SigmaU Blog

This week I had to display courage in many ways. It took courage to speak my truth when my voice was shaking. It took courage to own my reaction and own the consequences of it – and it took courage to reflect and revisit an uncomfortable situation to move forward.

It got me thinking about courage and just how important it is to live a fully charged and authentic life.  Most of us will run into situations that require courage and, more times than not, we’re not ready. We don’t have our sword and shield up and we’re often blind-sided. What happens, and what happened to me when I wasn’t ready and had my back against the wall, was an instinctual reaction.

How do we know when courage is required?

C – Core Values

When something comes up that conflicts with our core values, it takes courage to speak up. It can be incredibly uncomfortable and even lonely to stay true to your beliefs when you’re facing the majority. But to live in congruence...

A mentor recently said something that made me scream “Yes!” because it is completely true. He said “Most people assume that the 1% have the secret to success. The reality is that the 99% just don’t want to believe that it comes down to hard work, discipline and grit.” WOW! Agreed. I have to admit, I hoped that there was a secret to success, a shortcut or a secret sauce, but he’s right. At the end of the day, success requires a lot of hard work and most often we underestimate the effort required on our part.

So how do we build grit?

G – Give

The reality is that you’ll most likely give a lot more than you receive, especially at the beginning. If you’re building a business, you’ll give a ton of value, information, free advice and extraordinary service with little returns. That’s just the reality. It’s a grind and requires inputs at a high level to achieve results. If it’s with your health, you’ll give...

I know better, but I did it anyway! I checked my email and read a news headline before I was finished my morning routine and you know what? It messed with my head!

One thing that I’ve learned from the High Performance Coaching ™ community, is the importance of keeping a morning routine that is sacred and sets you up for success.

My morning routine normally consists of an early start, gratitude journaling, goal setting, setting intentions for how I want to show up, planning for what might trip me up, prayer and meditation. Most days, I’m vigilant about guarding my time.

Today, I was halfway through my gratitude journal and wanted to email myself a quick note about an upcoming team social so that I wouldn’t forget. Well, you guessed it! I was pulled in to my phone (something I typically don’t touch until my routine is done) and got sucked into emails!

I derailed my morning routine, answered some emails and before you knew it, was behind schedule. Slight...

Fuel is damn expensive these days and keeping our tanks full is costly, but it's necessary to get around.

Consider for a moment, another type of fuel tank and that's your mind.

Our minds are beautiful, malleable, intricate, and powerful tools we can use to reach enormous heights.

The challenge is, we often shrink back from trying to chase our goals and dreams because we don't control our thinking.

Here's where the power lies! Consider your mind to have two separate fuel tanks side by side to form one large tank that keeps us motoring.

One side, will feed us negative thoughts. We will see the bad in all things. The weather is too cold, the relationship is meh, the business opportunities mediocre. And when we add fuel to this tank it works very efficiently to keep pumping us with evidence to support all the negativity we see.  A full negativity tank will tell us every reason why we are selfish for wanting more, don't have the time or we're unworthy of investing in our personal...

When we think of big goals, we’re often excited when we first write them down. Then reality sets in and we start looking at what could go wrong, the skills we don’t have yet or the barriers that will stand in our way.

Often, the obstacles are self-imposed, created by our minds and given strength through our language. When we ask ourselves dis-empowering questions like, “How the heck am I going to reach this goal?”, we’re not setting ourselves up for success.

When we are careful with our language and how we construct questions, miracles happen!

Instead, ask yourself…

• “What is the best thing that could happen here?”
• “What would it take to reach this goal in half the time?”
• “Who can help me achieve my results even faster?”
• “How would I be thinking differently if the stakes were higher?”

Questions like this challenge the status quo. They make us think in broader and more creative terms, allowing for...

Things aren’t always as they appear. We know that our minds can play tricks on us. Just think about some of the shapes you’ve seen in the dark! Things that appear to be wild creatures turn out to be shrubs or bushes.  Things that seemed scary turn out to be nothing at all, but if we’re not careful, they can derail our success!

Recently, I vacationed in Costa Rica.  While I was there, I was determined to stick to my fitness routine.  The very first day, things started great. I did my run and then went over to the bench and started picking up my weights.  I was shocked to discover I couldn’t pick up a 20lb weight, something I had done merely 24 hours prior.

I was frustrated, bummed, and lost my motivation. Could it be because I’m closer to the equator? The magnetic pull?  The 32-degree weather? What the heck was going on?  I went down in weights and used a much lower dumbbell; 8lbs in fact. I couldn’t believe it. ...

Most people don’t realize the incredible power they have to change their lives in an instant.  The most powerful tool each one of us has is the immense power of our minds.

Unfortunately, most people react to the inner dialogue which is typically negative rather than consciously redirecting their thoughts in a positive way. The good news is anyone can change their lives dramatically by changing how they think.

Now I’m not going to tell you WHAT to think, there’s a big difference there. I’m going to share HOW other successful people think and you can decide what resonates with you.

Here are some of the lessons that I’ve learned the most successful people do!

Clearly Defined Goals

The most successful people in the world have clearly defined goals. They know what they want out of life, where they’re headed, and the steps required to get there! When we’re striving towards something bigger than ourselves that makes us stretch and grow,...

What have the past couple of years looked like for you in terms of your thinking? By that I mean, have you had an abundant or a scarcity mindset?

When we look at abundance, it’s a mindset of plenty for everyone! When we look at a scarcity mindset it refers to a lack of something. A lack of time or money.

I’ll be honest with you, prior to the pandemic I lived in a very abundant mindset.  During the pandemic, I found myself shrinking to a scarcity mindset.  Granted, our business dropped about 90% in revenue overnight and it was one of the most challenging times in my life.

I’ve worked through the push and pull of abundance vs. scarcity and I wanted to share some ways that I was able to shift my thinking and hopefully it serves you.

• Realizing that there is an abundance of money
  • Money is printed for heaven’s sake. Just because someone else’s business is thriving does not mean yours can’t too.  There’s an abundance of wealth to...

The Power of the Mind

I’ve recently been studying the teachings of Andrew Carnegie and Earl Nightingale, the god fathers of personal development.

One message has resonated loud and clear and that is the power of our minds.  Our minds are all consuming so what we feed it and what we allow it to say to us is of utmost importance.  Nightingale often references that we “literally become what we think about.” Both thought leaders share the importance of directing our mind in a way that serves us since our minds guide our lives.

Look for the Good

Yes, there is so much negativity, turmoil and evil in the world however there is also an abundance of good! Just look at the spring weather, see the changes and the wonder that is taking place this month. Consider your health, you woke up today when so many didn’t. We can have our minds focused on surveying the horizon for all the good or we can look for the bad.  Both with change the lens through which we...

Having congruency with your intentions creates a strong sense of self confidence, peace, and a greater sense of purpose. We know that high performers are deliberate with their actions. They set intentions each day and likely before transitioning to each new activity.

High performers map out what their top priorities for the day are, what their focus needs to be on and how they would show up as their best selves.

When I coach with clients, one of the very first things I have them do is to select 3 words that would describe their best self. These words may not necessarily reflect who they are today, but rather who they are becoming as they work towards growing and transforming into a high achiever. Some clients can come up with the 3 works quickly, they are sure about who they are and what they would want others to describe them as. For others, this is an introspective process that takes time.

What’s most important is making sure that future actions align with those 3 words. I...