Das PRESSURE

Das PRESSURE… It’s one of the main reasons we develop PAST– pain, anxiety, stress, tension which sometimes leads to anger – in our lives. If we don’t deal with it, it continues to build. And the more it builds, the more harm it does.

I recently had some first-hand experience with this; I was under a lot of pressure and it was starting to take a toll on my body. Anxiety was making me frenetic; my heart was racing, and my body didn’t quite know what to do next. I was out of sorts, out of focus, faint, bloated, even a little depressed. Fun, right?! I don’t think so.

Since coping with pressure is central to the work I do with clients, I knew I had no excuse… it was time to take action – now!

Here’s what I did to shift gears – without losing any momentum:

Adjust my posture – I had been sitting at my desk for long periods of time in a hunched up, rigid position, leaning forward with my eyes glued to the monitor. (Yes, I know I’m a posture specialist… you’d think I would’ve learned by now! But hey, I’m human.) So I made a decision to check in on my posture and straighten up several times a day. That one step made a surprisingly big difference in how my body felt.

Loosen my clothing – My pants, and sometimes even my shirt, were too tight. My belt was cinched around me like a saddle on a horse prepared for a long, arduous ride. When I loosened my clothing, my diaphragm could breathe much easier.

Assess my “intake” patterns – I tend to eat a healthy, nutritionally sound diet (with a healthy dose of cheating), but when I slowed down enough to notice, I realized that I was eating rapidly, on the run, in the car, standing up, late at night just before bed…not the best choices. In my hastiness, I was asking my body to do several things at once, and by the laws of physics, that means we must slow down.

Take control of my internal dialogue – It was running on a steady diet of fear and confusion, and that always leads to dark and scary places. “I’m holding onto control as tightly as possible, trying to keep myself safe.” So I started to ask myself questions: “What’s the big damn hurry?” or ”What are you afraid of?”

Tie up loose ends – I noticed I was not finishing communications; they kept
swirling in my mind. They were eating up my energy and attention. I pushed them back into the corner instead of dealing with them. Why was I avoiding them? Because there were underlying fears. The fear of expressing myself. The fear of standing out. The fear of confrontation. It turned out that the biggest piece I needed to communicate was to myself! Once I recognized this, I felt a great sense of relief and got back into the flow of things.

Reach out for support – Being the type to explore alternative healthcare options before a Western medical approach, I called my acupuncturist. We discussed my symptoms and started a six-week program of acupuncture treatments and  herbs that he developed specifically for me and my mind-body system.

It seems that pressure and tension are inevitable parts of being human. Fortunately, we always have options on how to deal with them. If you’re looking for ways to free yourself from the stress of daily life, here are three critical steps:

1) Identify your “stressed-out” symptoms. Where do you feel the tension in your body? How is your breathing? How is your posture? (Contact me for a complete Body Checklist – it’s free.) When you become aware of your physical response to stress, you gain insight and ability to reverse the process.

2) Try out different strategies to relieve stress. Take care of loose ends and incomplete communications. Take better care of your body through nutrition, sleep and exercise. Cut back on caffeine or other stimulants. Use deep breathing to reset your internal experience. And here’s the best one… take a break!

3) Cultivate support. Whether that means calling a friend or family member to blow off steam, finding a workout partner, working with a healthcare professional or calling a coach, get an outside perspective.

If I can support you in balancing out your life and minimizing stress, please feel free to give me a call. Dave Brown 858-775-4544

The Abundance of Clarity

By David J. Brown

It’s an old story. The driven executive blasts through the door of his home, kicks the cat and screams at the kids. Pressures that simmered untended throughout the day boil over at work and then at home. Sadly, there are still otherwise successful executives living this cliché. If only they could find the key to handling the pressure. The answer may be just a few questions away.

“Do you feel like you’re trying to win a war rather than make a business work?”

“Could it be that you are leaving a trail of wounded as you climb the corporate ladder?”

“What would it be like to lead with intention without tension?”

These are the kinds of questions executive coach Dave Brown asks in order to navigate the aspirations and frustrations of his clients. Uncovering hidden obstacles to productivity, Brown guides the client through a process that identifies mind-sets and behaviors that impede progress. The COO whose combative style is known to intimidate those around him discovers the battle he really needs to win. He needs to conquer his belief that domination means effective leadership. He realizes he can get better results by listening and negotiating, both at work and at home. By gaining this insight and by learning a new communications approach, the COO transforms the pressure he puts on himself and others into an engine for success.

Whether an executive’s challenge is to manage up, or manage down, or work effectively with peers, Brown moves through a step-by-step process to identify the limiting factors that cause his clients to struggle. This coaching method uncovers the hidden obstacles to clear communication that sabotage many otherwise effective executives.

In all the extensive training executives undergo, one topic is rarely covered: the true meaning of verbal/nonverbal communication and how it effects one’s success. Brown delivers a conscious and systematic focus of non-verbal behavior to reveal how this critical area of leadership can and will multiply the effectiveness of any executive.

“Addressing the entire spectrum of expression, beginning with clarity of purpose and clear thinking, we work through a practical approach to using precise words, appropriate inflection and congruent body language,” says Brown. “Clarity, expressed in position and posture, creates communication that is inherently powerful. But when non-verbal expression doesn’t match one’s words, there is a scarcity of clarity. ”

Executives trained in this method can marshal support above and below them to get things done. They confidently move people to action along a planned path and time line to reach results.

Theresa, an executive who considered it unsafe to express her feminine traits at work, felt she needed to be authoritative and overbearing to get the job done. Her true personality was masked. As a result, she alienated those around her. Brown’s method of coaching enabled her to recognize and correct the disconnect between her behavior and her personality, resulting in an authentic expression of authority. This engaged others rather than repelling them.

Another of Brown’s clients, a chief scientific officer, was promoted to associate director and put in charge of 18 scientists who were formerly his peers. During his coaching experience, he learned to stop doing the work and start leading the work: In short: effective delegation. By managing upward, he also acquired the budget necessary for critical equipment purchases as well as vital staff training and education. He was promoted to director, and then to senior director. Despite an extremely difficult market for research and development expansion, the company received a third round of funding, which the investors attributed to the firm’s effective accomplishment of corporate objectives – attributed to his ability as an effective leader. These are the results of an abundance of clarity.

Ken Blanchard, founder of Ken Blanchard Companies and a Brown client, put it this way, “I have a personality type that drives faster than my body could keep up. For years I pushed myself at full throttle, at a pace that was hard to sustain. During our coaching sessions, I discovered how I sacrificed my well being at times for the sake of accomplishing my goals. Dave offered strategies, support and insight to help me find a level of balance that I had not found on my own. As a result I can now be more effective in everything I do. Coaching is a powerful process and Dave Brown is an excellent coach."

Needs a conclusion / Call to Action.

Dave Brown is a Del Mar resident with offices at 1442 Camino Del Mar and can be reached at 858-775-4544.