HALT
Our biological instincts are so strong that we sometimes underestimate their ability to overtake our judgment. Errors happen when we overestimate our willpower which gets depleted. Alcoholics Anonymous which helps people recover from addiction reminds their members of HALT. which is an acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. These are the four common biological stressors that weaken one’s willpower and result in relapse. In our daily lives, we become reactive when ignore these stressors and eventually succumb to triggers. Making a HALT check can be a great self-care practice for our emotional and physical well-being.
“Fatigue makes fools of us all. It robs us of our skills, our judgment, and blinds us to creative solutions.” – Harvey Mackay
Reading literature
Novels, poetry, and short stories formed a major part of my reading in the younger days. As I grew up, I found myself seeking books that were ‘useful’ and ‘purposeful’. Hence, I drifted towards non-fiction and stopped reading fiction over a few years. This year I restarted my literature reading and discovered to much delight the joy of extending my imagination to the writer’s world, exploring a gamut of feelings that get evoked, and dimension of human imperfections through characters. Literature invites us to understand irrationality and imperfections which is a significant part of an adult life.
“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Swimmer body illusion
In the tenth grade, one of my classmates boasted about going to a reputed tuition teacher who charged very high fees. His simple reason was ‘There are many rank holders who go to him.’ I could not then understand the interconnection of fees, rank holders, and the confidence he had in the teacher. Years later, I learned about the swimmer body illusion, which explains the fallacy that people believe they can develop a professional swimmer’s body by swimming. In reality, it is the opposite, which is, that people with swimmers body are at the advantage of being great swimmers. Even in the space of leadership coaching, people fall for the swimmer body illusion when seeking coaches. Two aspects that define successful coaching engagement are the coachability of the coachee and the chemistry between the coach and the coachee. The success behind every coaching engagement is because of the quality of the coachee and not just the coach.
“Coaching works best with high potential people who are willing to make a concerted effort to change.” – Marshall Goldsmith