What is executive functioning and why is it important?

Executive function describes how we juggle our actions, thoughts, and emotions in our everyday life. It involves working memory, decision-making, self-control, and mental flexibility.

We rely on strong executive functions to stay focused, plan ahead, make connections between ideas, cope with stress and not reach for that block of chocolate hidden in the back of the cupboard!

This part of the brain begins to develop during early childhood through simpler cognitive, physical, emotional, and linguistic processes (like recognizing similarities and differences, identifying their own emotions as well as others, and following directions).

Eventually, children should be able to handle cognitive tasks (e.g. doing simple addition and subtraction) while regulating their emotions (e.g. not have a meltdown when they can’t solve a problem or have what they want).

It’s not only children who are learning how to activate their executive function, manage their emotions, think and plan more into the future, adults are too.

You aren’t born with these skills (nope, it’s not hardwired within us).

You are instead born with the potential to develop them (AKA our natural drive to grow and evolve).

Some people may need more support than others to develop these skills (hands up to being one of them at times. Yes, I put my hand up too).

If you’ve experienced (yes, all in your perception) childhood trauma, not getting what you needed from your relationships with adults, social isolation and other factors that influence stress, your ability to have developed this skill can be delayed or impaired (these disrupt the brain architecture and impair the development of executive centre).

Self-monitoring is the key. It’s the glue that sticks all the executive functions together to help achieve goals and greater independence.

This skill helps us understand our behaviors and how we adjust and make changes in the future.

Self-monitoring can be done by assessing yourself and where you are at in life.

Think of it like a report card which checks in to see how you’re going, what you could be doing more or less to achieve your goals or even how emotionally regulated/unregulated you are (and remember avoidance of feeling anything is unregulated).

Over time you require less check in’s as you have more and more self governance.

Another strategy to develop self monitoring is self talk.

Our brains are powerful and have the capacity to control our behavior based on our thoughts or our internal dialogue.

We all know that sometimes our inner thoughts aren’t productive, but instead are scattered, or easily distracted.

The Demartini Method is a series of questions you can self-talk and you can independently bring your scattered private thoughts into focus, guiding yourself through challenges, resolving emotions and helping you to feel centered to make wise, thought-out decisions.

This is why we hold our Maximum Growth Mindset Classes twice a week throughout the year. It is a way to teach you to check in with yourself, provide scaffolding you need to learn the skill of asking quality questions to bring you (AKA your mind) into greater levels of self-governance.

This then frees your mind to get on with your divine plan, your mission, and take the action steps to fulfil it.

Class starts back again next Tuesday (USA/UK) / Wednesday (AUS/NZ).

Hope to see you on the inside,

 

Signature

Leadership Coach & Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)
Maximum Growth
One on one & group coaching available

Helping leaders to level up using a transformational mindset work.

P.S. Inspired to finally have a date for our Walkshop, 5 days of inner transformation set around the beautiful waters of Sydney. Want to be on the first in the best dressed list? Click here.

How do you live when you have nothing left to give?

You can’t think straight, decisions are waiting to be made, you have no energy to do anything but lay horizontal and stare at yet another NetFlix series for hours. The world nor work doesn’t look so bright anymore, instead it’s a dark lens that appears over everything.

Let’s be real, energy is life, without it, life sucks.

A recent survey of workers across 25 countries, including 1,000 in Australia, found Australian office workers are the most burnt out in the world, ahead of Italy, China, Canada, the US and the UK.

Let’s first define burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.” Warning signs and symptoms include fatigue, lowered immune system functioning, feelings of failure and self-doubt, isolation, procrastination, and taking frustrations out on others.

More than half of the Australian respondents said they suffered from burnout in the last 12 months, with 52% admitting they’ve taken time off due to mental health concerns during pandemic lockdowns.

The pandemic has taken its toll on society in many ways, on office workers as well as business owners. Many clients I work with have been hustling over the past almost two years, have recorded their biggest and best months and years earnings ever, but, it’s starting to take a toll on them.

They haven’t taken solid time out to reflect or unwind. It’s been a constant sprint in what is now a marathon world crisis.

Hustling is helpful in bursts, but not long term sustainable. Hustling is where your nervous system is heightened, and it feels like we’re ‘on’ most of the time. We’re tuned in to social media, endless emails, our phones are within arms reach, even when we sleep.

Burnout then occurs for many reasons, one of which is when the off switch hasn’t been activated for too long.

And it can become a real challenge to turn ‘off’.

I know so many leaders who struggle to take time off, for some it’s been 5 years since their last break. But it’s not just about holidays, it’s not taking time out everyday.

Clients tell me it’s difficult to find the time to go for a walk or to the gym. It feels like business is so important and won’t be able to function if you step out for a moment.

Remember, when we’re working hard and hustling, we activate our sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This SNS is known as fight-or-flight mode, a state of stress that was designed to see us through life-threatening scenarios.

