SigmaU Blog

To change who we are, we need to change our identity.  If we don’t, we stay stuck in our past patterns and habits. 

New Name

Often, we must change our name. What does that mean? For some people who have always struggled with their weight, perhaps that's going from I'm a person who says, “I always needs to work out otherwise I will get fat.” Instead, they change their identity through their name, “I'm an athlete!” Shed any identity that doesn’t serve your future best self.

New Routine

If you previously struggled with your weight like I have and have decided to identify as an athlete, your actions follow your new identify. Your routine is that of an athlete. Do they laze around on the couch, eat Doritos, and binge tv all day? Absolutely not! An athlete has a routine which includes regularly scheduled fitness routines. They most likely get up early, work out to win the day, eat like an athlete, hydrate like an athlete and honour their body...

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...

We’ve all worked for draining leaders. One may come to mind immediately, or someone may pop in to your thoughts as I describe one of the worst bosses I’ve ever had. Let’s call him “John” for sake of anonymity! John was a charismatic salesperson who started a side hustle and recruited me from my part-time job in college to be his administrative assistant. I was so excited for the fancy title until I was about a week in.

See, while John was excited about his venture, he wasn’t an inspiring leader. In fact, it was draining to be around John because he just expected me to know how to do a job that I was never trained for. He would fly off on business trips, send me a list of 35 “urgent” emails that needed to be addressed and provided zero clarity on how to attack each one. He was wishy washy about expectations and when I asked him which email was the most important since they were all marked urgent, his response was “they’re...

According to Wikipedia:

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

When we’re not mindful, we’re not fully present. We’re not engaged in the moment and may feel overwhelmed with racing thoughts which can often become anxiety-producing. When we’re distracted and not being mindful, we easily forget things, scroll for hours on Instagram or find ourselves arriving at a destination like work and thinking “how on earth did I get here!” It’s difficult to be mindful in a digitally-crazed world! Here are a few hacks that I use in an effort to be more mindful…

Set Intentions

I never used to set intentions. In fact, I operated for most of my career in a reactive mode. I would let email set the tone for my day and I wasn’t intentional with my routines. Everything shifts...

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish a desire with anticipation." Wikipedia

I have a daily practice of gratitude, setting intentions, reflections and prayer. Recently, I read about the subject of hope and it has stuck with me for a few days.

Here’s what I read:

“Why is hope essential? During World War II, Viktor Frankl, an Austrian Jew, was imprisoned in Auschwitz, one of the worst concentration camps where his wife and his parents died. Frankl was a trained physician and his experience led him to observe the value of hope. Those in the concentration camp who had a sense of hope would talk about the future and what they would do once they were freed or once the war was over; they became the ones to survive the kind of natural causes of death that wiped out...

The Pressures and Loneliness

I’m gonna be real with you guys for a minute. I’ve experienced some of my loneliest moments as an entrepreneur and leader during COVID.

For the most part, I stuck to my healthy habits and routines and, despite those efforts, I found myself in super dark moments where I felt very alone. I felt like I was drowning and treading water at a pace I wasn’t sure I could manage.  A few months ago, I spent several weeks in a row just focusing on getting through the day, so it brought me one step closer to the weekend. It was like I was having an out of body experience and then Friday came! I felt like I could release the breath I was holding in and find refuge in the distractions of weekend activity.

As leaders, we have a tremendous amount of weight on our shoulders. You’re dealing with financial pressures, keeping up with the latest safety regulations. Your concerned about your team’s well-being and mental health. You’re...

Journaling is the process of taking pen to paper, or fingers to a keyboard and taking note of personal experiences, reflections and occurrences on a regular basis. It is a personal journey of gaining clarity on a variety of areas in your life you may be interested in exploring. It could be gaining clarity on who you are as a person, understanding your emotions, reflecting back on past experiences, or looking into the future, just to name a few.

Journaling has many benefits when it is added into your daily routine and it can have an impact on how you show up, not only in your personal life but also professionally. Taking the time to journal and really dive deep into your thoughts and emotions will provide you with a better understanding of why you do the things you do. This provides you the clarity you need to become aware of certain things or situations that may be a trigger for you and be able to catch them before they happen or stop and make a change.

Journaling also reduces...

When you prioritize your energy, everything else is sustainable! Isn’t it true that you feel like you can face the day when your energy levels are high and similarly when your energy is low, the smallest of tasks can seem daunting and draining?

Most people think of the physical only when we talk about energy, but each element is actually critically important. Energy is physical, yes, but it is also the mental and emotional energy we bring to the day. Once we have all of these in balance, things just seem to flow and we can operate at our highest potential and lead more effectively.

Most of us go through life in reactive mode. We take little time to consider the energy we want to bring to a day. I would recommend checking out “The Intentional Leader” journal which helps reframe each day and strategically map out the type of energy you want to bring, and the leader you want to show us as that day. 

The way we show up matters!

Your energy impacts the room!

The winter blues are a real thing ya’ll! Many people head south during the winter months or get active skiing with friends and volunteering in hot climates to break up the winter. With spring officially here, it’s a new reminder that not everything is back open due to COVID restrictions. So, we’ve created a list of ten ways to beat the blues and keep the motivation train moving!

1. Gratitude journal

I go on and on about a gratitude journal and here’s why. During coaching, one of the major differentiators in my clients’ moods and outlook on life is their commitment to keeping a gratitude journal. You cannot be thinking about all of the amazing things in your life and upset and worried at the same time. Take three minutes and write down three things you’re truly grateful for today. If you’re having a hard time coming up with three, consider these options: You are living in a safe country where you are not fearful for your life. You have...