"My favorite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities."

~ Mario Testino

19th August 2021

Hello!

Do you look at the glass “half full” or “half empty”? It’s a matter of perspective, right?

I bought an oil painting a few months ago entitled, “The Loneliness of Autumn” by Leonid Afremov. It depicts an empty park bench on a rainy Autumn city night. I was first attracted to it because of its colors and the lighting. But I was puzzled by the title because I didn’t see loneliness at all. I saw a place to rest, a place to connect with others, and a place to enjoy the beauty of the scenery. I saw possibility – who will sit on the bench next? Who will they see pass by? How will the experience impact their life?

It struck me how I could see something so differently than the artist. But then, I tend to look for the good, the gift and the opportunity. Everything offers us a possibility if we have the right attitude. By looking for the beauty and brilliance in yourself, in others and in your business or career, your glass is half full!

Taking the LEAP with you!

Michelangelo said that in sculpting his masterpiece “David” he was merely chipping away from the marble everything that was not David. In other words, one needs only remove the excess stone to reveal the work of art within.

When we apply this notion to us humans, we discover we are all works of art in all our varied manifestations. Life’s true journey may be the process of uncovering and removing what’s in the way of our shining through with beauty and brilliance.

In support of helping us find the best in ourselves and others, consider the practice called "Giving an A" that comes from the book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life, by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. This practice asks us to choose the perspective of seeing everyone (even ourselves!) as holding great potential. You can give an A to anyone—your spouse, children, employer, co-workers—even strangers.

Taking the familiar classroom example first, notice that when students think of themselves as C students, they may not bother trying very hard. If the teacher expects them to do poorly, the students are likely to fulfill that expectation. What would happen if the expectation were that the students were A students?

Benjamin Zander, a world-renowned conductor and teacher, experimented with giving As to all his graduate music students at the start of school. They were instructed to pre-date a letter to him from the end of the semester, writing to tell him not just what they had accomplished, but who they had become in the process of living up to that A. The results were amazing. Students who had been anxious over their performance and who were playing it safe, began to see themselves differently and participated at a higher level.

Ken Blanchard shares in his book, Helping People Win at Work, how he took this concept even further when he was a college professor. At the beginning of each course he taught, he often gave his students the final exam. In response to other faculty complaining about this behavior, he responded, “Not only will I give them the final exam ahead of time, what do you think I’ll do throughout the semester? I’ll teach them the answers so that when they get to the final exam, they’ll all get As. You see, I think life is all about helping people get As – and not force-fitting them into a normal distribution curve.”

In our work lives, it is easy to fall into the habit of judging others (ourselves, too!) for not living up to what we think is right and then holding that judgment as always true—in essence, labeling them (or ourselves) C or D students. A mentee of mine was subject to this attitude from her boss who refused to acknowledge the contribution she was making to the company – he only saw her as a fresh graduate despite having graduated five years earlier.

Imagine coming from a perspective of believing in an associate’s creativity and potential instead of judging on historical results. The outcome can be working together toward a shared goal of excellence.The world is much more beautiful and full of possibility when we choose to focus on the work of art within us and others, rather than the excess stone that appears to be the reality.

It really is a choice of perspective!
What grade do you want to live into?

Challenge...

Think of a goal you want to achieve and write yourself a “Why I deserve an A” letter.

List out all the things you achieved and how you grew through the process. Be sure to also include gratitude to those who helped you along the way.

If you want to make it even more fun – put the letter in an envelope, address it to yourself, put a stamp on it, and then give it to a friend who will mail it to you when you expect to have achieved the goal.

To help you, here's an "I deserve an A" template to help guide you in the process. Click here to download

RESOURCES and more... 

FREE GIFT
If you know it's time for a change in a specific area of your life, but you aren't sure how to make it happen, this is for you - Courage, Risks and Reward: Taking a Chance to Change Your Life -  a 5-part Coaching Program compliments of The LEAP Network! Click here to download the program.

Let's connect...
Join me in a one-hour complimentary strategy session to help determine how you can move forward in getting unstuck, and gain momentum to move in the right direction for you. During our session, we will go over one or two exercises and determine the one next step you can take on your own after the call to keep the momentum going. Click here to schedule your session

SOCIAL MEDIA

Renée Blasky is the Founder and CEO of The LEAP Network Ltd.

Renée discovered her business and mindset coaching super powers when she was approached by a woman looking for assistance in developing a business opportunity.  She hasn’t looked back since.  Coaching women fits with her passion to empower women so they live a fulfilled life and make choices from a foundation of personal power, financial freedom and a deep sense of accomplishment.

Through her own experiences, as well as coaching women entrepreneurs and women in finance, Renée understands women often undermine their confidence and self-esteem. Consequently, they jeopardize their success paths, and mental fitness. As mindset accounts for an estimated 80% of success and happiness, Renée helps her clients to understand the lies they are telling themselves, how they are sabotaging their performance, wellness and relationships and helps them to establish a new journey to thrive utilizing their superpowers.

Renée helps her clients find clarity, regain their passion, set stick-worthy goals, stay focused, create the right mindset, and be accountable.  She also gently pushes her clients outside of their comfort zones and helps them face their fears so they can achieve their dreams. Renée works with her clients through various online courses, webinars, one-on-one coaching, and group coaching programs.

Renée, who trained as a life coach with Tony Robbins and Cloé Madanes, is also a certified trainer for Marci Shimoff's Happy for No Reason and Susan Jeffer's Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway courses based on their respective books of the same name. She is also in the process of getting certified in the Positive Intelligence^® program to increase her client’s mental fitness.

Renée is aptly qualified to coach women entrepreneurs and women in investments having founded two of her own businesses; investment management consulting services and business coaching. She is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion and loves multi-cultural environments, having lived abroad for 35 years with assignments in 13 countries. She obtained her Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter in 1990, and has over 30 years of experience in the investment/finance industry.  She is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in Finance.  She has also received various awards and recognition in the investment industry through her work with the CFA Institute and the development of capital markets in East Africa.

Learn more about Renée and The LEAP Network by visiting her website here: www.theleapnetwork.coachesconsole.com.

You can also send an email directly to Renée at rkblasky@theleapnetwork.co (not “.com”)