Merri's Tips - Part 10

51. Tap into your inner child. You may wonder how this works in the professional environment. Well, if it's a stretch for you, then let your inner child come out in your off-work hours.

For me it happens when I perform with the band I'm in. With my out of-town-band, No Excuses, I freely laugh, joke, sing with my heart, wear fun hats and unabashadly move to the music. What I end up with is a performance in authenticity.


Eventually it works into my client work - I get excited and interrupt while keeping their best interest in mind. I laugh at myself. I let myself take enough interest in who I'm with that I get carried away in the moment. I guess you could say I get real - which means tapping into that inner child- whenever it seems to be a trustbuilding, appropriate decision.


52. Help those you're with tap into their inner child when it's appropriate. Sometimes those we're with seem dead in the moment. They are unresponsive or unmotivated. A coach knows helping them dig deep is a useful exercise in curiosity on our part when we create time for them to speak to their passions, their interests, the impact of the current circumstances on them or challenge them move forward. That inner child comes out when individuals no longer censor themselves.

53. Appreciate your own personal gifts and talents. There was a time when I put aside my personal gifts of singing/dancing/performing thinking they kept me selfishly focused. I thought I needed to grow up and get serious about life. Yet these performance-based gifts have served me well in business development, in educating others and in keeping me humble. Yes, in keeping me humble.

Consider which gifts/talents you own that you have been putting behind you. Dig them out. Reconnect with the spirit that lives in you when you use them. You'll see yourself in a new light. Consider how this can support your professional life.

Whether you are a litigator who can speak in metaphors about the things you love, whether you are a writer who can compare a complex decision to interests/talents common to your own experiences, or whether while networking and meeting folks for the first time you begin to rely on your passions instead of first saying what you do - gain appreciation for your personal gifts and talents.

For a video of the No Excuses song, Back Roads, click pic above.