YOU CAN ALWAYS RESET!

For those of us who are Jewish, this month we celebrate Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur, the “High Holidays.” As the Jewish calendar correlates with the lunar cycles, this time of year is the Jewish New Year. As such, these holidays require us to reflect on the past year, be honest with ourselves, ask for forgiveness for any way in which we weren’t our best selves, and clear the slate for a new year to come. Unlike other traditions, every year we have the opportunity to begin anew. Clean slate. We can always reset.

This is a practice we can apply not only to Yom Kippur, and not only to New Year’s Eve, but to our daily and moment to moment lives. What’s prohibiting us from stopping, taking stock, and resetting after we take action in a way that does not reflect our best selves?

In the context of communication, we can apply this in many ways:

1. PITCHING

• Problem: We walk into the room. Our palms are sweating, our voice is shaky, and we try to “impress” the room of investors. We feel it the minute we open our mouths. Eek!
• Solution: Pause. Notice what is driving you. Connect to your best self — the self that has a meaningful mission and powerful story to tell. Begin anew — You got this!

2. NETWORKING

• Problem: You are in conversation with an individual who is really rubbing you the wrong way. The. Worst. There’s no getting out of this one. Or is there?
• Solution: Stay present with the person despite their challenging nature. When an opening presents itself, kindly say, “thank you for sharing. Nice to meet you,” and walk away. Pause. Take 30 seconds to reflect. Ask yourself if you were responsible for any negativity in this interaction. Reset. Introduce yourself to someone new!

3. LEADING

• Problem: You’re stressed AF. You are putting together an important project and about to hit a breakthrough. Just as you come up with a brilliant idea (cuz you’re obv brilliant), a colleague interrupts your train of thought. You snap at him/her. Whoops!
• Solution: Take a breath. Acknowledge your blunder first to yourself. Apologize to your colleague. Take another breath. Get back to work. If the idea is in fact brilliant, it will find you again.

QUESTIONS? Feel free to visit www.wholeselfsystems.com to learn more