Why study?

“Studying – the act of texting, eating and watching Netflix with an open textbook nearby” – that’s one definition at least!

Why study? Do I really need to?

An oft heard question targeted at a parent, from a challenging teenager perhaps?

Growing older, I’ve discovered that I love to study, i.e. “devoting time and attention to gain knowledge” – perhaps that is a more traditional definition!ย  In fact, my penchant for both good books, research and news commentary have developed over the years into something akin to an addiction!ย  Duolingo, online resources, daily reading and personal tuition have certainly all been extremely important for me right now, as I refresh my Dutch language skills.

So what are the fruits of study? What does it give us in our life – if anything? Why bother?

In my mind, there are many rewards. For example, I’d expect that that there will be an upside in all of following areas of our life, including….

Education, Knowledge, Understanding, Awareness, Influence, Perspective, Appreciation, Decision Making, Opportunities, Achievements and many, many more!

One key aspect of study, is discovery. New insights, new information, new inspiration, new strokes of ideas! Frequently referred to as “aha” moments. They can be magical, exciting and motivational.

My top tip – ๐‘๐’๐•๐ – ๐‘๐ž๐š๐, ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐•๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž, ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ

Why not study? And yes – you really need to! Go on, pick up a new book today!

So, you want to be a mentor?

“So you want to improve your ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  skills” I asked. “Yes indeed” came the reply.
This week, I have spent a lot of time in 1-1 sessions, helping individual mentors improve their mentoring skills.
Here are my ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ for guidance.
  • ๐‹๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ง with compassion, empathy and understanding โ€“ Deep or Active Listening.
  • ๐€๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, be curious, seek clarity, probe, ask why and help each mentee to ask questions of themselves.
  • ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ž – move their learning from their comfort zone to their stretch zone.
  • Give of your ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž, frequently, consistently, intimately, 1-1
  • Be fully ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ. When you meet, create a psychologically safe space, and ensure there are no distractions.
  • Storytelling. Share your experiences that helped you succeed. Bring your stories to life.
  • Make a ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง, set objectives and begin with the end in mind.
  • Provide ๐’๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ & ๐„๐ง๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ to your mentee to push through difficult challenges. Be a trusted sounding board.
  • ๐€๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž & ๐‘๐ž๐Ÿ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ๐ž โ€“ make suggestions, offer different perspectives to help a mentee become unstuck through self-reflection.
  • Give ๐‚๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง & ๐ˆ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง from time to time, to avoid potential pitfalls.

Civility lifts people

“Thank you” she said. “No, thank you” said another. Out campaigning yesterday for what I believe in, something impressed me about everyone I met – every individual person was civil and respectful. What a joy!
I’m not sure why I would have expected anything else, but what I do believe is that each of us should be active in the communities in which we live. We should aim to work cooperatively and do as much good as we can, treating others with respect and civility regardless of different views or perspectives of a given situation.
In Scotland, as another election looms on the horizon, I hope that we will continue to enjoy healthy debate, but also cordial and reasoned exchanges amongst one another. Each of us are free to choose our own political philosophy, where we can think and speak for ourselves. Living in a society which embraces freedom of speech and values democracy is something so important to each and everyone of us. I hope we all get that.
Civility lifts people up and is key to how we engage with others.
Rather than rancorous confrontation, I hope and pray that in the days ahead, we choose to be equally kind, considerate, civil, co-operative and respectful of one another, despite the broad range of views in the political spectrum.

Are you FITT?

Are you FITT?

The FITT principle is a smart acronym that gives athletes a workout plan to help them achieve their goals – yet, in a very similar manner it applies to our learning and development habits too.

Ask any athlete and they’ll tell you what FITT stands for – as follows;
F-Frequency: refers to how often you exercise.
I-Intensity: refers to how hard you exercise.
T-Time: refers to how long you exercise for.
T-Type: refers to what kind of exercise you do.

The FITT Principle can help you create your own powerful learning & development plan.

For example โ€“ letโ€™s consider studying for a new skill or learning requirement:
Frequency – how often you study
Intensity – how hard you study
Time – how long you study
Type – what type of different study tools you use

If you want to improve your learning & development ‘fitness’ – then apply the FITT principle to your plan and routine. It won’t be long before you witness a difference and your learning will be a winner!

New beginnings

I know I canโ€™t turn back time, but this I do know…… itโ€™s never too early and itโ€™s never too late for a new beginning.

“Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them there is a huge treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him crying, “Where, where?” but it is too late. The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and bitterly disappointed, abandon the search……

…๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.”
– As told by Benjamin Zander in “The Art of Possibility”

Perhaps now is a good time to refine your plans for future harvests.

