Beverly Flaxington: Walking The Talk
“I like to be in movement, but I like to empty my mind at the same time,” said Beverly Flaxington, The Human Behavior Coach ®. She has made it a daily ritual to complete a walking meditation every day. When she isn’t traveling, presenting workshops on leadership, relationships and the power of the mind, she often takes her four dogs with her. She has four dogs and seven cats of her own, but there can be as many as twenty total including additional, temporary, foster pets in her home, at any one time. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s also very unconditional in the giving.” In Flaxington’s opinion, this is all part of giving back and walking the talk.
“I have a personal challenge to myself, to see how much I can empty my mind, while I am going through the walk, so if things start to come in and I start thinking — I need to do this, or I need to do that — I deliberately push those thoughts out, so I am really getting that emptiness,” Beverly Flaxington.
That emptiness brings an important balance to her busy life of business consulting, teaching, coaching and writing. She is also a Certified Hypnotherapist, a Reiki master and an active mother of three. Her mission is to help quell the anxiety and depression that too often are a part of people’s lives in our culture, to help them discover their purpose and natural disposition, “If someone is not doing a job that fits who they are naturally, they are probably going to be unhappy.”
Flaxington argues that people often choose careers for financial reasons or under someone else’s advice, but the overall fit doesn’t mesh well with their personal values and/or priorities. This causes a lot of unhappiness. People need to analyze what has worked well for them in the past, as well as things that didn’t, and look for common elements as a jumping off point to explore options for their future. They also need a lot of patience because answering the deep questions of life can often be a lifelong journey.
“I’ve devoted most of my life to trying to help people unlock the power that’s in their mind and also help businesses understand the impact of the human element,” Beverly Flaxington.
Through her many books, college classes, workshops and online courses at: http://the-collaborative.com, Flaxington wants to spread the message that, “these tools to succeed are accessible to everybody,” adding, “as long as you’re healthy enough, you’re mostly limited by your mind.” She emphasizes that people need to stop putting their goals into somewhere in the future, and learn to seize the moment. Her biggest personal goal, over the next five years, is to broaden her audience and get that message out to more people, so she can help businesses and individuals build self-esteem, excel at leadership and practice strong communication skills.
“We are not taught how to relate to other people. There is not enough emphasis on good communication skills and being able to understand the interpersonal aspect, how to work well in teams, how to work with someone who is difficult . . . then we go into a work environment, where we have some difficulties, and we are stymied. We don’t know what to do,” Beverly Flaxington.
According to Flaxington, unfortunately, a lot of unhappiness also comes out of a severe deficit in terms of leadership skills. “It’s an epidemic — people get to those roles and they don’t know how to lead, and that’s why a lot of people are miserable. Research shows the number one reason people leave their jobs is because they can’t take their boss.” As a confidence coach, Flaxington teaches people to better understand both themselves and others, to become better leaders and better people. They learn to identify their personal motivators and unique wiring to better determine where they might fit in the world. Greater self-esteem and objective personal knowledge nurture natural presentation skills. An, “air of curiosity,” is also encouraged. Exploration is paramount, in contrast to judgmental attitudes or negativity.
People learn to stop focusing solely on themselves and how they might look or sound and learn to connect with their audience, looking beyond themselves to accept multiple viewpoints.
“It’s looking out and seeing, ‘Who else can I help?’ This is the advice I give to people when they are really depressed. I say, ‘Go find somebody who is in worse shape than you. Go help them, and it will change your mindset,'” Beverly Flaxington.
Greater self-knowledge is consistently balanced with the importance of interpersonal connections and social responsibility, in Flaxington’s philosophy. It isn’t enough to simply be successful in business. She feels there must be a, “caring human side.” Our true potential can be unlocked by learning the power inside our own minds, but that potential has to be put in motion to achieve our personal goals and improve our surroundings. Good communication skills are essential in the business arena and in our personal lives, but then we all need to learn to walk the talk, as well.
Beverly is also an active contributor to PsychologyToday.com and Advisor Perspectives Magazine, an “Ask Bev” column.