It Sucks and I'm grateful with Lisa Mitchell

“Funny how this life works. Things can suck and be gratitude-inspiring at the same time..”
-Lisa Mitchell

What sucks and what is the associated gift you are grateful for?    Today’s episode is a solo one with yours truly, Lisa Mitchell.   Think of it as a bit of an audio diary entry I thought I’d share with you as food for thought in case you are struggling with something right now - something that seems unfair, inconvenient, painful, or even devastating.  

Who is this host-person Lisa, anyways? 

I am the Founder and President of Green Apple Consulting Inc., a Talent Management company. I bring 25 years’ experience as a corporate leader and former executive to the table. 

As both a Team Coach and Executive Coach, I specialize in helping high achieving leaders elevate results and overcome overwhelm. I bring my skills in goal setting and accountability techniques, and an extensive resource library of tools, to my work with clients.

As a Thought Partner, I mentor, advise and consult with corporate HR and Talent leaders and their teams.  I help clients create and execute strategic plans, stakeholder needs assessments and relationships, and program design and development, and more.

In this super-short, very personal solo episode of Talent Management Truths, you’ll discover:

• A wee story about travel, pain, and gratitude
• Some musings on why gratitude is more automatic in certain sucky situations than in others 

Enjoy!

Looking for a Team Coach or dynamic Keynote Speaker/Facilitator?

Book a call with me to explore how we might partner (serious inquiries only please):

https://calendly.com/lisa-mitchell-greenapple/clarity-call

Share the Show

Like what you’ve heard? Pretty please with an apple on top - kindly leave me a 5* review so that others can find the show and elevate their impact too! Here are the simple instructions:

• Launch Apple's Podcast app on your iPhone or iPad.
• Tap the Search icon (on the botton) and search for the show name.
• Tap the show's cover art.
• On the podcast page, tap the Reviews tab.
• Tap "Write a Review" at the bottom of this page.

Follow me

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-mitchell-acc-ctdp-7437636/

Instagram: @greenappleconsulting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenappleconsulting.ca

Transcript

LM Ep 106

 [00:00:00] Welcome back to Talent Management Truths. I'm your host, Lisa Mitchell. So four weeks ago I traveled from Toronto to Calgary and back. Over the course of two days without incident, I also took [00:01:00] eight Uber rides in the snow with Neri a traffic jam to complain about. I hoisted my carry-on into the plane's overhead compartments without hurting myself.

I even endured almost eight hours in the sky with people coughing all around me, and I didn't even get sick. But the very next day after I got home, I tripped on the stairs in my own house and bam broke my ring finger on my dominant hand. Well, there are a lot of things that one ring finger helps us with.

It turns out typing, using a mouse writing, holding a mug, putting the dog's harnesses on washing your own face, and you can forget about my beloved F 45 Gym workouts with all those weights and burpees. It truly sucks and yet. In spite of all that, I find myself feeling extra grateful during what's been a surprisingly [00:02:00] vulnerable period.

I'm grateful for my husband doing all the dishes since I can't get the splint wet, and I keep banging the finger on stuff because it sticks out straight in the splint. And I'm grateful for my best friend, Lynn, for being very indignant on my behalf about the incompetent surgeon who allowed my splint to be set wrong, so that now I have a quote deformity and require a long therapy.

I am also grateful that I am not sick or dying or needing to stay in hospital. What I find interesting in this case is that the gratitude swells up on its own. Often I find myself, with myself, and with my clients, that we need to remind ourselves during sucky times to reframe, to choose to see the gift in the situation, to work hard to see that gift.

Reframing, in fact, is one of the most powerful tools we have as humans navigating the ups and downs of life. As an example, when I was dreadfully unhappy near the end of my last corporate role, [00:03:00] I was able to reframe when I really put my mind to it and see that I was learning what I did not want as part of my picture moving forward.

You know, I was able to see how much I was learning about what I. Did want, and what I yearned for yet with this whole broken finger debacle, every time I whack it against something by mistake and feel pain or feel frustrated, because I need to rely on my clumsy left hand, a voice in my head immediately reminds me that, Hey Lisa, you are so lucky you didn't break another finger, and you're lucky you have a left hand to help out.

And by the way, this pain and inconvenience is only temporary. I think this gratitude is so present because you know, I do know that I will ultimately be okay. My finger's going to heal if Crookedly and I will be able to do the things I miss. Right now, I have that sense of clarity or of certainty needing to remind ourselves to try to reframe during [00:04:00] difficulty.

I think it comes up more when there's still a lot of unknowns. When we aren't yet clear on where we're going or what we'll be. It's funny how this life works. You know, things can suck and be gratitude inspiring at the very same time, and we can embrace both. I hope my little story and musings today have sparked some helpful thinking for you and what you might be going through today, what sucks, and what is the associated gift you are grateful for.

Thanks for listening. [00:05:00]