the exact same message and respond entirely different? I appreciate and admire when someone is going through a very difficult season and yet their posture enables them to still be joyfully engaged with others around them.
Instigating Ideas
1. For one week, write 3 things a day you are grateful for, not including your family.
2. Tell someone why you are grateful for them.
3. List five words that describe your Mental Posture.
The more we’re determined to live from a place of posture the sooner the world eventually adapts to us. As mentioned, if we live from a place of gratitude despite our circumstances eventually our circumstances give us reasons to be grateful!
I hate the phrase “do what makes you happy.” It’s the worst advice ever and it’s given with such love and rambunctiousness. People who adopt that posture in life, without fail, become the most miserable, empty and dissatisfied.
DO HARD THINGS
Being consistent in how we engage life and all it entails will create sustained satisfaction. Slouching through life will cause us to lose every unseen opportunity and leave us feeling like we’ve missed out, but on what we’re not sure.
I hope this week you define a few postures you’re assuming and stand strong in them. Practice positioning your mental posture so it becomes permanent.