These days our body cannot tell the difference between life-threating and work-related stress. If you’re under the pump at work, your body naturally falls into this supremely heightened state of stress, preparing you for the worst.

Our body is not designed to sustain in this way long term.

So here you are, hustling like a mofo. And then you hit a wall.

If you’re in the service business, and you’re most like the product and service, hitting the wall isn’t helpful.

In fact, it can stall, even stop your business. Then what do you do when your tank is empty and you’ve got nothing left to give?

You see burnout happens in cycles;

  1. Building momentum in business
  2. Go all in and give it everything you have and more
  3. Feeling imbalance but you ignore yourself and keep on pushing and hustling forward
  4. Overwhelm occurs
  5. Fatigue sets in because you’re overworked, not focused on other values and forgotten to give to yourself
  6. Collapse (but not in a Demartini Method kind of way)

So we can either be PROACTIVE or REACTIVE when it comes to burnout.

  1. Acknowledge there is a problem. Yep, super simple but a quick life review around all the areas of life and notice are you surviving or thriving? If there is more surviving then Houston, we have a problem.
  2. Make a list of EVERYTHING that isn’t working for you in your life. Doesn’t matter how big or small it is, write all the things that ain’t floating your boat but drowning you instead.
  3. Create a plan to either shift your mindset around what isn’t working, ie benefit, benefit, benefit until you love it OR drop or delegate it (no matter what the cost because if not, the cost is you (ie. the product and service, the linchpin in the whole operation)). You’ll be feeling lighter already by this point.
  4. Then create an inspiring plan to move forward that lights you up. This is where you’ll see your energy run through you again, maybe as a little trickle to start, and over the coming days and weeks it’ll amp back up again trust me.
  5. PLUS, I’m all for leveling up and continued growth and learning. It’s this framework that can break the cycle of burnout (ie – less hustle, more flow) and keeps us inspired about the future and what we are creating.

The point is, you can either wrap your business around your life or your life around your business.

So if you’re on the burnout bandwagon, or just getting back into work from having your well deserved downtime, then consider breaking the cycle. Make 2022 a new evolution of how you do business and your life.

In class, this month, we’ve been creating the ‘Divine Design’ to keep you focused and inspired in creating the thriving life you want to lead. It’s not too late to join like-minded people and gain access to all the templates to create exciting energy to propel your life forward. Take a look here.

With a warm fuzzy full of energy hug,

 

Signature

Leadership Coach & Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)
Maximum Growth
One on one & group coaching available

Helping leaders to level up using a transformational mindset work.

Free lesson inside! And….It’s my favorite one ;)

You know those people who do the unthinkable? They bite off more than they can chew and then they chew like Pac-man to make it happen? And it happens?!

Then there are the others, who stare at the plate and freeze. Motionless. So overwhelmed they don’t know where to start?

Do you find yourself as the latter? If so, I have two questions for you:

  1. How do the Pac-Man’s of the world do it? (Cause it’s usually not just a combination of hustle, skill and/or talent) and
  2. Is being motionless YOUR best path to kicking goals for this year?

People are still surfing the New Year enthusiasm wave right now.

But I’ll bet quietly (in the privacy of their vanity mirror) most of those people are packing their daks at the audacity of some of their goals.

My guidelines for goals are simple:

They are one part scary and one (or more) parts inspiring. That’s not a guarantee of a perfect goal, but it IS a reliable indicator of completion.

That’s what I call, “an elephant”. Because it’s big and beautiful and majestic and usually a little terrifying in the wild. (Your big ol’ brain is the safari in this scenario.)

If you’ve ever tried leaping outside your comfort zone you probably know those feelings.

But what if the terrifying is more than just one part?

What do you do if you’ve set yourself the Big Daddy Elephant of the Herd version of your goal?

You need a strategy, a designed plan for where you’re headed.

And for “eating” elephants… you nibble.

You start with something that feels (and IS) doable… and you build on top of it.

Eventually it snowballs into recognisable progress.

We’ve talked about delayed gratification before. Reaching your dreams one step at a time.

This week’s lesson is about the SIZE of your steps.

SO…

If you feel like you’re biting off more than you can chew this year – or ever – whether launching a complex project, approaching a big name in your industry, finally tackling deep rooted baggage you’ve swept under the rug for decades, etc… then what’s the ONE next step you can take?

In class this week, we took some steps forward towards our goals by writing our Divine Design, and mapping out what we want in our life. But in an elegantly simple way.

What’s your nibble for now?

That small bite you can tear off and chew like mad (and even if you stumble through it, the stakes are low enough you can stumble comfortably).

Because it’s true what they say:

You really can do ANYTHING. Even your very own Maximum Growth Goal.

The only prerequisite is that you keep biting and chewing.

Sure, sometimes it might feel overwhelming.

But consistency is key. It builds more and more momentum over time.

