The stress response begins in the brain. However, this stimulates a whole bodily response, and an international collaboration has now uncovered the mechanisms of how chronic stress impacts the brain to change neuronal responses that can lead to symptoms such as social withdrawal - which in turn can be a major contributor to developing mental illness. Flurin Cathomas of the University of Zurich, here in Switzerland, and research colleagues showed that an enzyme released during stress impacts brain function. "We were able to show that stress increases the amount of the matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8), an enzyme in the blood of mice. The same changes were found in patients with depression," This research, in mice notabene, leads to behavioral changes: they withdraw and avoid social contact such as is common in depression. Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
I am a Professional Master Coach accredited by the International Authority for Professional Coaching and Mentoring (IAPCM). I am American born, grew up in Switzerland where my family moved in the 60’s. My father was the marketing man for a US corporation establishing European headquarters. Corporate lifestyle and executives were very much part of my upbringing. Consequently I feel at home in and amongst any cultures and with all management levels within organizations. A feeling for ‘life at work’ and how it integrates ‘with life at home’ comes to me naturally and is my passion as a coach. After 32 years in England I now live back in Switzerland and work internationally since 2006. What is your elevator pitch? “Where there is a will, there is a way”. 'I support you and together we find the way and keep your motivation in tact to stay on the ‘way’. What is the one thing that makes you unique in this profession? My goal is not keep clients involved in long-term contracts. I love that about coaching. I work with my clients for a little while, establishing the needed skills to deal with the obstacles in their way. I am here for them to come back to for some ‘maintenance’ or ‘upgrades’ at a later date. To me successful coaching means my client is in a better place having enhanced their strengths, manage their weaknesses better, and are able to handle day to day with more comfort and ease. What makes you stand out from the crowd? I am known for my incisive questioning, open-heart, ability not to be judgmental and holding the space with and for my clients. Equally for being able to quickly grasp the underlying issues. I have been told that 'clarity' is one of my specialties. What inspired you to become a coach? 1. The Present It is best to start by examining your present-day reality. Determine 'what is working' and 'what is not working'. Once you have the answers explore what you can influence and what not. Eckhart Tolle refers to living in the Now, which means being able to see and feel what your life is in the present moment. The present-day buzzword for this is to be mindful by practicing mindfulness. Standing in a beautiful park, by a calming body of water, or attending your child’s school play or other family event, and actually seeing the trees, feeling the flow and energy of the water, enjoying the play or event while feeling joy instead of being lost in your thoughts (which are taking you elsewhere) is experiencing the now, the present moment, being mindful of that very moment. Thoughts can propel you into an entirely different location even if you are not there physically. It seems odd that we do not just naturally live in the now. After all, almost everyone would agree that the present moment, the now, is all we have. When you are able to live in the day life becomes more relaxed and enjoyable. You empower yourself by influencing what you can influence. This becomes a powerful technique to step out of stress. This is not to say you should never think of the future and plan to reach your goals and avoid pitfalls. It is more about how this is done. Keep your energy where it is needed - in the day. Deal with issues and problems as they arise. By doing this you keep yourself strong to deal with the present-day reality. Your self-confidence and self-esteem will thank you. 2. The Future Rapport is one of the elements that helps create a harmonious environment for good communication. For a conversation to be satisfying the parties involved need to feel comfortable, relaxed and safe. This environment makes difficult subjects easier to approach. A harmonious atmosphere offers the sense of cooperation not competition.
When communication flows easily you feel a sense of natural rapport. It is best to never assume anything about the other person. Rely on what you are told, and the sense you get from them. Ask questions if you need further information. It is best not to jump to conclusions and thereby make assumptions. During a telephone conversation when there is no eye contact, your voice must take over the role of our body language and facial expressions to establish rapport. During an online meeting how, you present yourself is very important. What makes rapport necessary? Having rapport is necessary to achieve the desired results from any conversation. For effective parenting, or in the context of business meetings, the outcome of a conversation could be limited without a harmonious feeling. For example, it could be more difficult to have a child cooperate and clean up his room if the request always comes with an angry voice, rather than that was encouraging and respectful. The same would apply in a business meeting. It might be easier reach an agreement or to close a deal if the atmosphere within the meeting is agreeable. The results can be much more effective when the rapport is natural. If rapport is missing, the quality of communication will suffer. Listen to Suzie Doscher telling you more about Core Values: By gifting yourself this Values process, You will:
Get in touch and book your Values Process. Treat yourself to a great start to the new year. Value yourself. 2 Session Values Process CHF 500 Save CHF 300 this January and February 2024 only. The end of the year is nigh! And with it comes a lot of busy work—some fun, some not so fun. Whether it’s personal or professional, the end of the year is about finishing up, taking stock, and making plans. And that’s all before we get into the crush of the holidays. Our To-Do lists can be very long this time of year.
