Awareness brings Empowerment – Part 1

Contemplation & Considerations by Candace Mae...

Forty-two years ago I embarked on a life-long journey of self-exploration and personal growth. That’s right, I was thirteen when I seriously began digging into who I am and what my purpose is in this life. As a younger child, I had a strong sense of purpose: to bring love into a family with generations of pain. I felt different from the rest of my family; my siblings let me know I looked different than them too: with my bright red hair. In Junior High, my ninth-grade teacher, Mr. Davidson, left a lifelong impression on me by insisting through assignments that we learn to budget and come to realize the cost of vices in our life. He required we build smoking into our budget. When we balked that it was too expensive, he insisted it had to stay. We were assigned a low annual salary and had to purchase all our furniture, cover rent, car payment, insurance, etc. It really brought to light how much money is wasted on vices and how smoking negatively impacts one’s life. Lessons learned: (1) our choices shape us and impact our opportunities (2) invest in health, not in vices. As a result of healthy choices, we will each be in a better position to be, to have, and to do more!

Two high school teachers, Mr. Hays, and Mr. Michael Gordon were high-impact teachers. Most students, if not all, really enjoyed their classes. They really got down into who you are as a person. Learning to value other people and embracing our identity and uniqueness. A life-changing exercise that brought great awareness to us as students were to write something nice about each person in our class. We turned them in and each person got to read what others said about them. Wow, to read it out loud to the class and hear yourself reading nice things from people you were not sure liked you was rewarding and certainly a confidence builder.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been especially fascinated with human potential and the power of the brain, and how marvelously made is the human body. When I teach emotional intelligence, I touch on the four intelligence: intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual intelligence. It’s an important understanding (assumption) – as I embrace the whole being in my coaching and training. I believe it is only through the integration of our whole self that we really embrace who we are and strive to meet our potential. Truly, if one wants to grow their business, they need to grow themselves as a person to expand their thinking and awareness. With awareness of their inner self and how it relates to this world, they find new opportunities that were always there they just didn’t see it; and they expand their thinking to new levels that directly expand all areas of their life.

We are spiritual beings first and foremost. We existed in spiritual form before birth, and we will return to spiritual form after death. This gives an underlying assumption that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. With that said, it’s easier to realize that our bodies are uniquely designed to serve us (our spiritual beings). Remember, we are more than our bodies and our physical surroundings.

Our brains have three main sections: the reptilian brain (which provides the fight or flight reactions); the limbic (middle) brain (which stores our memories, emotions, and more subconscious level programming); the cortex (frontal lobe) brain where logic and language is held. When we say someone in the reactive mode cannot be reached with logic, that is a very true statement. When you stop to visualize the construct of the mind, you can clearly understand why this is true. This knowledge is truly helpful in bringing awareness to the moment-by-moment decisions we make during the day in communicating.

Emotional intelligence involves being aware of the physical intelligence happening within our bodies. So much of what we do happens habitually through automatic responses. When behavior is automatic we take it for granted and don’t think about it. We are then controlled by automatic responses and beliefs and we don't even realize the impact. We become blind to opportunities. Learning to be aware of our body’s reactions is critical for self-awareness and communicating and connecting at higher levels; and building stronger relationships: be it in the workplace, community, or home.

I studied the Self-Image and learned to master my self-image. It’s amazing how much we hold hidden beliefs that drive our behavior. Again, this is something I touch on in the emotional intelligence workshops I offer; though realizing it through our self-image takes it to an entirely deeper level of understanding! Here’s what I know: Your potential doesn’t matter if your self-image is low. We can never outperform our self-image!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Candace Mae spends her days steeped in connectedness with Christ's Spirit to allow her the Divine insight and guidance on personal and business growth. Whether she's working with her staff, or coaching women in leadership, executives, and business owners – or serving as a Marketplace Care Partner, her sole focus is on integrating love in the workplace to better herself and her clients.

She is developing people-centric, value-based, compassionate servant leadership that CARES. These are the tools she teaches: Communication, Attitude, Relationships, Equipping others, and Sales.

By helping leaders who struggle with a toxic environment - unengaged employees, high absenteeism, and turnover, constantly putting out fires, and internal conflicts – transform it into a warm and welcoming environment where high trust, morale, and productivity. As a result, people look forward to coming to work.

When Candace Mae isn't developing curriculum, coaching, and training, she's practicing speaking or spending time outdoors in nature with animals, family, and 3-beautiful grandchildren in a rural setting where she lives in North County San Diego, California.

I am most excited about my Upcoming Book: “Heaven Within: Restoring Wholeness for Better Leadership.”

You may also contact Candace at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule her for speaking or leadership engagements.