Month: June 2020 | Pia Jansson

The Power of Asking Questions

by Pia Jansson | Jun 28, 2020 | Business, General, Strengths

It never ceases to amaze me how powerful questions are. Questions have the ability to transform your life, you know the “Wow, I never thought of that!” moment of insight?

I recently took another coaching course with Gallup®, this time the Advanced CliftonStrengths® Coaching Course. In it, we practiced different styles of asking questions, some were familiar to me others totally foreign.

Exploring different styles and approaches was fun and insightful, and I was once again present to the power of asking questions. Especially when it’s about focusing on what makes you special and how your talents can help you create and achieve your targets in any area of life.

Have you ever asked yourself how what you do at work, or in your business, affects others?

I recently read “Life’s great question: Discover how you contribute to the world” by Tom Rath which includes a code to, you guessed it, another assessment.

The assessment results provide you with the three skills that you can contribute to the most and they fall into three categories – Create, Relate, and Operate.

The areas you contribute in are broad, and also include your defining roles, your most influential life experiences and personality strengths.

In this book, one of the questions asked that I really liked was “Who can, does, or will eventually benefit from your efforts?” — Rath, Tom. Life’s Great Question (p. 29). Missionday, LLC. Kindle Edition.

Who comes to mind when you ask that question? Can you see what you contribute and how that impacts others from a different perspective?

I think we often don’t get close to understanding or even realize the impact we have on others.

In addition, imagine having a weekly pow-wow at work where you get to acknowledge and also receive an acknowledgment from others. How would that impact your life and how you perceive your workplace/business?

The magic of life lies in our everyday business and I’m a big believer in acknowledging friends and strangers with a smile at a minimum. I love receiving that too 😉

Questions lead to ideas – ideas can lead to groundbreaking transformation and innovation. Listening is, equally, important.—Pia

I was listening to Roger Hamilton, founder of Genius Group on YouTube the other day and he was sharing eight questions that he asks himself every morning.

I think they’re awesome and wanted to share them. Watch the video HERE to get the full context of these questions.

Roger Hamilton’s Daily Practice of Asking 8 Questions

What am I grateful for?
Who do I love?
Why am I so happy?
What am I committed to?
How committed am I?
What is my intention today?
What is my wish (that I’m ready for now)?
Why am I here?

What Are You Looking For?

by Pia Jansson | Jun 21, 2020 | Business, General, Strengths

As a seeker you’ll know what I’m talking about, this need to continually grow, whether it’s through experiencing stuff with people, buying new stuff, or simply removing stuff that no longer serves you…

Recently, as I was waking up one morning I was musing about the couch that is currently being built for me, and I started thinking about how many I’ve gone through in the past 26 years and that lead me to look at cars, beds, and more.

In retrospect, you can look back and gain new insights as to why you made the choices at the time, the lessons learned, and who you’ve become in the process. Isn’t that what life is all about – when we know better we do better?

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou

Are you a seeker?

For many years I was looking for something I couldn’t put my finger on. I was inspired by future possibilities (#futuristic), taking impulsive actions (#activator), listening to my inner guidance (#self-assurance), one moment at the time (#adaptability). Just to name a few of my CliftonStrengths® talents.

Which talents have you leaned on as a seeker?

When you’re a seeker you love change, many actively look for it even when things don’t go as you planned, afterward that might become the story you end up sharing with others for years to come.

Exploring, whether internally by reading books that interest you, trying a variety of introspective teachings, or externally through traveling and experiencing different cultures and countries, is something that ongoingly captures your attention.

For many, sitting still for too long can wear on the soul unless you’re on an internal journey meditating, or similar, where time ceases to exist.

When you’re a seeker you’ll never stop being curious or having a desire to look for adventure, it’s just part of who you are. It energizes you.

What have you learned?

We all have access to our inner wisdom, are you tuning within to reflect on your insights? As you get older and wiser you may realize that all the external changes in your life originate from within.

When you listen to your inner voice and it feels good (I’m not talking about the inner critic), you learn to trust yourself, make choices that honor you which helps create a life where you thrive.

What thriving looks like is different for us all. When you’re sick being healthy is your priority. When you don’t have X, creating X may become the focus.

When you challenge a seeker some react, others get busy creating whatever you said couldn’t be done.

Priorities may change as you grow, have a family or other responsibilities where you may, or may not hit the pause button temporarily, you will still have a need to explore.

Whatever you’re seeking there’s a feeling behind it. Seeking wealth? What will wealth create for you? What are you able to do with the wealth that you can’t when you don’t have it?

In the end, feeling whatever you’re seeking in the external world internally is what creates a life of [X]. What you focus on you create. How much of your time is spent on autopilot vs. focused intent to create X? It’s so easy to get distracted.

