Free Writing
Free Writing is the practice of writing without pause or judgment to see where your mind takes you.
To practice free-writing, keep a journal of your thoughts so that you can find the best ways to express yourself. Free-writing makes your self-talk more obvious. It allows you to be in control by putting pen to paper to cut down the chaos and damper any negative feelings.
Keep a journal of your thoughts so that you can find the best ways to express yourself and to find a new perspective. Some call this “looking from the balcony”. When you are able to take a step back and observe your self-talk you may be able to see something new. It allows you to be in control by putting pen to paper to cut down the chaos and damper any negative feelings.
With this style of journaling, start with one of the prompts below, and write for a specific period of time (usually 10 minutes) without stopping. Don’t worry about spelling or judgment of what you are writing. Just keep your pen moving on the page. While this can be done with typing, it is typically most impactful when you write by hand. Set a timer on your phone for ten minutes, and let the words flow!
Free Writing Prompts
Understanding Well-being
If well-being were a person, how would you relate to them?
How would you greet them?
How would you spend time together?
What would you want to feel when spending time together?
Think of a story when you felt mentally and emotionally strong.
What did that feel like?
What were some of the elements in your life at that time?
How did this show up in any position of leadership that you held?
Building Resilience
Being a resilient leader feels like…
Being a resilient leader sounds like…
Being a resilient leader looks like…
Facing disruption in my business has shown I’m fragile in these ways…
I am resilient in these ways...
Building Emotional Strength
Think of a story when you felt mentally and emotionally strong:
What did that feel like?
What were some of the elements in your life at that time?
How did this show up in any position of leadership that you held?
Building a Strong Team
Think of a time that you were part of a well-performing team.
How did you communicate with each other?
Was there a shared sense of values at the heart of your team?
When I live into a trusted well-performing team my experience is...
Productive Conflict
Think back to a time when you’ve experienced conflict as the person with the most power in the team...
What did you feel?
What did you think?
What did you do?
Think back to when you’ve experienced conflict as the person with little power in the team…
What did you feel?
What did you think?
What did you do?