What we often leave off our list is taking time for ourselves. Yet, the crazier life becomes, the more we need to give ourselves space to just be. We need to spend time on our self-care. You have probably heard the term self-care tossed around, but what is it exactly? It is any activity that we deliberately do to take care of ourselves—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Self-care is time or an activity that builds us up rather than takes away our energy. It is a way to recenter body and mind when we feel scattered and overwhelmed. When we take the time to be present in ourselves, when we take time for self-care, we can reconnect to the world in a Higher Self way. Someone makes a choice you simply do not understand. The consequences may or may not touch your life, involve you, affect you. One way or another you cannot see what they are basing their decision on. This is the part that makes accepting their choice so difficult. I am going to break this down into two parts. Part One: Understanding Take the view that:
Part Two: Acceptance A few years back I worked with a client, let’s call him Eric, the COO of a medium sized established company. I was inspired to write this article as it often tends to be our thinking / mindset / perspective that can trip us up, as was the case with him. Everybody has set ways of thinking about things. This is true for your private life as well as in your working environment. Where your perspective comes from and what it is based on comes usually from past experiences. By past, I mean it can come from way back, or even recent bad experiences with the last boss or partner or life in general. What matters now, in the present moment, is the awareness that these experiences exist, might be driving your behaviour and give you your perspective on things. This can form beliefs, biases, judgements and any, negative thoughts. If you are ready to start changing the results you are getting then these tips can help you challenge your thoughts. After all Einstein says: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”
If listening is easier check out the audio version narrated by the author (Suzie Doscher). In my own life one of the important realizations was that balance is possible and it was mine if I wanted it. What followed was a fair amount of self-reflection, openness, and honesty with myself. Setting aside time to explore my definition of balance, by questioning what was missing and what I was already doing successfully, was time well spent. Since then, I have a good grasp on the various elements of day-to-day life. For me personally knowing my heart and mind are working together is what keeps me balanced. The sense of calm, of being grounded and clearheaded, motivates me to keep my life in balance.
Choosing to create balance will reflect in these six areas of your life:
Most of us spend a large part of the day working. Making sure the remaining hours offer some form of nurturing and reenergizing is vital. There is a difference for single people versus married, with or without children, whether you travel, live internationally and interculturally. Choose the area most in need of attention and nurturing. When a company focuses solely on reaching targets and continually pushes employees to reach these goals, the side effects often result in a high turnover and burnout rate.
Ironically, this can cause the company NOT to achieve its targets in the desired timeframe. Pushing too hard in one direction results in an inevitable push back from the opposite direction. This is a law of nature that applies to the business world as well. Stressed employees trying to reach sometimes unrealistic or unnecessary targets tend to operate at half of their capacity. They start to make mistakes and lose track of the details amid their overwhelming work schedules. They tend to suffer physically exhaustion as well. All of this hurts productivity, the very thing the company is trying to increase. In the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of a “control freak” is “a person who feels an obsessive need to exercise control over themselves and others and to take command of any situation.” The Merriam Webster dictionary says that a control freak is “a person whose behaviour indicates a powerful need to control people or circumstances in everyday matters.”
This personality trait could stem from a chaotic childhood, alcoholic parents, abusive behaviour, or early abandonment. Such experiences can make it hard for people to trust or relinquish control to others. The fear of falling apart pushes them to control what they can. As their emotions are all over the place, they feel loss of control. For this reason control freaks will micromanage whatever they can with the belief that this makes them strong. People who feel out of control tend to become controllers. I imagine each and every one of us is a control freak, or takes on the behaviour of such, at some point or another. The fear of failure is what makes it so important to control everything when you do not trust anybody else to do a good job. One difficult aspect of being around a control freak is accepting that they do not understand how their behaviour and choice of words affect the people around them. Another difficult aspect is not to take it personally. This behaviour comes from deep inside and the person is actually quite unaware of being a control freak. Self-help Audiobook: BALANCE - A Practical Handbook for Life's Difficult Moments by Suzie Doscher19/7/2023
Listen to the INTRODUCTION to the self-help book: |
Raise your self-awareness with this:
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