Join us as we delve into the world of stress-free projects with Janine Aurichio, a mental fitness coach specializing in the construction industry.

Perhaps someone comes to mind when you read “Difficult” people. Chances are, you find this person “difficult” because they have strong Saboteurs. When our Saboteurs are driving the bus, the ride is bumpy, unpredictable, volatile, and chaotic. When someone is hijacked by their Saboteurs, they are coming from a place of fear, reactivity and habit. If we’re not careful, we will quickly devolve into Saboteur mode as well because of mirror neurons (our nervous system starts to reflect the nervous state of those around us). Do not fuel their Saboteurs with your fear, negativity or reactivity! There is nowhere to go but down from here.

Have you ever noticed that when someone tells you they have been really productive, they’re usually not happy? Or worse, they are downright exhausted or stressed. Let’s take the glory out of productivity.Prosperity is about meeting your external goals with lasting happiness and inner peace. This comes from the Sage space of expansion, ease, clarity and meaning. Creatives don’t produce, they create. Do you think Matisse, Alvin Ailey or Sister Parish talked about being productive? I doubt it. Creativity is inspired, flowing, energizing, and mysterious.

If you interact with other humans in any part of your life, there will be conflict at some point. In design and construction, you have a new team on every project. That means new personalities, new dynamics, new saboteurs and lots of potential conflicts. That sounds challenging because it is! However, there’s a simple shift in perspective that can make things a lot smoother.

Do any of these ring true? You don’t bill all of your time (or worse, maybe you don’t even track it). You consistently send invoices late. You haven’t raised your rates lately (or ever). If so, your Imposter (aka The Judge) is at work. This post discusses strategies to shush your imposter, lower stress and grow prosperity.

Like so many things, we tend to think confidence and esteem will come from “out there.” When I achieve the next level/goal/position. When I get the affirmation or accolades. When I finally get paid $X. Or if we just think hard enough about it, it will be so. Oh, no. We can’t think or wish ourself into more confidence. It takes effort and action, bit by bit building a stronger sense of self by doing esteemable acts—acts that push our edges and put us directly in the center of our care and concern. Acts that might be scary and that might have us fall on our face. But we tried; we showed up for ourself.

According to researchers at Cornell University we make 226.7 decisions a day just on food alone. Imagine the number of decisions for entrepreneurs and business owners! And then layer on the complexities of a design or construction project. Yikes. Decision fatigue is real. Part of that could be trying to use your analytical mind to solve problems that actually require intuition instead.