Are you outside of your comfort zone?
You are likely either left or right handed. Similarly you cross your arms either left or right arm on top. Also you probably cross your hands either left of right thumb on top. Most of the time, or actually nearly every time, you tend to do it the same way. Could you write with your other hand or could you cross your arms or hands the other way? Of course you could, but most likely it would feel a bit strange or uncomfortable to you. Actually let’s try it.
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Please open the 1 minute video below and follow the instructions:
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How did it feel? For most of us it feels either difficult or at least somewhat uncomfortable. Why is it so? That is because your natural tendencies, or preferences if you will, are guiding you. The natural tendencies are not limited to the physical things like crossing your arms or being right or left handed. They steer your behavior as well and it all happens without you noticing a thing. That’s why they are called natural tendencies. Remember how uncomfortable you felt trying to cross your arms “the wrong way around”? After trying you probably managed it but you were not in your comfort zone – right? Similarly behaving against what is naturally to you also feels difficult and it is also one large factor contributing to stress. The good news is that it works other way around too. Namely by focusing on things that are natural to you, you feel comfortable and your performance and well being increases.
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You might say that you cannot always do only the things that are natural to you. Yes that is very true. Especially at work your job description surely includes tasks that are outside of your comfort zone. This is a simple fact of life to most of us. However, you can learn to be good at these tasks and even start somewhat enjoying them. The fact is though that you are working against your natural tendencies and increasing the risk of stress. The key here is to find the right balance between what is natural to you and what is not. Otherwise sooner or later you are going to face stress and in worst case burn out or physical illness.
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For businesses the natural tendencies offer possibilities of collaboration beyond the traditional job descriptions. For instance you probably would not assign a super chaotic person to project management, a very introverted person to press and media relations or detailed oriented person to vision work. It just would not make much sense to do so. But how to identify the natural tendencies of people? Some of the managers are more capable of doing than the others. One could say they are natural in assigning the right people to the jobs. The NTA (Natural Tendencies Analysis) gives a simple tool to you and your team to understand and learn how to use the natural tendencies in the daily work. By doing that your improve the innovativeness, efficiency and communication of your team. At the same time your people (and the customers) feel more engaged and respected and their well-being increases. If you are interested to learn more please visit at: www.rework365.com/nta or stay tuned and wait for the next episode of this NTA blog series.
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Have a splendid working week!
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Life is great!
