Coach Michele’s Group Coaching November 2, 2011

2Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Today’s Topic Success and Productivity – Keep Calm and Carry On, Book Synopsis and Discussion

3Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 How to Participate If you’d like to participate in the call, please press 5* If you’d like to just listen, don’t press 5* If you change your mind, you can always press 5* again to change your status If you’d like to follow along with things, there is a PowerPoint available in the client area

4Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Opening Q’s Before we start, I’d like to open the call to questions…It can be a follow up to last week, a success or personal development question, a question about your own life, a question about coaching, a comment or observation, or anything at all!

5Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Introduction This is a fantastic book by Mark A. Reinecke, Ph.D. It gives 20 lessons for managing worry, fear and anxiety. We’ll review and discuss a few lessons!

6Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Introduction Continued The origin of the title of this book comes from a poster printed by the British government during WWII. The world was a mess, but the poster urged people to “Keep Calm and Carry On”! So, just exactly how do we do that?

7Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Why? Why does “keeping calm” matter? Why would it be important to manage worry, anxiety and fear?

8Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 1 – Anxiety: It Works Our brains are wired for anxiety It is a highly adaptive, healthy response to perceived threats The anxiety prompts you to two main questions; 1. How big is the threat? 2. Can you manage or cope with this threat? You may not control the threat, but you can control your perceptions of the above two points

9Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 1 – Discussion Q’s Do you tend to “awfulize” or magnify how bad outcomes can be? Do you tend to *underestimate* your ability to manage problems? How often?

10Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 1 Actions Strive to accurately assess the level of threat Strive to accurately assess your coping abilities

11Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 3 – We Overestimate Risk When We Are Afraid I just wanted to mention this lesson, since it colours our understanding of Lesson 1! Suggested action – Have a friend help you think about things logically and develop most likely scenarios and action plans

12Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 4 – The Future is Uncertain We all reflexively would love a guarantee that things will all turn out great…however sometimes that is not the case. We will all, most likely, experience heartache, loss and disappointment at various times in our lives. There are no guarantees Feeling secure means accepting uncertainty True security isn’t about outside circumstances any way, it comes from within, from feeling personal efficacy When you are anxious or worried, it is essential to understand that you control your perceptions!

13Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 4 Discussion We can’t control or predict the future …How do you feel about this statement? Who is the most secure person you know? Why do you think that person feels secure? What’s the downside of accepting that you can’t predict or control events? What are the benefits of adopting this perspective?

14Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 9: Recurring, Intrusive Thoughts are Normal; It’s the Meaning We Attach to Them That Counts The thoughts of anxious and non-anxious people are actually quite similar!!! Worried, anxious people often think: this thought is awful, I have to make it stop Of course, pushing against it makes it stronger Recognize: It’s just a thought, it means nothing!

15Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 10: Dwelling on Problems Impairs Your Ability to Cope Dwelling on problems magnifies anxiety and undermines problem solving When you begin to ruminate – take action, do something! (It can even be something unrelated if it needs to be…) Engage in activities that give a feeling of mastery and accomplishment Don’t withdraw from family, friends, and spiritual connection

16Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Lesson 10 Discussion Does worrying 24/7 work for you? Do you have a sense of activities that always can give you a great sense of satisfaction and/or put you in “the flow”? Would you care to share one?

17Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Final Thoughts Any final thoughts? How will you use this information?

18Copyright (c) Michele Caron, 2011 Next Call Next call is a techniques call Wednesday November 9th at 7 pm