Coaching Corner: Are you swimming with the sharks or the dolphins?
by Marilou Butcher Roth
Even as I type the title of today’s message, I am questioning if what I have written portrays what I am trying to convey. Let me explain it further…
Recently, I had a conversation with a friend, discussing their current environment, which they consider to be negative. How, they wondered, do you operate at your best when everyone around you is coming from a place that doesn’t support the type of life you desire? I am paraphrasing this, as I can't remember their exact words. However, the meaning is the same.
That conversation prompted me to look more closely at this very commonplace problem. What do you do in situations similar to the one my friend was experiencing? Do you retreat to protect the fragile state of positivity you have left? Or, do you attempt to bring the negative people to their ever-loving senses? It’s a tricky one!
The bottom line ... we absolutely cannot control how others behave, and we do not have to like it. The trick is to take your attention off of the ‘Negative Nellies’ and place it where you do have control: within yourself. Where is your focus? Is it on those folks who are creating havoc within your beautiful life? Well, that can, and will, make it even more apparent. Whatever we place our attention on gets bigger.
We are all exposed to environments (and people) that come across as negative. When we focus on how bad or wrong they are, we become part of the problem. They are focused negatively on something, and now, so are we…and in that process we become them!
Today, pay attention to finding things within your day that you can appreciate and enjoy, regardless of anything else happening in your life. If things aren’t going so great, you will experience a lovely shift. And, if life is already peachy, it will just get even better!
Marilou Butcher Roth
Marilou Butcher Roth is the owner of The MBR Group, a coaching and training company working primarily with REALTORS who have a desire to work and live from a more inspired place. She is also the Broker/Owner of Group REALTORS in Cincinnati.
Marilou is a member of the Ohio REALTORS Board of Directors and past chairman of the organization’s Communications Committee.
