DRIVEN Blog
Deeper Insight: Your Confidence and Impostor Syndrome Resource Links
If January was DRIVEN’s month to tackle Perfectionism, then February has clearly been about Confidence. I hope you’ve been with us every step of the way during this exploration, and that you’ve discovered an outlook or two that have enhanced your life…
Celebrate Every Win— And Put Your Impostor In Her Place!
Marinating on the things you did today to contribute to your career is a simple yet extraordinarily effective way to weaken the influence of the impostor and reverse the Impostor Syndrome. Recognizing all you do, particularly through the act of confidence journaling, is one of the key themes of my recent article…
Stretch, Grow & Thrive: Building The Confidence to Defeat The Impostor
Unbeknownst to you, you’ve already begun your confidence-building practice, thanks to your recent discovery of the Growth Mindset. Here’s how it breaks down: Step 1: Accepting that you’re going to fail daily, perhaps multiple times, as a result of the 35,000 decisions made each-and-every day! Step…
Far From Perfect: The Reasons Behind Your Impostor Syndrome
Part of the frustration and desperation behind perfectionism is a need to keep the magic trick going. “People think I’m smart, and accomplished, and confident. When is someone going to peek behind that curtain, yank it back and expose the real me? I know I’m not all that great. It’s ‘only me’.” Another biggie is “I got lucky…
Deeper Insight: Your Growth Mindset & Self-Compassion Resource Links
January has clearly been our month to explore the drawbacks of perfectionism. I hope you’ve been following us on this journey and are already benefiting from the insight and advice we’ve been offering. For instance, in my recent article Re-Leasing Your Life: The 2 Greatest Strengths You’re Not Embracing, it was…
Re-Leasing Your Life: The 2 Greatest Strengths You’re Not Embracing
As part of DRIVEN’s yearlong exploration of my 2019 Word of the Year— “Release”, we’re ExperiMenting with a special blogging format. At the beginning of each month, I’ll offer a thought, feeling or behavior that makes sense to release. Later in the month, I’ll dig into how to reframe the thought, feeling or behavior in order…
Reframing Perfectionism: Three Steps Toward Being “Perfectly Human” at Work
Perfectionism is a condition, a trap, and a self-imposed state of shame that affects many of us, often unbeknownst to us. It also happens to be a consequence of inevitably coming up short when our expectations were unrealistic in the first place. In my recent article Perfectly Human: Evading The Trap…
Perfectly Human: Evading The Trap of Perfectionism
The word “perfect” is a superlative. When it’s not being used to describe the ultimate in sophisticated cocktails— the Perfect Manhattan, it translates to “second to none, ideal, flawless, impeccable, the ultimate”. As such, the word can never (another superlative) be used in reference to oneself. This is…
A New Lease On Life: Discover My 2019 Word of the Year!
Before my 2019 Word of the Year is revealed, give yourself a gift: Take a momentary tour of your consciousness and assess your emotional state. Start by inhaling deeply. Go on. Pull the air through your nostrils. Does it tickle a bit? Is the air cold or warm? Feel how the air fills your lungs. Notice how…
DRIVEN’s Best Blog Articles of 2018, Part 2
Last week, we gave you a sampling of some of our most informative blog articles of the year (if you missed it, link to it HERE). Today, we’re back with four more significant DRIVEN posts from 2018, each offering advice, direction and food-for-thought designed to enhance your career regardless of what stage you’re…
DRIVEN’s Best Blog Articles of 2018, Part 1
Each week of the year, DRIVEN’s blog page is updated with a brand-new, relevant article relating to the business perspectives and advancement strategies encompassed within our mission to “support the health, well-being and success potential of motivated professionals”. Composed by Deborah Goldstein, these…
Conversation, Ongoing: The Back-and-Forth Circuit of Workplace Feedback
Making the shift from anxious to excited has revealed itself to be the formula for a curious mindset. Once you’ve made the transformation (which fits into the rare category of simple and easy), your emotions will stabilize, grooming you to receive workplace feedback constructively and without impediment by…
Self-Check Strategies: How To Make Feedback Sessions Work for YOU
Formal workplace feedback can be a tough nut to crack. Considering the contrasting perspectives of the givers and receivers of feedback, the amount of openness to ideas can vary, as can the trust factor between the parties. In my recent article Openness To Influence: The Factors To Consider Before Receiving…
Listening To Understand: A Socials Skills Staple Examined
The essential social skill of Listening is rarely mastered, even by those among us who pride ourselves on being great listeners. In my recent article, Chit-Chat Credentials: Sharpening Your Social Skills with Two Distinct Listening Styles, I offered what may have amounted to a wake-up call for many of us by sharing…
Chit-Chat Credentials: Sharpening Your Social Skills with Two Distinct Listening Styles
Listening is a communications staple and should be utilized more than 50% of the time during conversations. But just knowing this doesn’t seem to guarantee we’ll act on it. For example, I laughed out loud when a colleague once confessed about the way he uses his listening skills: to hear when the speaker is finished…
Snap Out of It!: How Being In-Trance Can Distort Our Social Skills
Because I’m an advocate of full transparency, I must make a confession: I felt a bit like Captain Obvious this month, using the DRIVEN blog to detail the importance of our culturally-embedded social skills….you know, those interactions of professionalism that stand as a “given” in any arena. And yet…
The Eyes Have It: Refining Your Social Skills Through Appropriate Eye Contact
In order to engage with colleagues professionally and effectively, it’s crucial to eliminate any preoccupations with or insecurities about our own communication techniques. Having a solid handle on our social skills in the workplace assures those communications go smoothly, and that we don’t misrepresent ourselves…
Put‘er There: The Social Skills Behind Our Most Common of Greetings
Since human relationships are directly tied to culture, it makes sense that refined social skills are vital for a healthy work environment. Culture dictates our sense of safety and acceptance, which directly impacts workplace productivity and engagement. In my recent article Clever Conversation: The Positive Effects…
A Well-Oiled Mind, Part 2: More On Emotional Wellbeing Through Self-Compassion
Plain and simple: A functional mind equals a sharp and creative professional who’s prepared to meet the challenges of a multi-dimensional career. Such a professional is experiencing a high level of emotional wellbeing with a strategy of compassion at her core. In my recent prequel to this article, I illustrated…
A Self-Compassion Primer: Mental Energy Maintenance Through Staying Present
You may have noticed that DRIVEN has been spending some serious time on the topic of self-compassion. Why, you may ask, is self-compassion so crucial to a professional’s success? The answer resides in neurochemistry. If you're not kind to yourself, you can't show true compassion for others. When you…