Recovering from Control Issues and Learning to Trust the Process
“Trust the Process.” I was frustrated when Lisa said that to me. We were leading an improv group in a treatment setting and I was annoyed that people were not following the rules of the game. I leaned over to Lisa and whispered, “That is not what you told them to do. They are not doing it right.” Lisa gave me a sweet dimpled smile and said, “Trust the process.” …
Recovering from Perfectionism and Learning to Fall Forward
“Stop trying to be so perfect.” That was the first piece of feedback I received in improv class, and it hit me deep in my soul. I remember nodding while I replied to my teacher, “That seems like a timely piece of life advice.” Recovering from perfectionism has been a forefront theme in my life since that moment. I believe the origins stem from an achievement focused childhood, like “perfect…
Optimizing Empathy: Being empathic doesn’t require giving someone advice to solve their problem.
I was sitting on my therapist’s couch, gazing through the partially opened blinds of his office’s floor to ceiling window, while he talked me through a simple gym couple scenario. “Have you ever seen that couple at the gym, where the guy is ridiculing his girlfriend about how her stomach isn’t flat enough or her butt is too small, and she works that much harder during their workout trying to…
When Life Imitates Art… What We Can Learn
In January of 2015, while attending a WZ company-wide team building collaboration workshop, I had the pleasure of meeting Diana Martinez, the CEO and founder of Spark Creative Consulting. Prior to founding Spark, Diana had been the President and CEO of The Second City. Admittedly, I didn’t know much about The Second City until I moved to Chicago. I quickly learned, however, that many famous actors and comedians, including Bill…