Life Dynamics Coaching Monthly Musings Newsletter

WINTER MONTHLY MUSINGS 2008

Happy 2008! Life Dynamics Coaching's Monthly Musings newsletter has gone seasonal. Enjoy and let me know what you think about the changes. Ready, set, here we go...

Are you up for a challenge this year? Just think about what the world can look like if we all make an effort to find the best in everyone and every situation or circumstance. We all have the ability and capacity to "warm up" this world with our time, talent, humor, and smiles. Together, we can transform the world. Let's invite one another to come out of the cold and warm up!

"If the world seems cold to you, kindle the fires to warm it." Lucy Larcom, Poet

"Be the Person You Always Wanted To Be" from Promises To Myself edited by Suzanne Moore

Starting today, I will be the best person I can be. I won't wait until the beginning of the year to make resolutions. I will realize that each day is a new beginning. Every day, I'm given the chance to open my eyes, put my feet on the ground, and take one more step toward becoming the person I want to be. Instead of dreaming, I will set goals. Instead of imagining, I will take steps. Instead of saying 'one day,' I will say "starting today."

"Freeze Frame or Re Frame?" by Coach Deborah

Who remembers the song, "Freeze Frame" by the J. Giles Band? My friends and I sang this song for months back in the 80's. We even went to the concert in Minneapolis and "bounced off the walls" as teenagers tend to do, and we had the time of our lives. Six teenage girls from rural St. Peter going to the big city, oh my! Don't let your imaginations run too wild...

"Reframing" is a buzz word currently flying around in offices, organizations, political campaigns and within general conversation. What does "reframe" mean? To reframe something means to put a new or different frame around some image or experience. Reframing helps us realize that there are multiple ways to look at anything.

Robert Dilts, author of From Coach To Awakener, explains reframing this way. "The frame around a picture is a good metaphor for understanding the concept and process of reframing. Depending on what is framed in a picture, we will have different information about the content of the picture, and thus a difference perception of what the picture represents. A photographer or painter who is recording a particular landscape, for example, might only 'frame' a tree, or choose to include an entire meadow with many trees, animals and perhaps a stream or pond. This determines what an observer of the picture later on will see of the original scene. Furthermore, a person who has purchased a particular picture might subsequently decide to change the frame so that it fits more esthetically in a particular room of the house. Similarly, because they determine what we 'see' and perceive with respect to a certain experience or event, psychological frames influence the way we experience and interpret a situation."

Reframing allows us to not become caught up in a single point of view. It widens our perspective of a person, a situation, and our view of the world. Let's consider some one-word reframes for the word, "money." Success, tool, responsibility, corruption, green energy, etc. are all words or phrases that Robert Dilts uses to put different 'frames' around the notion of "money," bringing out different potential perspectives. Reframe to move past perceived boundaries and limitations. It's simple. We can all freeze frame to make the world a cold place to live. We can freeze frame and stay stuck or set in our ways and old belief systems or we can reframe to warm things up and move toward a more positive way of living. Now, in 2008, when I sing "Freeze Frame," I've changed the song title to "Reframe." I still "bounce off the walls" with my friends singing, "Reframe, Reframe..." Okay, paint a picture of a group of "forty-something" women singing "Reframe" and let your imaginations run wild! Come join us!

How can you start practicing reframing? Start by working towards changing a word or phrase that has a negative or limiting connotation to a word or phrase that presents a different or wider perspective that leads to a more positive connotation. Talk about a great way to warm things up!

Examples:

Negative or Limiting
Unsure of competence.
Criticism.
Lose.

Positive and Wider Perspective
Phase of learning curve.
Feedback.
Let go of the familiar.