Sandra Ford Walston

Valuing your spirit requires you to connect to your spiritual journey and recognize the element of time. Specifically, you will need to rethink your approach to time in the context of how you care for yourself and how you manifest your spirituality at work. While facing mental suffering, learning how to slow the mind and letting go of the ego’s inclination to force the issue create an invitation to shift perspectives. Moments of inactivity (almost boredom) help you recharge and determine if you are staying aligned with your true, courageous intention. This type of contemplative practice is very different from inertia....

Discernment means a time to reflect or stop in order to distinguish between differences or perceptions. There are numerous discernment definitions on the Web. Discernment in Wikipedia means "to describe the process of discerning God's will for one's life." As a practicing contemplative, for me it means being able to respond to my highest courageous will (as Spirit intended). Coming from one's courageous will is easier said than done. Regardless of your discernment definition a concrete exercise can come in handy to reveal your courage. One of the exercises I learned in a Nine Month Contemplative course I took in...

Courageous leaders recognize defining moments and apply courage at work. This conscious action is vital to their success. By developing the following behaviors in yourself, you?ll be better able to call upon your courage when needed. 1. Constantly affirm your strength and determinationRealize that no one expects you to be perfect. They do, however, expect you to do your best. Take time for daily reflection so you can evaluate your resources and how you can best use them. When you know how your strengths can benefit your organization, you'll be able to do what you believe is right and see...

As a Courage Coach and consultant in courageous leadership, employees at all levels ask me intriguing questions. Below are four questions and answers that you might find interesting:

 1)  A director of HR shared a situation about a courageous hiring decision that demonstrated courageous leadership when she was confronted about hiring an “outsider.” What would you have done?

She said, “While it would have been the risk-free and popular decision to merely promote an internal favorite to a recently vacated executive position, I decided to take a significant risk in hiring a stellar candidate external to the organization who could lead a very important department from competent to excellent. This choice, even during times of economic uncertainty dictated structural change and altered “business as usual.” It took courage to approach....

Want to be happier and more successful? First, it starts with being courageous. We're not talking about jumping from high buildings like Superman. We're talking about making smart choices and supporting yourself with self management techniques and good friends. Here are some discussion points and action items you can do alone or with friends:  Start Being • Start saying: “I declare my intention to be courageous,” then you will exhibit your personal courage. • Start being one hundred percent accountable for how you design your life. • Start perceiving yourself as courageous. • Start changing the way you organize your time. • Start something that...

WORDS ARE POWERFUL.They can help or hurt you. They can get you positive results or break your heart. Your words create your reality. Promises, requests, offers, or words to persuade  provoke action. You use words as a means to get people to do things for you, endear yourself to people, make people like you, buy your services, or countless other motivations. Hate speech can hurt you. Help speech can reshape your world and produce sustainable results. Your words, body language, and emotions form a triangle through which you interpret the world. By changing the interpretation of this triangle, you shift...

You people in the West make it too difficult. If you want to be happy, stop doing the things that are bad for you and start doing the things that are good for you.     — His Holiness The Dalai Lama You are the light of your world. Just the way you are. Your light offers other people the opportunity to see situations in a new way. How? Your light is your courage. How bright is yours? Below are a few tips to stop doing old behaviors and start discovering your Being. Stopping unhealthy behaviors encourages you to purify your heart and renew...

WE ALL SEEM to feel the shifts of uncertainty that are occurring at multiple levels in our lives, including our spirit. Acknowledging these feelings about how we approach our daily our lives will hopefully open up an opportunity to stop and reflect about our behavior patterns, prompting us to ask questions. Ask yourself: Are you stuck in denial, apathy, self-doubt or blame? If these few samples of obstacles to everyday courage resonate with you, then you're stuck in the past unable to embrace the major transitions going on in our culture for the past several years. Please know that it...

Once in a while I read a poem that makes me stop and reflect on the lost courage I have accumulated in my life. Much of the accumulative suffering is couched in regrets. Regrets represent lost courage, usually layered in blame. Do you have the courage to confront this question: "What percentage of your spirit is filled with regrets?" Linda Ellis' poem "The Dash," moved me to reflection. With our gnat-like attention span we don't take time to reflect and welcome introspection much less "simple courage" behaviors. Simplicity takes talent, intention and advocates! THE DASH I read of a man who...

The word “courage” seems to be such a “big” word in our culture since it is frequently associated with sensationalism and tragic circumstances; yet, it simply means, “heart.” On the extreme, courage is associated with the whistle blowers witnessed at WorldCom and Enron. Too me, “simply courage” is best quoted by Robert Louis Stevenson: “Everyday courage has few witnesses. It is no less noble because no drum beats and no crowds shout your name.” How often do you witness every day courage? In 2012, would you be willing to embrace the etymology of the word and claim courage in your life?...