This week I went for my regular mammogram.
The instructions were clear — no deodorant.

I knew this.
I showered, dried myself and then, without a single conscious thought, I reached for the deodorant and applied it.

“DOH!”
I had to wash it off again.

The force of habit took over.

It reminded me of something a long-term client said recently:

“It’s good to do a refresher with you, Shirley. It’s so easy to slip back into old habits, even though we know a better way.”

It’s true.  Neuroscience tells us that habits live deep in the brain’s basal ganglia, where automatic routines are stored. Once a behaviour is repeated often enough, it runs on autopilot.

Step out of the shower, apply deodorant.

Simple, predictable, efficient.

The brain loves efficiency.

It saves energy by running well-worn neural pathways rather than building new ones.

That’s why under stress or distraction, we default to the familiar, even when we know it’s not the best choice.

The good news is, we can rewire our brains.

Every time we replace an old routine with a new one and repeat it, we strengthen the new neural connection.

Over time, the new behaviour becomes just as automatic as the old one.

The first step is Awareness.
Second is to pause and notice the cue.
Third, choose a better response.

That’s how we build new habits in leadership, business, and life.

This week, I encourage you to take notice of one small habit you do automatically.
Ask yourself, “Does this still serve me?”

If not, what’s one new behaviour you could choose instead?

P.S.  Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

Sometimes you just need to escape.

Last week we went to Coolangatta for a few days.

We were celebrating a milestone birthday for Ross.

After months of researching different travel destinations, he kept coming back to the Gold Coast in Australia.

“That’s where I want to go”, he repeated.

“Ok. That’s where we will go.”

Flight times didn’t suit our itinerary, so we decided to drive.

He had me captive in the car for a full two days, up and back.

No work on this trip.

It’s amazing how inspired you can become when you get away and escape.

Even though it was only a couple of days, it was invigorating.

The sun was shining.

The whales were waving.

The motorised surfboards were criss-crossing and gliding across the top of the waves.

The surfers were competing for waves. (We counted over 50 surfers in the water at Greenmount Beach.)

We walked everywhere and especially enjoyed the early morning walks on the beach.

Oh, those magical days of not thinking about work or the business.

Sometimes you just need to escape.

If you’re feeling a little burnt out at the moment or feeling overwhelmed, I encourage you to give yourself permission to take a few days off.

The world isn’t going to stop or fall apart if you’re not there to answer the phone for a few days.

Give yourself the gift of time.

If you do, you’ll be rewarded with renewed energy, inspiration and ideas.

Where will you go?

Reply and let me know.

Even better, go and let me know how you feel when you return.

P.S.  Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

One of my colleagues reached out to our community recently to ask for support for her to complete some coaching hours to get her advanced advanced coaching certification.

Always happy to help my fellow colleagues, I volunteered to be coached by her for a few sessions.

Thinking I was the one doing her a favour, I quickly changed my mind.

I’ve said it before, when you have a coach, a coach B.A.Q.S. you up.

A coach helps you see your BLINDSPOTS.

A coach helps keep you ACCOUNTABLE.

A coach asks QUALITY QUESTIONS.

A coach always SUPPORTS you.

The past few weeks I’ve taken more action towards my goal of becoming known as a Writer, than I have in the past 10 years.

Even though I have mentors and I’m continually learning, it’s been a great reminder for me, for the value a coach provides, and positive feedback understanding the value I bring when I coach my clients.

My coach asks me, “What actions do you want to take this week to advance your goal?”

I’m compelled to answer or we’re wasting both our time.

Because I come up with the action and because I have said it, I’d feel like I would be out of integrity (my highest value) if I didn’t do the work.

Essentially, I am committing and although she doesn’t have to do anything to keep me accountable, because my word does that, without the coaching:

1. I wouldn’t come up with actions to take
2. If I did, I most likely wouldn’t tell anyone, and
3. I most likely wouldn’t hold myself accountable.

My quality question to you, as your pseudo coach is this:

What are you doing to get the back up you need?

What goals have you got that without someone in your corner BAQing you up, are really just dreams?

A coach doesn’t have to be a professional and there are many ways you can provide a fair exchange for each other.

The main thing I want you to get from this week’s thought is that we all need someone in our corner who B.A.Q.S. us up.

Reply and let me know who your person is and what your goal is and what action you are taking toward it.

P.S.  Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.