Stubborn as a Mule?

 John Ruh  Leadership, Professional Development


I am slow to change and think things to death.”
“My fears/concerns keep me from taking action.”
“I rarely ask for help and many times when I do it is too late.”

Sound Familiar?

The Irony: Your steadiness/determination (also loyalty and commitment), which is your strength, when unchecked becomes “stubbornness” and your liability.

You tend to be patient, cautious, accepting, a deep thinker, and grounded. This has helped you get things done and be extremely steady in your approach to work and life. However, when overused, these same valuable traits can also hold you back and when circumstances call for “living with the unknown” or moving fast. Both can create unnecessary stress for you.

Are these tendencies good/bad? No, things are not binary in that way. Being tenacious and patient is a powerful combination. However, in some situations, these traits can create a resistance to taking chances or accepting and embracing the inevitable changes that come to everyone. This delay/waiting ( appears to others as procrastination) can cause you unnecessary friction which you hate! The ability to recognize this, and consciously modulate innate tendencies (despite the discomfort it can cause) is an incredibly powerful skill/capability. Learning how to do this requires time and practice to develop this skill of adapting and accepting ambiguity as is needed.

3 Practical Steps to take to learn how to adapt Faster and avoid unnecessary Stress.

  1. Understand and accept yourself.
    You need to better understand your strengths and weaknesses. Once you understand and accept your strengths and weaknesses, you can start the process of adaptation as is needed.
    DISC is a proven tool, with nearly a century of worldwide research and application and easy to understand and apply.
    Support: Call/email Darlene at 773-775-6636 to take one free DISC profile/company. It’s a 2-minute instruction/15-minute online “survey” with immediate results online and we provide a free 20-minute explanation.
  2. Start practicing making changes before you “have to” to create new habits. Habits create skills over time.
  3. Request a complementary 1-1 session with one of our facilitators who really understand this profile and can explain it to you in a patient, straightforward way.

We are here to support you and help. Please reach out to me at 773-641-9631 or John@johnruh.com.