by Alexia Parks | Nov 24, 2018 | 10TRAITS, Article, Health, Leadership, Training, United Nations
Countdown: Day 40 of your personal leadership challenge. Did you know that the average brain processes from 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. Of these daily thoughts, 80% are negative; and 95% of all thoughts are repetitive, that is, they are the same thoughts we thought yesterday. Negative thoughts and repetitive thoughts that don’t lead to positive actions can lead to stress, anxiety and depression. Long term stress can break down the body’s immune system. The opposite is also true. When you learn to consciously free your mind of negative thinking and actively pursue ideas that challenge you to think and act more creatively, you are actually strengthening your immune system. Positive thinking uplifts your life and mind. For example: If you find your impatience or anger rising because you suddenly find yourself in a conversation with someone who doesn’t seem to value your time, use this as an opportunity to put the conversation on hold with a simple request: “Can we put this conversation on hold for (a few hours) or (another time) because I need to (be somewhere else) or (attend to another matter). When you learn to consciously set boundaries around your time – at the start of a conversation for example -you are saying to yourself and to them “I value both your time, and mine.” It can be as simple as saying: “I’m happy to talk for a few minutes, and then I’ve got to get back to a project I’m working on….” When you learn to place a HIGH value on your time and mind, others will too. Alexia Parks 10TRAITS offers 1-Minute conflict...
by Alexia Parks | Nov 23, 2018 | 10TRAITS, Article, Health, Inclusion, Leadership Opportunity, Training, UN Women
Day 41: Here is today’s three-part challenge: (1) Write down a single word that describes how you are FEELING when you are performing at your PEAK, that is, at your personal BEST. Do words like excited, passionate,or joyful come to mind? Think of a word that describes this feeling best for you and write it down. (2) Think of a second word that describes how you FEEL when you are excited, passionate or joyful, … or whatever word you have chosen and write this second word down. Now add the second word to the end of this sentence: Whenever I feel (FIRST WORD), I also feel (SECOND WORD). For example: “Whenever I feel joyful, I also feel confident!” (3) On a scale of 1-5 STARS with five being the best, rate yourself right now. Then, in one sentence, describe what is happening at this very moment to make you feel this way. If you like, you can write down the date and time of day. What time is it right now? Today’s challenge can be easily shared with family and friends. It can also be turned into a daily habit. The only cost, this #BlackFriday is your time. Alexia Parks is CEO of 10TRAITS.com and serves as Chair of 10TRAITS Institute. 10TRAITS offers 1-Minute conflict resolution tools, research, and trait-based training programs for improved decision-making and organizational success. This blog is Day 41 of a series called Countdown: A 50-Day Personal Leadership Challenge....
by Alexia Parks | Nov 22, 2018 | Article, Uncategorized
Day 42: NASA: The countdown is on! What if you attended an event where everyone you met was creating a piece of a Finer Future. Assembled in one room, each person was working on a piece of the DNA of a future world that was designed to work for everyone. All life. The event I attended last night at Riverside, in Boulder, was buzzing with the excited talk of environmental entrepreneurs. What drove the conversations was a simple question: What are you doing right now? The event was a book launch party for futurist Hunter Lovins, a woman who likes her scotch straight, and her spot-on facts five years ahead of the current reality. The book she was signing was offered as a blueprint for a regenerative economy “that avoids collapse and works for people and the planet.” Hunter is one of 100 people asked to join Governor-elect Jared Polis on his transition team. She invited everyone in the room to submit their resume, and extend the invitation to others, to join a committee to enable the bold thinking it will take to deliver the best results. The good news is, many of the ideas that will shape a finer future are already on the ground and ready for lift off. The BEST news is that person in charge of the launch is Polis, a highly successful entrepreneur. I first met Jared Polis in the mid 1990s, when he was still in his 20’s and deep into negotiations for the sale of an electronic greeting card company he had successfully created. Newly graduated from college, Jared had been given a desk...
by Alexia Parks | Nov 20, 2018 | 10TRAITS, Article, Gender, Inclusion, Leadership, Leadership Opportunity, UN Women
Day 43: Finding the will to change takes more than “willpower.”The fight for the top leadership role in Congress between two women politicians: Representative Nancy Pelosi and Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes deeper than media headlines. The media loves a good fight. This fight is different. This fight between two strong women leaders is about accelerating the SPEED of change, changing the entire culture of Congress, and getting it right, so that our elected leaders can break through the current gridlock in Congress and make government REAL again for people. To change how government WORKS, we need to change how government LOOKS. Along with the 100 new women leaders entering Congress in 2019 imagine if the Democrats were to chose a new co-leadership team that would reflect both the diversity of America and our shared common values. That co-leadership team? Pelosi AND Ocasio-Cortez. Co-Leadership of the House of Representatives by two strong women would pair the power and experience of an incumbent with vision and purpose of a high-energy newcomer. For example, Nancy Pelosi’s 31 years in Congress, representing San Francisco, California’s 12th District, might represent “the stable center” where change happens incrementally, over time, through diplomacy and concessions on both sides of the aisle. Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from New York’s 14 Congressional District is an educator and a fighter. Her cause is to make government REAL for people. She wants to remove the mystique of “being an incumbent,” cut through the “red tape of government,” and help people see themselves stepping into leadership roles. It would require setting up a structural framework that recognizes the complexity and volatility of modern...