How does this apply to your business you may wonder?

When you’re satisfied you’ll create a more empowering experience for those that you interact with during the day.

When you’re in an environment where growth is encouraged, people are self-expressed in an empowered way, your business and everyone in it will grow.

You may not see what your smile, laughter, listening, and generosity of spirit creates for the people that you interact with the moment after you leave them but it could be the spark of light they needed at that moment.

Understand that your appetite to continually explore benefits your customers. You may have different perspectives and you’ll continually add something new to their world.

As many have stated before me, at the end of the day as you’ve been laid to rest it’s not your titles or positions that people remember, it’s how you made them feel.

Now, having said that, people will not always get your well-intended ideas or advice. When that’s the case listen carefully and ask for permission as much as you can before sharing.

Surround yourself with people and clients that understand and appreciate you even if they don’t agree or make the same choices.

And how about personal relationships?

Many couples have opposite personalities, needs, wants, and more. Others, who find their soulmate may align, share more interests and agree more often and at the end of the day are still individuals with different needs and journeys.

Some of you have kids, you take on different roles and then the kids grow up, move out and you may find yourself in a space where you no longer know who you are.

Why is this relevant? Well, if you’re a seeker and in a relationship with someone who wants everything to stay the same, you may set yourself up for continual disappointments. Some say that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. I disagree.

If you’re a seeker, find someone who loves that part of you that either is game to go with you, gets you to expand even further or who lives vicariously through you.

How we seek, in other words, how adventurous you are can vary depending on what areas you choose to explore. Not all seekers are alike after all.

You can be an adrenaline junkie throwing yourself off a bridge bungee jumping or an internal seeker and anything in between.

Most seekers will express themselves in some way, hello creative beings!

How are you seeking and exploring? What fun adventures have you been on to date? What’s next for you?

What is Your Roadmap to Success?

by Pia Jansson | Jun 14, 2020 | Access, Business, General, Strengths

Have you sat down to look at what your targets are and how to achieve them? There are many books and teachings about the steps you need to take yet many create success without this. Could it have something to do with how you create individually?

Your strengths are all different after all. Added to that you have different targets, experiences, skills, backgrounds, desires, … the list goes on. What works for you may look different.

I love to ask questions, a lot of them are internal inquiries at this stage of my life but if you ask people that I work with and friends, they’d probably still say I ask a lot of questions.

Questions have the power to open you up

Whether it’s to get clear on something you’ve been asking for, new awarenesses, or simply learning something new.

How we receive them often depends on HOW the questions are asked. Who your audience is matters too. Some questions could, potentially, occur as questioning even when that’s not the intention.

When people ask you questions it’s important to listen to the tone, vibe, and tune-in to the body language of that person to avoid misunderstandings.

I love how a question can blow up your belief systems, and expand your awareness. Do you know what I mean?

Questions are so powerful and have the power to forward conversations in a multitude of ways. You learn a lot from each other when you ask questions.

How are you feeling right now?

The past couple of months have brought us all time to reflect, look at what works and doesn’t, and take actions in a variety of ways.

We are living in times of high contrast from many different angles: emotional, physical, and financial well-being to name a few.

I’m grateful for the ease of access to all of the different teachings that I tap into online. Through all the communities that I tap into I’m provided with a range of global perspectives, and reminders of how I best focus my energy so that I can make a positive impact in the lives I cross paths with.

Feeling good or great when people around you are hurting can occur as strange. When you have the ability to stay neutral or even happy on the inside however it’s easier to help lift the spirits up for people around you.

Have you ever found that the crappier you feel, the bigger the insights and wisdom you gain later? As much as we avoid pain, we grow from it AND you can grow without it too!

What questions are you asking yourself?

Through Access Consciousness I learned how conclusive many of my questions were and I still ask many of the questions I learned.

Questions like:

How does it get any better than this? I mean how brilliant is that? Many people say “it doesn’t get any better than this…” if you tune into the energy of each question you’ll notice a difference. One has you look for more of whatever you’re asking for, the other one stops the flow.

Imagine being in the flow, in your zone, asking “how does it get any better than this”? Try it, and watch the magic unfold.

A second favorite is: What else is possible? When you ask questions like this you automatically will look for something that can provide you with another option, right?

Both questions work great when you feel crappy too. They help you dig yourself out of the hole one question and choice at the time and before you know it, you’re feeling great.

Your circumstances didn’t necessarily change but your mindset did, and quickly so.

How much more can you create when you FEEL great? Does how you feel affect your productivity?

So going back to how you create your roadmap for success start by asking questions that empower and see what shows up.

