New Videos From My Public Talks
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010I want to share a few videos from a talk I gave recently at a job-seeking group. I’ve revamped my “Transcending Procrastination” presentation to add some more techniques and ideas, and these videos offer some samples of the new content. I hope you find them useful and fun.
In this first video, I talk about how to develop a longer attention span, and thus get more done in a single sitting in your work, by practicing holding your attention on your breathing or an object:
In the next video, I talk about how being able to say “no” to requests is an important part of staying focused and motivated in our projects. Often, this is a matter of getting comfortable with the intense sensations that can come up when we refuse a request:
Here, I answer a question about dealing with job interview-related anxiety, discussing how useful it can be to find the place in your body where you’re feeling the nervousness or tension, and breathe into that place. This can be helpful for anxiety in other situations as well:
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September 18th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Chris. Great to see you ‘in the flesh’ as it were, was my first reaction.
I really liked these 3 videos and the bit that especially struck me was the second about saying ‘no’. I often hear people say that they “can’t” say no. As you point out, this just misses the truth. The word itself is easy to say and the “can’t” comes from choosing not to deal with my inner world when I think about the consequences of refusal. And I especially like the idea that we will survive both saying no and the consequences – an approach that can be used in so many situations where we run away from the fear of doing or saying something.
September 18th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hi Ian — thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the videos. I like the way you put it — when “can’t” is just a mental abstraction for us, it really does seem like a barrier to saying no, but when we notice that it comes from not wanting to experience certain sensations in the body, that barrier can fall away.
September 20th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Chris,
I have to tell you that I had problems with the first two videos. They took a long time to download. Perhaps, there’s something I don’t know about listening to videos. Fortunately, the one I really wanted to listen to did not have this problem.
I really liked the video about dealing with anxiety. I always have a lot of anxiety about medical tests. As my annual physical is coming up, this was a very good video for me and I will try the technique.
September 20th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Good technique Chris.
I have to chuckle at this though. I tend to be very focused and dislike being interrupted. I have had to practice being gracious when I’m interrupted
September 20th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Hey, Chris, that was fun to see you live, in person! Great job.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:15 am
Hi Sara — YouTube has been giving me those issues recently with all kinds of videos (okay, most notably the ones with tracks from film scores that I like to listen to while I work) — I’m glad the one you wanted worked at least.
I hope that it’s helpful to you.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 am
Hi Patty — I’m glad you enjoyed the videos — by the way, there are more from a talk I did last year at http://purposepowercoaching.com/site/2009/07/18/videos-of-my-recent-transcending-procrastination-talk/.
September 23rd, 2010 at 8:11 am
Dear Chris,I love the idea of looking into the place where we feel the discomfort, fear, or intense sensation. and simply breathing into it. I have always been good at looking into what I feel, just because I don’t like to let fear curtail my life experience, or in other words to be defined or limited by fear.
However, I’ve never thought of the “breathing into that place”, even taking time out to do so right in a conversation. I think that is beautiful and very humane. We are so often taught in American culture to keep the stiff upper lip, show no emotion, and so on. And that just isn’t realistic.
I REALLY value that you not only embrace, but talk about the human experience or condition(s) in such a grounded way, as something natural that we all may experience at one time or another. Great videos. I watched them all. Hugs, Robin
September 24th, 2010 at 6:26 am
Hi Robin — I like how you pointed out that there’s a relationship between getting familiar with the sensation you’re feeling and being able to make your own choices when it’s coming up. I get the sense that one reason “stress relief” has become such a priority in our culture is that people are using a lot of energy trying to look like they aren’t afraid, or that they don’t feel some other “negative emotion,” when they’re around others. The idea of doing that, in addition to doing the work I’m actually “at work” to do, sounds painful to me and I get the sense people are growing more (literally) tired of it.
September 26th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Hi Davina — heh, yes, I experience that sometimes as well. And then it becomes a matter of being with the sense that I’m under attack and need to defend myself.