Strategy:How To Stop Counter-Productive Habits In 4 Seconds…We can Learn to Use the Space Between What we Feel & Do to Make Smarter Decisions

/in /by

Can you improve your relationships, increase your ability to focus and shut down counter-productive habits in just four seconds?

Cross Training

In his new book, Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Stop Counter-Productive Habits and Get the Results You Want, Peter Bregman argues that the key to success in our fast-moving world is to pause for as few as four seconds—the length of a deep breath—to replace bad habits and reactions with more productive behaviors.

Bregman teaches that we can learn to use the space between what we feel and do to make smarter decisions—to take better actions. While the concept of mindfulness in business has recently reached new levels of popularity, Bregman is no newcomer to the idea or to the practice. He’s a coach to numerous CEOs and facilitates leadership workshops at The Esalen Institute and the Kripalu Retreat Center.

Using entertaining examples from his own life and career, Bregman shows how a four-second pause can be used to strengthen our relationships and to optimize our work habits.

                 How To Increase Follow Through

How often do you set New Year’s resolutions or other goals, only to fail in the execution? Bregman counter-intuitively suggests that it isn’t from a lack of motivation. If you weren’t motivated, you wouldn’t have set the goal in the first place. The problem is that your mind gets in the way of the follow through. Bregman writes:

If you want to follow through on something, stop thinking. Shut down the sabotaging conversation that goes on in your head before it starts…You’re smarter than your mind.

Like this Article ??  Share it !   First Sun Consulting, LLC- Outplacement/Executive Coaching Services, is Proud to sponsor/provide our ‘FSC Career Blog’  Article Below.  Over 600 current articles like these are on our website in our FSC Career Blog (https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/)  with the most updated/current articles on the web for new management trends, employment updates along with career branding techniques  .

You now can easily enjoy/follow Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with over 120K participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network:  Over 6K+ Members & Growing ! (76% Executive Level of VP & up), Voted #1 Most Viewed Articles/Blogs, Members/Participants Worldwide (Members in Every Continent Worldwide) : Simply Connect @ www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en ,  Click the Connect button, Cut/Paste our E-Mail firstsun1991@gmail.com, Click Send Invitation.  That Simple.

  • Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network

Look forward to your Participation !

 continue of article:

 Stop Performing and Start Experiencing

Too often, we feel like we’re on a public stage being judged by the audience. And indeed, we are often judged and guilty of judging others too. But focusing on life as a performance, focusing on the judgment just increases our stress and reduces our ability to perform. It is far better to accept that we’ll never achieve perfection, we’ll always be learning, and we should enjoy the experience we are in. Bregman suggests that several times a day we just say to ourselves, “This is what if feels like to…” and focus on whatever we’re doing. When we’re focused on our feelings while in the middle of a task, we become mindful of the experience instead of the outcomes.

                      Say No To Establish Boundaries With Others

Saying yes to things that don’t support our strategic focus areas is a rampant disease. Whether out of habit, the desire to be helpful, or out of guilt too often our default is, “yes”. In order to create space and energy for things most important to us, Bregman suggests several ways to give a professional “no”.

He recommends always thanking the person for their request, as it’s a sign of trust and respect that they came to you to begin with. Realize that you aren’t rejecting the person, just their request. And be as resolute as they are persistent. Bregman models potential dialog, “I know you don’t give up easily—but neither do I. I’m getting better at saying no.”

For many of us, we immediately say things and take actions based on our prior habits or in response to our emotions. In Four Seconds, Bregman teaches us that to stay both sane and highly productive we must pause to take a breath, and be mindful in how we respond.

Forbes.com | March 27, 2015 | Kevin Kruse