“Keep Calm and.....”

How would you finish that sentence?

Obviously, we are all familiar with the “Keep Calm and Carry On” concept, but I wonder what your personal response is?

So, if I were finishing this sentence off, I might say something like “Keep Calm and Carry on Baking”.  Or “Keep Calm and Keep Breathing”.

That will instantly tell you something about me.

The online Advanced Certificate in Life Coaching includes an exercise requiring a number of sentences to be completed with a personal belief.  Not one that is held by society in general, but a personally held belief.

In that exercise you are asked to finish the sentences “Owning my own house means........” or  “If I work hard.......” or even “women are.......”/”men are....”. So what would your responses be?

Remember, this is not about what you feel society in general believes, but what you personally believe.  Nor is it about any judgement of your beliefs..

It is simply a process of identifying, acknowledging and owning a personal belief.

Because within clinical work, we will be faced with a whole range of different beliefs, and recognising our own standpoint is important.  It enables us to recognise and reflect on the potential impact of our own beliefs on our clinical work; on the clients we can and can’t work with; on a personal belief that may be either positive or limiting in effect for us as an individual.

So just suppose you complete the sentence “women are........” with “....powerful” or “...emotional”........

How does that inform your relationship with the next client who is female?  Or a male client who believes the same as you......or exactly the opposite?  What subconscious inner triggers are activated when our personal beliefs are challenged or confirmed?  What unconscious biases do we hold?

Food for thought.  But for now let’s get back to the beginning........

Just how will you finish that “Keep Calm....” sentence?  What makes you “you”?

Keep calm and.......