Write these 2 words on your bulletin board. Keep them handy. FLIP IT!  

How does this work?  

Consider a personal or work situation currently on your mind. Are you thinking of the struggle in that situation, the lack, the "what is not working"?

If you are, I challenge you to FLIP your thinking and shift your thinking to your desired state. Watch your energy shift when you FLIP IT! and turn your focus to your abundant possibilities. Instead of focusing on what you don't have or don't want, FLIP your thinking to focusing on what you do have and do want.  Where thought goes, energy flows.

E.g. / Your focus: I don't have any work lined up for next month

          (while mentally focused there, you are stuck with no work)  

          Flip it: I want to get 3 more clients for next month.  

         (opens up to the next step: OK, that's what I want, now how will I do that?)

          Board Meeting focus: Sales are flat for our gala event. No one is buying tickets; we    are going to lose a lot of money (while energy is focused there, no tickets are sold)  

          Flip it: We need to sell 200 more tickets to break even.  

          (opens up to the next step: OK, now how can we do that?)

Neuroscience backs up this approach. By keeping our minds in a "toward" state - we can more easily promote growth and insight.   We experience resistance when we try to work away from something.

The FLIP IT formula transforms your thinking to generative possibilities by helping you focus on your desired future state (i.e. what you want). You can then put steps in place to move toward that desired state.

If we use a line of questioning with our coaching clients that asks them to focus on the problem ( i.e. what isn't working), we quickly see them lose energy and we have to manage the session to make sure they rise out of their downward spiral.  For example, my client Alana*, a successful senior VP came to me with a non-stop litany of the things in her life that were causing her current state of complete overwhelm. After Alana had exhausted her download, rather than stay with her in that state, I acknowledged how she was feeling and then asked a simple question. "Imagine yourself being totally on top of things, organized and in charge - how does that feel?" That flipped her focus and took her to a future state, where she was in control, calm and relaxed. It had the effect of opening up possibilities for her in a situation that had seemed hopeless minutes earlier. Once in that "toward" state, I asked what the biggest change might be that would keep her in that desired state. Instantly there was forward motion and the possibility for change.  

Be aware of the language you use with yourself and with others. Do you generally use language that focuses on what is NOT working or on what is wrong? If you do, you are miring yourself in scarcity and will stay stuck until you "Flip it".

Subtle languaging? Yes.  Impactful results? OH YES!

The FLIP IT 3 Step FORMULA

1/ Acknowledge /Identify where you are now. (no judgment, a simple identification of current state of thinking only)  

2/ If your focus is not where you want in any area of your life, FLIP YOUR THINKING. Look at your worksheet. For those areas in which you acknowledge you are focusing on the Don't Have and/or Don't Want side of the ledger, FLIP IT! Put your mind into a "toward" state and think about the state you want. Where do you want to be? Write that in the Do Have and/or Do Want column.

3/ Put steps in place to move toward that state with the support of your coach or friends

FLIP IT! 2 simple words to move you from scarcity and stuck, to action and possibility.

*client name changed to preserve confidentiality