So we have had the gang at Maximum Growth working on their Divine Design, goal setting that aligns with your soul’s calling. And what we have focused on has been keeping it simple.

Nothing more challenging then having the drive the set your goals for 2022 but you’re too overwhelmed to even open your document and know where to start writing and planning/

So tell me – what are you working on?

Sidenote: writing it down and telling someone makes it real. And real is like focusing your binoculars on that elephant – you increase the probability you’ll do it. (We had some very inspiring goals shared in the Business Membership this week, like Yvonne sharing her Northern Star with the class and working towards owning it, owning the space and stepping into her power as a business woman as she purchases her 5th business.)

I’m all about getting you to that next level.

With love,

 

Signature

Leadership Coach & Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)
Maximum Growth
One on one & group coaching available

Helping leaders to level up using a transformational mindset work.

P.S. – no elephants were harmed in the making of this email. Phew.

P.P.S. It’s not too late to complete your Divine Design and achieve your inspiring goals with like-minded people.

Work Begins Again

Hey life spark,

Isn’t it crazy that we’ll invest in Netflix, holidays & eating out, yet what makes the biggest difference to a more meaningful journey over our lifetime is the thing we invest the least in – our connection with our light and life and sharing our heart with the world.

It’s easy to become distracted; the days, weeks and months can be lost in meaningless tasks or other people’s issues. Too often we are living a life of duty over design, or being swept in the streams of others’ lives, rather than creating our own waves which send ripples through humanity.

My client this week was struggling with that very issue: how to achieve their goals without being distracted by duty, what they are obligated to do for others. They perceived themselves to be living outside of themselves rather than lighting the flame within (and allowing others to do the same).

You’re here because you feel in the depths of your being that you have something more to offer the world. You want to level up, not only your influence but to make an impact (and let’s sprinkle increased income on that too). It is time for a transformation (or a huge life evolution) because if not now? When? And if not you? Who?

Abraham Lincoln stated, “You’re not bound to win, you’re bound to be true. You’re not bound to succeed, you’re bound to live up to the light within you (and the motto we have here at Maximum Growth).”

You are a messenger of light, you come from unconditional love and this is where you will return. The depths of your being knows this love and light.

You are meant to shine. It is your inner nature. It’s not just for a handful of people. It is for everyone. It is within everyone. But sometimes the reality of life gets dark. Really dark. You may feel fragmented into many pieces. You may feel torn down, lost, hollow, even broken. In moments like this, your vision has become clouded and you lose your inner guidance and knowing.

Remember, you are not broken. There is nothing wrong with you (nor right either). You aren’t here to be perfect; you already are. All this you experience has a purpose. It is perfect for your unique mission and voice to share with the world (yes, lost to be found kind of perfection).

The thing is, you’re here for three things in life.

  1. You’re here to create.
  2. You’re here to know.
  3. You’re here to grow.

It’s time to rise from where you are. Imagine yourself like a seed in the darkness, wanting to grow into a big oak tree (or whatever tree takes your fancy).

Maximum Growth is like the inbuilt watering system to help you at all stages of the journey.

Our January classes, “Set The Year 2022“, unleashes your light to make a greater impact on the world.

If you are enrolled in any of the Maximum Growth Memberships (Starter, Business or Coaching Memberships), then these classes are included.

If you are not a member and would like to join us, click here to learn more.

In class we focus on one of the three main purposes you’re here for in life, and that is to create.

You’ll be creating your Divine Design. With a Divine Plan, your life is your own. You can leave your life in others’ hands or move from creature to creator by defining the life you would love to lead.

Napoleon Hill once said ‘create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.’ Your Divine Design is the detailed plan to help you manifest a fulfilling, meaningful and inspired life to help to bring the future into the present and create your vision now.

This is your life, this is your Divine Design.

Come and join other like-minded leaders and create your own Divine Design so that when you open the document, it will bring tears to your eyes.

Looking forward to seeing you in class soon,

With gratitude,

 

Signature

Leadership Coach & Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)
Maximum Growth
One on one & group coaching available

Helping leaders to level up using a transformational mindset work.

P.S. If you can’t join class this month I just have to remind you that you are a messenger of light, you come from unconditional love and this is where you will return. The depths of your being knows light. You aren’t here to be perfect; you already are. The human experience is full of richness, rise and fall, fall and rise with it gracefully, stumbling blocks are your stepping stones for you to teach you more about yourself. You aren’t here to live under someone else’s expectations of you, their judgment of right and wrong, good and bad. You are here to grow. You are here to experience the world, to experience the infinity of divinity through the fininity of humanity, the messy, the clean, the sweaty, salty, dry and sweetness of all that life has to offer. You are here to be beautifully human and to feel is a part of the human experience. Feel with certainty and presence in your mind, gratitude and love in your heart and enthusiasm and inspiration in your body. Shine bright stardust. Tanya x

Nothing Is Missing, What Are You Searching For?