Questions like: What is YOUR definition of success? Hint: Look at your strengths 😀

Using Strengths to Help Create Change

by Pia Jansson | Jun 7, 2020 | Business, General, Strengths

To talk about sales with everything that has been going on, especially in the past 10 days, feels a bit conflicted. Our realities are far from “normal” at this time and it’s easy to lose hope and inspiration.

Change can be messy and we’re currently dealing with the long-overdue racial inequality, especially for the African-American community, in this country of mine.

Compounded by the isolation we’ve all been forced into in recent months, with political agendas, corruption, nastiness, and more fueling the negative, it was just a matter of time for something to spark.

In these times of upheaval, it’s easy to feel powerless with all the “should’s” flying around in the media.

The color of my skin is white, and I have white privilege. Despite that, I’ve always felt more connected to minorities, especially African-American, emotionally, and spiritually.

As an immigrant woman, I have dealt with inequality, feeling powerless with authority, and not being heard or safe. While my experience is nowhere close to the injustice faced by minorities on a daily basis, and in particular the African-American community, I feel the pain and injustice.

How can I best support you?

Was a question I asked a couple of my friends. Being an empath, empathic, and caring healer, the best way I know to help is to reach out, provide a safe space, and a willingness to listen.

At the end of the day, there’s more than one way to show support for your friends and strangers. First of all, ask your friends about how you can best support them. Showing kindness, generosity of spirit, offering a hug, and a smile of encouragement, and most importantly listening, are just a few ways.

I grew up in Sweden, during a sheltered time era where skin color wasn’t a factor, maybe it was just how I was raised or my observations that created that belief. In my world, we all have equal worth.

While I have been aware of some of the African-American history, there’s a lot that I didn’t know. So many truths have been twisted for way too long and then there are other truths that have not been dealt with. Many of us have been unaware of the full scope for a variety of reasons and are now dealing with it in our own way.

What’s clear is that change is needed.

It’s a journey for us all as a collective and also as individuals.

When you connect with your heart’s love energy and inquire into what your truth is, what choices would you make? The how in that will vary from person to person. Either way, it’s not acceptable to me to treat someone differently because of the color of their skin.

Music is a world of energy and I perceive it to have no race.

My dad was a musician and my parents exposed me to all kinds of music and cultures growing up. They were active in anything “cultural” i.e. travel, music, theater, art, and also Amnesty where there was a focus on Africa at the time. I partially moved to the US because of the cultural blend this country provides.

I chose a path of healing, first as a nurse, later through personal growth and coaching. I was seeking what connects us all – the energy, soul, personalities, our bodies, and awakening to what’s beyond this “Matrix” reality.

As we “wake up”, love, not war, and everything we have in common beyond what you see on the outside becomes the priority for many. And through the pain that awakening can include, right now it’s a big collective wakeup call, we will hopefully make different choices and actions moving forward as we connect soul to soul, and heart to heart.

There are infinite ways to express who you are, and how you choose to create and support the movement of change. While I can never truly understand the oppression experienced by minorities, I support the demand for change and am here for anyone needing someone to talk to.

Strengths empower

One reason I was so drawn to the strengths movement is that it provides a quick way to access what makes you unique based on your natural talents and how you express it by being you.

When you get how unique and awesome you are as an individual, you can make different choices and give up disempowering self-talk like not being […] enough. Your talents become great reminders of what you bring to the table as a person, just by being you.

When you feel great about who you are, you can invite others into a different conversation and open up powerful ways of healing that have nothing to do with believing in anything specific.

My own mission aka “why” in life came from the insights I got from my results – I’m here to connect people to possibilities, said in another way; spark joy and empowerment in people’s lives so that they can connect to their greatness.

When I look at options that can unite people globally in an all-inclusive and empowering way, I think of strengths. There’s nothing to believe, you just are who you are.

I’m here to help people connect to what makes them awesome so if you need someone to talk to send me a message.

Having said that I get that racial equality needs to be created now, not later. We all need to feel safe to do normal everyday things without the fear of being stopped, attacked, or shot. From neighbors looking out for one another to new laws being created that includes justice for all.

Many of us are willing to listen, help in whatever way we can. Some will need to talk, others are done with talking.

I believe that by listening, talking, or offering healing to one person or group at the time, and multiplying that with every one of us around the globe taking some sort of action, we’ll create a more united and better world for us all. When we know more we can take better actions.

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and all the unnamed men and women that have lost their lives for simply having a different skin color will be remembered for their sacrifice and as the people who sparked a long-overdue movement of equality and humanity.

Below are three sites that educate and offer different ways to forward the conversation of change.

Uncomfortable conversations with a black man – Emmanuel Acho

https://blacklivesmatter.com

Van Jones

Michael Beckwith, founder of Agape Int’l

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