A Powerful You

February 7, 2014 / Kirsten Flory / Leave a comment

I had the wonderful opportunity to engage with a group of business professionals and have a much needed social time recently. I have been invited to join these phenomenal women for a scheduled social time for many months now, but for the first time was able to attend due to my busy schedule. I left some emails unattended, and some work left to be finished up later, because the opportunity to engage with these fellow power people was the most beneficial part of my week.

I feel that sometimes the busyness of life forces us to react instead of being proactive. Why don’t we give ourselves permission to push the “pause” button and truly engage with people in the moment? The life lessons we are able to glean from others, when no agenda is set, is sometimes the most important lessons that we can gain in life. Those moments when you are not talking about a business deal, or a logistic for your household, can be the most eye-opening.

What I am grateful for, is the people in my life that I only get to see for little bits of time, but when we are together it seems like no time has passed at all. The hour that I got to spend this week with these powerful women made me feel powerful, too.

That leads me to a question for all of you: How do you feel most powerful?

My friend and executive coach Jay Pryor has asked me this question many times over the past few years. At first, this question threw me for a loop. If you are in sales, the power play comes at the close of the deal or when the client says “yes!” In other parts of the business world, it may mean getting the job, promotion, recognition or new opportunity to expand yourself. Feeling powerful is important in so many ways. To know that you have a voice that matters and to know that you are heard is one of the most redeeming qualities you can have.

On the flip side, the ability to listen to others, reinforce others in their dreams, and be that support system for your family and friends can make anyone be powerful. Sometimes the sheer act of being present for others is the best way to create power within your life. Cherish these moments you have, and make sure you have the opportunity to engage with others that not only make you feel powerful, but that you also provide a powerful source to their lives.

The Parking Fairy

April 29, 2012 / Kirsten Flory / Leave a comment

I was on my way to a networking luncheon this week, and gave myself a few extra minutes to find a parking space. With the lunch meeting location being in a popular downtown area, I assumed that my search for a good spot would take some time and possibly a good walk. Earlier that day, I had some unexpected down time, which came as quite a refresher. My mind was clear, my attitude up, and I was resolved that today was going to be a good one.

To my surprise, as I was coming down the street to the restaurant, a spot opened up right in front. When I walked into the meeting (a good 10 minutes early) I was met by another early bird – my life and executive coach, Jay Pryor. I told Jay my wonderful fortune of finding this prime parking spot. He said “ahhh, you used the parking fairy.” Parking what? Jay explained that every time he heads to a meeting, he puts a thought out into the universe to something he refers to as the “Parking Fairy.” By setting his positive thinking in motion, and describing his desires (a good parking spot) he is usually rewarded by a prime location.

You may be thinking how you try to think positively a lot of time time, and regrettably haven’t seen much results. The power of positive thinking is a long standing theory developed by a number of experts to internalize your power. I tested this concept after my “Parking Fairy” experience, and this is what I found. The times when I forced the positive action, the outcome I desired didn’t come. I may have been in a good mood, and the positive thoughts were genuine, but I was in a rush and not giving my full attention to the positive action. When I took a minute, and (this minute could occur in the car on the way to the meeting) to clear my mind and focus on what I wanted, the effort resulted in a positive way. Try this out for yourself, with the Parking Fairy or another element, and see what happens.

Don’t Force It

March 1, 2012 / Kirsten Flory / Leave a comment

Have you ever had one of those days when everything flows gracefully? The sun is shining, you arrive early for every appointment, you get a free coffee because it’s the day your punch card is full, and that “rock star” parking place magically opens up as you get ready to pull into your destination. Just thinking of days like that puts a smile on my face.

Then, you have days that are exactly the opposite. You are running late, your attitude is grumpy from the get-go, you spill coffee on your freshly dry-cleaned pants, and the day goes downhill from there.

Do you have any control over what kind of day you have?

My friend and Executive Coach, Jay Pryor www.pryorconsult.com , shared with me a fundamental message: what you focus on gets bigger. Jay even challenged me to try out this concept, and asked me to remove all negative chatter from my mind. What? Negative chatter? Me? Jay explained that negative chatter is all that stuff that goes on in your head to make you feel doubt, guilt, insignificance, and gives you that glass is half empty feeling – towards yourself and others. I feel like I’m a fairly positive person, but had to admit that negative chatter does get the best of me sometimes. Although, this was very difficult to do (as we humans tend to revert back to pre-programmed messages that pull us away from thinking in a new way) I gave it a try.

What I realized through this exercise was that I needed to make it easy and not force it. When negative thoughts came into my mind, I made a habit of releasing them. By not giving negativity your time and focus, it opens you up to the good and positive. So many times we yearn for those positive things to come into our life, and we get frustrated when they don’t happen as quickly as we hope.

The power of creating the positive action you desire in your life, is by being proactive. Now, I don’t mean if you desire something that is a stretch that you should force yourself, your finances or your family into that desire at whatever cost. What I encourage you to consider is that we should erase negativity, put in a little work ourselves, and let the possibilities flow.