💎 Friday Gems #31 (Train your brain, Vocal Variety, Self-Complexity)

Plus a new poll.

Hello, Low Fidelity readers!

I recently read the book The Good Enough Job by Simone Siltzoff, and one word that has stuck with me is the concept of workism, where we seek meaning, identity, and purpose from our work. For me, this idea becomes evident when I take a day off from work and feel guilty for not being at work. This is something I need to keep chipping away at by increasing and strengthening the different unique self-aspects I have, also known as self-complexity, which is one of the gems this week. Self-complexity is an important topic because it helps us become resilient in the face of the changes life throws at us.

I want the Low Fidelity newsletter to be of value to you and your time so I have added a poll at the end of the newsletter to gauge how valuable this issue is for you. You can always hit reply to send me your thoughts.

On to the gems!

💎 Train your brain to run 100 miles

I’m a big believer in the idea that how you do one thing is how you do anything. What we learn in one area of our lives can help us in other parts of our lives because there are no boundaries in our minds. Whether it’s running a 100-miler or working on a challenging project, the lessons we learn on the road or trail can apply directly to all parts of our lives and our work.

In this article, author and athlete Lucie Hanes shares the insight that while running is a test of our physical endurance, it is just as much a test of our mental endurance.

Lucie shares three tips to tackle a 100-miler or your project at work.

1. Segmentation - Train your brain to break larger distances or difficult tasks into smaller manageable steps.

2. Concentration - Train your brain to focus on the next step only instead of getting overwhelmed by a large goal.

3. Visualization - Train your brain to visualize yourself achieving the task with all the details, such as colors, sounds, images, texture, etc. The more familiar you are with your journey in your mind, the easier your perception of your effort will be, which will be a positive experience.

Read the full article to learn how Lucie recommends you tackle each of the techniques.

Look out, 100-miler, here we come!

Source: Ultrarunning.com

💎 Engage your audience with vocal variety (try this exercise!)

I love feedback. I believe it’s a gift; whether it is positive or negative, it is an external lens into how we are actually performing instead of how we think we perform. Feedback is a power-up of sorts to help us quickly improve and reach our goals.

Being a better speaker is one of my biggest goals.

A few weeks ago, I received feedback on a presentation I gave to a team at work, and it stung. I was told I needed to bring more energy and show passion in my voice. Basically, my voice was monotone, bland, and uninspiring.

Ouch! That feedback hurt, but my lack of vocal variety has been an issue I have needed to address for some time.

Determined to improve, I did what anyone would do…I searched YouTube and found this wonderful video by speaking coach Nicole Lowenbraun.

The tips Nicole shares in this video will help you improve your vocal speed, volume, and pitch, which is how high or low your voice goes. The exercises she shares are easy to practice

The tip that resonated the most with me was to look at your presentation identify the key sentences you want to emphasize and practice speaking them by varying either your vocal speed, volume, and pitch.

Finally, there is hope for me!

Have you received feedback on an area of improvement? How did you go about addressing it? Let me know in the comments.

Source: Duarte, Inc

💎 Develop self-complexity to become resilient

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

How many different self-aspects or distinct dimensions do you consider yourself to possess?

For example, do you consider yourself to be a parent, teacher, runner, designer, friend, writer, leader, employee, etc.

Self-complexity is the concept of having distinctly different parts of ourselves. The term was coined by psychologist Patricia Linville, who developed the self-complexity model in relation to an individual’s personality and well-being.

According to the model, the overall ‘self’ is composed of several ‘self-aspects’; some are context dependent while others have to do with relationships, activities and traits, etc.

So, the idea is that the more distinct self-aspects we possess, the greater our self-complexity will be, and the less likely it will be that a negative event will threaten our self-esteem.

For example, a job loss, for a person with low self-complexity would likely have a greater negative reaction as a result and be more affected by the emotions that come up because their job narrowly defines their identity, and they have fewer other self-aspects to lean on.

On the other hand, a job loss for a person with higher self-complexity and distinct self-aspects would be able to compartmentalize negative events and shield themselves better in any given self-aspect because they have multiple strong identities to lean on.

This is why work-life balance and having a life outside of work is critical.

In the book “The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work.”, author Simone Stoltzoff states

Psychological research shows that when we invest in different sides of ourselves, we're better at dealing with setbacks. In contrast, the more we let one part of who we are define us, the less resilient we are to change.

Take a moment to think about your own self-complexity and find opportunities to expand your interests and strengthen the other parts of yourself to help you become resilient in the face of change.

💎 A Gem For Thought

In an effort to continually improve this newsletter and make it valuable for you, please take a moment to share your feedback below. You can also hit reply and send me a message if you want to. Thanks!

Let me know in the comments if any of the gems resonate with you. I always love hearing from you. :)

Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic weekend!

Rizwan

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