How to Show Up as the Best Version of Yourself

Fran Cherny: Nithya, we work together with some clients and sometimes they ask me about, “Oh, yes, I remember this and that,” so do you have any two or three practices, based on all the work you did, you find very useful for business leaders to do?

Nithya Shanti: So, there are many practices but more than a practice what I like to share is I’d like to ask each person listening to this that, think of a time when you were most in your element, you were really your best version of yourself in terms of listening, in terms of sharing, in terms of creativity, in terms of leadership, in terms of just flow. Ask yourself, “What did that look like? What did that feel like?” This is also known as anchoring. You reconnect with, what is that state like?

Nithya Shanti: So, for example, I speak quite often and I travel all over the world and I speak and sometimes I’m jet lagged and sometimes it’s a long day but if I just remember, what is that state like? For me, it is about being available. Can I be in the state of being available to whatever needs to come through? Can I be connected to the needs of my audience? Not just what I need, but what does my audience need, right? And you will take a moment or a minute or a few minutes to reconnect with that. It immediately gets me back into flow.

Nithya Shanti: So, this requires us to get out of our head and into our body and into this moment. Now, whatever practice helps you with that, does deep breathing help you with that? Does visualization help you with that? Does a little bit of physical movement help you with that? There’s a famous TED talk where Amy Cuddy talks about stand like Wonder Woman. Go to the restroom and just stand like this, change your body posture, and that will help. Smiling in the mirror can help.

Nithya Shanti: One of my teachers, Gary Craig, said before a conference he would sit in his car and he’d shout, “I’m awesome! Everyone’s awesome! The world is awesome!” He’d just say, “I’m awesome, I’m awesome!” Ten times in the car, and then he’d get out like a normal person. But just saying, “I’m awesome,” for him it would create that shift. So, the real thing is creating the energetic shift, creating the shift in consciousness, and coming to whatever it is that we value and believe in most.

Nithya Shanti: Like for me, I asked myself once, “What are the five states of being that I want to practice in my life, the most important states of being? What are the five qualities?” Another way of saying it is, “What qualities would make my life really successful?” So, what I came up with, these five, is learning to be present, coming from a place of love and compassion, being grateful, being joyful, and learning to let go. For me, these five things came up.

Nithya Shanti: So now, my life becomes about, how can I, through what I’m learning, through what I’m sharing, through what I’m practicing, be more in the present, be more loving, be more grateful, be more joyful, and learn to let go? But these five our great ways for me to anchor myself. Anytime I’m to do anything, just come back, okay, present and loving and grateful and joyful and letting go of all the other drama that’s going on around me.

Nithya Shanti: So, like this, the real practices will be things that help people come back to their element, the best version of themselves, and this is a bit of a reflective process. What worked for me may not necessarily work for you.