Appreciation, compassion, awe, play, curiosity, and meaning are all powers of your Sage that can help you navigate challenging times and turn that frown upside down. This time of year can be one of those challenging times for a lot of people. Here are a few helpful strategies and tips based on the Positive Intelligence® operating system.

If it feels like more of a Holi-daze for you, fear not. The solution is inside you, always available…read on.

Based on Positive Intelligence®, the wise one inside you (the Sage) has five powers that can shift you out of the daze or funk or malaise created by your fear-based survival brain, the saboteurs. Use just one of these (empathy is always a great place to start) or try to apply all five, in order, to a situation or challenge. You’ll be growing your Sage powers and experiencing more ease.

Inflation. Lay offs. Viruses. This is all “bad,” right? Well…that depends on which part of your brain is running the show. Humans are wired for a negativity bias as a matter of survival. That voice is loud and fearful. We also have a quieter, positive voice that knows any outcome or situation can be turned into a gift or opportunity.

In design and construction, you may be hearing about or even feeling a slowdown. Just typing that my gut constricts and my mind starts conjuring scenarios of gloom and doom. But wait! We are not responsible for our first thought, but we are for the second, third, and so on.

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Let’s be honest. Somewhere along the way, busy became a badge of honor and burnout got normalized. This is not the path of ease and flow; it’s the path of stress and burnout. It’s the lies of the saboteurs—the voices of the inner critic, controller or pleaser to name a few, that create all our stress. In a complex business like interior design, architecture or construction, it’s tempting to believe the lies and to hop on the crazy train of reactivity, urgency, blame and dare I say, drama. That’s a surefire recipe for stress, anxiety and burnout. Sound familiar? Read on.

Our true essence of love, empathy, creativity and curiosity gets drowned out by shoulds, doubt, shame, judgment, fear, numbness, anxiety, and so on. While we might get some results from this place, it ultimately keeps us from performing at our best with lasting happiness and peace in our hearts.

With seventeen years in the interior design business, I know firsthand the joys and challenges of running a thriving firm. Design, architecture and construction is a complex business with countless moving parts; many of which are out of your control, and can lead to stress, lost creativity, and disconnect from your vision and the joy of creating. Add to that our own personal patterns that get in the way and, Houston, we have a problem.