It’s no secret that I’m a self-help junkie. I love reading books, watching webinars, and listening to podcasts on new ways to be productive and healthy. What resonates with me, though, might not resonate with you. I’ve even found that things that resonate with me now that didn’t when I learned them a long time ago.
If personal growth is on your agenda, I suggest you strengthen your CORE. That might sound at first like a little personal trainer humor 😉 but CORE stands for creativity, organization, resilience, and energy. The CORE concept came to me while I was studying to become a life coach. I was hell-bent to define my purpose in this world. Everything I was learning made sense, but I needed an extra layer to make it more relevant to me. The CORE concept is not a this-then-that but instead it’s a holistic lens to view your situation through. We tend to be strong in one or two of them and need to work on the others.
Let me explain the CORE concept with an example. Here is how each component went into the process of deciding how to set a daily intention. This intention would be a statement to start my day strong and then guide me when I get off track or stressed out.
Creativity – Creativity is a great problem solver. I wanted my daily intention to come from my own intuition. A little online research would introduce me to tarot cards, manifestation or oracle cards, websites, and all kinds of people or pages to follow on social media. I had to find the right tool for me.
Here’s another example. A client of mine was injured and could no longer go to the gym or the workouts she’d done religiously. She became depressed and was gaining weight fast. We creatively redefined the word “exercise” and she started walking over 10,000 steps a day which led to better eating and faster healing!
Organization – Organizing your time and resources sets you up for better decision making. Some of the options I found would cost me money and some would take a chunk of time. I spent some time journaling about the pros and cons of each, especially how each would fit into my daily routine and complement my habits.
Here’s another example. A client of mine was unhappy in her job but for a few good reasons couldn’t leave it. After some conversation about what was within her control, she realized she was desperate to get back to the creative projects that used to make her so happy. She had to decide which was easiest to start right now and which would provide her the most satisfaction in her limited free time.
Resilience – Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. Resilience plays into the CORE concept as a reminder of what you’ve done in the past and what you are capable of. These are solid facts that I used to ensure follow-through and success.
Here’s another example. A client of mine was determined to work off the extra pounds she’d put on recently. We talked about what tactics had and had not worked in the past. We talked about where her head was at now compared to where it is when her consumption and movement are at their best. We used what she KNEW to make a plan for her NOW.
Energy – Our energy is different day to day and even across the hours in each day. It’s very important for you to know who and what gives you energy or takes it away. The whole idea of having a daily intention was energizing to me so the process for identifying it daily and sticking to it for a whole year had to as well.
Here’s another example. A client of mine was dealing with two friends and the impact their drama was having on her mental health. While there was a lot of history to each friendship, she needed to focus on the energy it took to balance what she could do for them and what was best for her (with or without them).
There’s a lot to consider when working on your own personal growth but at the same time I love that there’s so much to consider. I hope my example and the ones from my clients help you to better understand the CORE concept and gives you a few ideas of how to use it in your situations.
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