Look at me!

When a young climber came up to her and questioned the way she was belaying her husband, Dominique replied with a laugh: “Look at me! I’m an old lady! I’ve climbed with equipment that you’ve never even heard of!”
She makes us laugh, with her story and her pout poking fun at her age.

How many times have I caught myself doing things “old-style”?

A recipe needs a mixer? I’m just as quick with a saucepan and a whisk! The time it takes to put a thread in a sewing machine, I’ve already fixed a hem by hand!

New methods might seem faster, but the old ones are often simpler and just as efficient.

What about you? What can you easily do using old methods?

A difficult participant

Last year in one of my seminars, I had a participant who was particularly difficult to handle. She wasn’t happy with anything that I said. She systematically and ostentatiously shook her head to express disagreement. I found her hard to handle and the others struggled to cope with her.

So I was astonished to see her name on the list of participants for another seminar last month. To avoid the same problems, I prepared a strategy to deal with her that I also included as a coaching feature in my programme.

Surprisingly, she didn’t turn up. The training course went perfectly and the participants and their managers liked the extra coaching element so much that I was asked to provide further coaching for the Board of Directors!

I owe this success to my difficult participant. Without her, I would never have gone beyond what I usually do. At the time, I wasn’t aware of this. Now, I’m very grateful to her.

What about you? Who has helped you to grow, despite themselves?

Would you like some help?

There are two types of people who ask me for advice.

Some want my opinion and a different way of looking at whatever they are concerned about.

The others want me to reinforce and approve the decision they have already made!

Now that I know this, I ask all these people straight out, “Do you want my opinion or my approval?”

This question has caused surprise to several people – including myself 🙂 – because I know very well how to avoid making a decision by skilfully delegating it to the unsuspecting person I am talking to!

What about you? Are you seeking advice or approval?

What is your intention?

Athletes know how it works – they visualise themselves on the podium even before they put on their running shoes. They see themselves flying over the bar before they start the run up.

What if we used the same visualisation technique to organise our day, instead of letting the day organise us?

If you start by checking your emails, Facebook and WhatsApp, you’re letting all these things influence your day.

Imagine yourself doing what athletes do: get up in the morning and visualise your day. What are you going to do and what will you achieve? If you have a clear picture, what’s the likelihood of you wasting your day checking Facebook, posting smileys and staring at kittens?

So, how about deciding what your daily intention will be?
And what about your intention for 2020? Looking forward to catching up with you in January!

Daybreak

“How can you recognise the moment when night is over and day is breaking?” a teacher asked his students.

“When you can just make out the shapes of things!” one of them immediately replied.

The Teacher shook his head slowly and looked at the others.

“When you can tell the difference between a fig tree and an olive tree!” suggested another.

The teacher shook his head again and explained:

“When you see a stranger on your path and recognise him as a friend, then day is breaking and night is coming to an end.”

I wish you lots of meetings with friends in 2020.