The Disciplines I Am Grateful I Practice

In the fall of 2019, the cover of the Nunn Design Master Catalogue featured the phrase, Explore the Possibilities. It was meant to be a rallying cry both for Nunn Design, as well as our community of artisans, creators and makers.

I think we all have experienced that “Explore the Possibilities” has taken on meaning in ways we could never have anticipated.

As I reflect on the year that has passed I would like to share the disciplines I have practiced to keep Nunn Design on track.

1. Focus on a Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck, Ph.D., a world-renowned Stanford University psychologist, introduced to me the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset in a talk she gave to the team at Google.

In her book, Carol explains how people with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed.

A growth mindset has been critical to the Nunn Design’s response to the challenges of this year.

2. Understanding my Enneagram Type

I’m grateful to my parents for having introduced me to the Enneagram years ago. It has helped me come to an acceptance of my life’s journey. I have learned to embrace who I am, what I’m good at, and the areas that I need to work on.

Vulnerability is one of the most challenging traits for my Enneagram Type (can anyone guess what that is?). 2020 provided me with a lot of areas to explore the possibilities of how vulnerability could bring us together in supportive and authentic ways.

www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions

3. Learning with Seth Godin

Being in service through generosity is a core message that I have taken away from Seth Godin’s teachings time and time again.

Throughout 2020, the first email I read daily is from Seth. It was a discipline that provided food for thought and a reminder of how powerful generosity can be. Seth’s words help me be the best that I can be at exploring what is possible.

I’m a proud graduate of the altMBA, The Story Skill Workshop and The Creative’s Workshop.

www.sethgodin.com/

4. Practicing Self Care with Precision Nutrition

As I entered into my mid-50’s, I needed to learn how to manage my life’s energy better. Precision Nutrition is the online support I used daily throughout the year to learn self-care through daily habits of exercise and nutrition.

I couldn’t be more grateful for practice I have created through this program. As a result, I have had more energy and clarity to explore the possibilities of everything that came my way during 2020.

www.precisionnutrition.com/

5. Accepting my Strengths

In Marcus Buckingham’s Book, Now, Discover Your Strengths, he explores how

“Many people have little sense of their talents and strengths, much less the ability to build their lives around them. Instead, they are raised and taught to become experts in their weaknesses — and spend their lives trying to fix them — while their strengths lie dormant.”

After reading the book, I took the Clifton Strengths Assessment. Out of 34 dominant talents and strengths, I became crystal clear on my top five.

This has not been the easiest year to navigate, but knowing what my strengths were made being the Nunn Design Team leader a wee bit easier.

6. Practicing Essentialism

In Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, he writes:
“Essentialism is more than a time-management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution toward the things that really matter.

As we navigated 2020, we kept at the practice of drilling down to what was essential. We continually asked ourselves, “what is the one thing we could do that would make other things be easier.” It took time to explore the possibilities, but once we were clear on that essential task, we busted a move at executing what needed to be done.

7. Understanding the Discipline of Habits

Understanding how habits affect my own creativity has been a passion of mine for years. You can learn more about my journey of exploration on the Nunn Design Blog.

During 2020, Nunn Design was operating with two team members in the office. Having the discipline of practicing habits was something that Heather and I really needed to lean into to execute what was essential. This can be as simple as developing a habit of washing your hair only twice a week so more time is created to focus on running your business.

8. The Discipline of Positive Intelligence

I was introduced to Shirzad Chamin’s research about Positive Intelligence in his Stanford Ted Talk, “Know your inner saboteurs.” Within his Ted Talk, Shirzad breaks down the brain into two parts. The right area of our minds “explores the possibilities” and the left is home to 9 judging saboteurs.

I found this fascinating, so I went onto Shirzad’s website and took a free assessment test and signed-up for his free emails.

Understanding my top saboteurs and how they were causing great havoc on “exploring the possibilities” during 2020 has been a real game changer. It has taken a great deal of discipline to choose not to listen to those messages that truly were not supporting me in my life’s work.

“Focus on the good you have, not the lack of it, because whatever gets your attention will increase the energy of gratitude…”.

Oprah’s Life Class on the Power of Gratitude

In order to continue running a small business, it is going to take more than just making beautiful things to sell. It is going to take mastering the art of being human.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to be part of exploring the possibilities.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Becky

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