This is a podcast version of a workshop on how to focus on the strengths in other people when those people are making it difficult. What can you do when you go into a conversation hoping for the best and find yourself being sucked into irritation or anxiety or confusion? Stop looking at the problems and start focusing on strengths. This podcast will walk you through three ways to do that.

According to researchers at Stanford, Zoom fatigue is real. But does that mean it's inevitable? Linda Ferguson offers an NLP (neurolinguistic programming) perspective on using your senses to engage in video chats and meetings. Linda references this TED talk on doodling and Adam Grant's recent podcast episode with Malcolm Gladwell.

Warning: this episode contains tips that might make you love connecting, even on Zoom.

Take a few moments to explore a value you hold and how it can make a difference as you face the challenges ahead. We often think of values as things we "should" live up to. It's more useful to think of them as a way of shaping useful goals when we have only a little information about what the future might hold.

When you're stuck, it can feel like the walls are closing in on you. There's not enough room to move and no good options. You want to think outside the box, but all you can see or feel is the box.

Let Linda guide you through an experience that will change the way you experience the box and it's place in the world. Thinking inside the box is more fun - and more productive - than you might expect.

Photo credit: © Can Stock Photo / evgenyatamanenko.jpg

Take 10 minutes and think about this simple pattern that can become the way you change your life for the better. It doesn't happen all at once, but as you practice this pattern of responses, you will own more of your experience. This is the best way I know to reduce anxiety and conflict and bounce back when the world knocks you over.

Let Linda walk you through the four obstacles that block everyone on the path to achieving some difficult, worthwhile thing. As you work to achieve something, you'll find yourself blocked by distraction, by "not enough," by over-thinking and by mistakes. Use these four keys to unlock the roadblocks so that you can achieve what you set out to do - and get to know your bigger self along the way.

NLP (neurolinguistic programming) is the art of turning language into action. In this longer episode (20 minute) Linda walks you through the four stages that transform an idea into something you do to get a result you like. You can get more background on NLP and more details about the four stages by reading this Free E-book.

You might be in a slump or a losing streak or a you might just hate the holidays. It's a time of year when many people add up their accomplishments and treasures and they feel beat up instead of pumped up.

If that's you, take a few minutes to listen to these three steps that will help you keep going until you notice that things are getting much better.

I bet you've failed at something, and I bet you hated the experience. When we think of our failures, they can sting, even years after they happened. That sting gets in our way: it stops us from pushing past limits and learning and trying new things.

Photo credit: Pat Loika, Flickr.com