Category: Flips Tips

Setting clear boundaries and limits is an important component of managing both our work and our stress. Sometimes boundaries are firm; sometimes they’re flexible—but if they’re unclear, inconsistent, or nonexistent, it doesn’t serve us well or those around us. Sample scenario #1: Kayla is a helper. She helps her teammates, members of other teams, a

How to Amaze and Delight Yourself as You Enjoy the Passage of Time When we realize that instead of being helplessly strapped onto the roller coaster of life, we are actually the track codesigner, the ticket taker, and the maintenance worker, things shift. We have increased awareness in the moment of our patterns, triggers, and

The Difference between Authoritative and Authoritarian Yes, I was one of those starry-eyed individuals (OK, technically a “hippie”) who thought that if we could just get the right crew of groovy people together, things would work out somehow. Well, that got me/us a certain distance, but nowhere near far enough. There are times and places

Examining Our Internal Dialogue We have an astonishing capacity to set unreasonably high internal standards, look for the slightest evidence that we may in fact be screwing up, and serve as judge and jury for ourselves, usually with a “guilty” verdict. What happens too often is that the capacity for compassionate self-evaluation is overshadowed by

Something seems to happen when we get together as a group or team in the workplace. It’s like some invisible set of rules takes over (which, in fact, it often does). Having good in-the-moment awareness and a functional set of tools for understanding and working effectively as a collaborative group can be invaluable. Sample scenario

One definition of workplace culture is “a set of basic assumptions that defines for us what to pay attention to, what things mean, how to react emotionally to what is going on, and what actions to take in various kinds of situations” (Edgar Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th ed., 2010:29). When we enter an

The Rewards of Healthy Detachment When we are whipsawed by our emotions, when we are fixated on a desired outcome, and when we simply need people to behave in the ways we need them to, we set ourselves up for frustration (not to mention impacting our results). The art of healthy detachment is not being

The next time you’re bummed out about your past, current, or future situation, there is a powerful tool that can show you where the answers reside—and I’m sure you have one in your office or home. It’s called a mirror! How we view ourselves and the options we have to change is fundamental to our