SigmaU Blog

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...

As I was preparing for a group coaching session on the topic of Courage, I had a massive aha moment! This often happens when I’m preparing for workshops and sessions. The very thing I’m preparing for is often the message I need to hear.

During our session on courage, we’ll be talking about why we don't pursue our dreams or chase our goals to our maximum ability. Sometimes we hold back or even self sabotage. Why is that?

In High Performance Coaching™, we know that there are three reasons that hold us back from chasing after our goals and our dreams and having that courage to persist or pursue through something you’re currently facing.

Loss Pain

Loss pain is that sense of fear that stops us because we tell ourselves that by changing, we're going to lose something. We get in our heads and think we’ll lose something important to us. As I journaled about my specific dream, something funny happened. When I wrote down my...

How do you stay positive when the odds are against you? Perhaps positive isn’t even the right word! How do you actually keep going and taking action when you continuously get punched in the face?

We’ve all faced this sense of frustration, false starts, and defeat. The difference between the mediocre and the most successful individuals isn’t talent, it’s grit. It’s that courage to get back up again, no matter what, and preserve.

While this all sounds great, you may be thinking, HOW do I develop grit?

Do Hard Things

Get outside of your comfort zone and stretch your goals. The simplest way to do this is to level up on your physical fitness. Few things have had as much of an impact on my overall life as fitness. During 2021 I enrolled in the 75Hard.com program and it changed my life! I dealt with family issues including suddenly losing my dad, friendship struggles and the continued pressures of the lockdown that severely impacted small...

Most conflict arises from mismatched expectations which is why clarity is so critical.  Think about the last conflict you had with a partner or colleague. Chances are, there were misaligned expectations in the relationship. It could be mismatched expectations of communication style, deadlines, how you wanted the other person to engage with you.

In fact, I believe that our inner conflict happens when we have mismatched expectations of ourselves! I’ve spoken about the peace and joy that high performers have when their actions are aligned with their core values. When they are in congruence and showing up as their best selves, or who they say they are, they can be at peace. Inner conflict happens when we’re out of alignment. This inner battle can take place when we have mismatched expectations on where we are in life.

If I always bought in to the notion that I should be married by 25, own a house by 30 and have 2 children by 35 and my life doesn’t represent that...

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...

Just how powerful is a question? Well, it can be life changing as a matter of fact! I’ve had the privilege of working with clients as a High Performance Coach™ and I can tell you that questions change peoples’ lives!

Here’s how it happens!

• Changes our Perspective!

When we change our lens, we change our lives! A coach that I worked with in the past used to ask me a very thought-provoking question when I was upset with someone or a situation. He would always ask “Nikki, what else could it be?” This helped provide such perspective because, of course, I begrudgingly came up with half a dozen possible scenarios which proved his point!  When we approach challenges or setback with a powerful question like this one, we also change the lens in which we see the world. Perhaps at first, I think “that person is rude.” What happens when I replace it with “that person must be pretty stressed out right now.” It instantly changes my...

I didn’t realize just how vehemently I am committed to personal growth and development until I was challenged and told that it was selfish. I stopped dead in my tracks and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This individual said “ya but have you considered the flipside of personal development. It’s actually selfish.”

Well, no! I must admit that I’d never considered investing in myself to be selfish and it got me wondering if people hold back from growing because they have bought in to this myth as well.

Here are a few reasons why I believe that personal development is not selfish.

1. You’re human which means you have an inherent need to grow.

See, most people stop living well before they’re dead. I look at some of my own family members who consume hours and hours of news and television and stopped growing years ago because they learned “all that they needed to know.” For me, that’s a sad existence.

I believe that...

I just finished an amazing one-on-one with a firecracker on my team! She was asking me if it was reasonable to transition to full-time sales within the next twelve months.

To back things up, it’s important to paint a picture of where this team member started. This individual has been in an administrative support role for the past six years.  She is by definition an introvert and does not like being the centre of attention. She’s the type of person who appreciates being celebrated privately vs. in front of people.  She’s also been super-committed to our personal development program and is unrecognizable to the girl who walked through our doors in 2015! In fact, if you had asked her back then if she would ever do sales she would have laughed followed by a “Hell NO never!”

About six months ago, she rolled up her sleeves and started dabbling in sales. It wasn’t out of a new desire but out of her commitment to help the team because sales were...

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last week training with some of the top coaches in the world! They are also some of the most highly productive and successful people in their field. I paid attention to their behaviours and wanted to share some takeaways that are common with most high achievers!

1. They are open and always learning

It was amazing to witness some of the coaching role-play and practicum assignments between veteran and novice coaches. They all had one thing in common: they have a humble spirit and were open to feedback from their peers. They approached each task with an open mind and were always taking notes and learning more.

2. They’re cheerleaders!!

What an exceptional community of human beings! Not only were they willing to learn from first-year students, but they were genuinely happy for their success and accomplishments. Most successful people do share this trait! They LOVE seeing others succeed. They don’t “wish” they were more...

Getting started is often the hardest part about accomplishing a goal. We know what we want but the task seems like a huge undertaking and daunting. We start doubting ourselves and our capacity to take on the challenge and another day slips by with our dream of becoming a new person! I’ve been there and so I wanted to share a few steps you might consider taking to make your next goal a reality!

#1 - Act right away!

Take one small action immediately after you set a goal. Example. I’m going to pay my house off by 2025 is a huge goal! Its great to have that on our vision board, read it out loud daily but if we stop there chances of paying off that bad boy is slim to none! One action step that could be taken right away would be to cancel your weekly cleaning services and have the $125/week come out of your chequing and go directly on to the principle of your mortgage. Now you’ve taken action on that big goal with a small task that will reap huge rewards!

#2 - Set...