Is it time to start and dig a little deeper perhaps?
What new beginnings lie ahead for you?

Daily habits

In my quest to refresh my Dutch language skills for an up and coming assignment in the Netherlands, I hit a significant milestone today on Duolingo…a ๐Ÿ’ฏ day streak!

What we do consistently can and does shape our lives.

What makes the difference in our lives is not the speed or rapidity with which we move, but the steady, deliberate progress we make. Developing the habit of consistency isn’t about obtaining quick results, rather it’s about making incremental progress and improvements over an extended period of time.

As I embark every day, to set aside a few minutes to focus on my specific Dutch language goals, it has really helped me to progress, move forward and build some momentum. I love the Duolingo app too, as it really helps me to monitor and measure my progress towards my goal.

Yard by yard, its hard, yet inch by inch, its a cinch!

Building strong consistent daily actions, creates consistent results. How can you be more #consistent?

Starting on my next ๐Ÿ’ฏ today! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Forgetfulness!

“That’ll be ยฃ29.50 please.” “No problem” I replied…. And then it happened!

I checked my jacket pocket for my wallet, then my other pocket, then my trouser pockets. “What a plonker” I thought and confessed to the checkout operator, that I’d forgotten my wallet. She laughed. “Don’t worry about it, it happens all the time!” I laughed too. I realised I’d changed my winter jacket to a summer jacket and simply hadn’t put my wallet in my pocket. The shopping was set aside and I promised I’d be back in 20 minutes.

On arriving home, my wife was working in the garden. She looked at me quizzically and asked “where’s the shopping?” I responded “I forgot my wallet.” She burst out in laughter too!

Back to Tesco. I collected the frozen products, back to the same checkout, paid my ยฃ29.50 and we laughed together a little more…

Almost all of us do thoughtless, impulsive silly things, sometimes through a simple oversight. In fact, blunders are not only an acceptable part of life, but they may even be very helpful. Mistakes frequently help us learn and grow. My experience is that past failures may be guideposts to future success!

Thank you Tesco for helping me see the funny side of my little gaffe and for the good laugh too!

Pranks!

Siblings can be annoying at times, right? (I guess I can be too sometimes – LOL!) Challenging behaviour isn’t only limited to siblings, but work colleagues and others too. Here’s one solution that worked for me!
Visiting the beach in summertime was a regular occurrence in our family. It was a short train ride to the beach at Kinghorn. Arriving at the station, we’d walk down the steep slope and then create many fond childhood memories on the beach together, sandcastles, swimming, ice cream, games – the whole shebang.
I recall one particular trip, my big brother was even more annoying than usual with his pranks. As time passed by that day, in a moment of playfulness, I hatched a master-plan. Along the beachfront, I went hunting for a starfish (he didn’t like them). After finding one, I searched for my brother. I managed to sneak up on him, starfish in hand, yet at the last moment, he saw me coming and he took off! I took aim and threw the starfish at my brother. And then, the moment of real joy, with its strong glue like suction pads it fastened itself to my brothers back! The terror on my brothers face was a delight to behold!!
The moral of the story, well that’s debatable! I’m sure you’ll find your own. For me, sometimes its best to reprove with sharpness and show an increase of love afterwards! ๐Ÿ˜
What is your favourite prank?

Reflective learning

“So, what have you been learning about yourself through this last year…? I’ve asked that question so many times recently in coaching sessions. So, how about you……?
Consciously I make time for self reflection daily. Although it’s been a practice for a while, it has become much more meaningful during the last 12 months of the pandemic. Reflection has been described as a process that helps turn experience into knowledge. So, what are you learning?
Paradoxically, looking inwards, helps me to look outwards.
As you look in the mirror of self reflection, consider these questions:
…Am I using my time wisely?
…Am I living true to myself?
…What am I doing about the things that matter most in my life? …What do I need to change about myself?
…Have I made someone smile today?
It is so easy to get caught up in the daily vicissitudes of life.
Self-reflection is the key to help you understand what you stand for, what your values are, and in essence what matters most.
It’s a time to consider your behaviour, your goals and whether you are on track. The more self-reflective you are, the easier it becomes to make choices in line with your values which will impact all of your decisions now and in the future.
Our learning in life comes from our daily experiences, so take time to self-reflect, daily!

Authenticity – the courage to be yourself

“That’s just not right…let me explain further…” I said to my fellow judges.

Sales Awards

Many years ago, on a number of occasions, after being a shortlisted awards finalist and runner-up myself, I was invited to be a judge on the National Sales Awards in the UK. The key part of the role was to attend an annual judging day, at a swanky hotel in London. There, all the shortlisted candidates would attend to be judged. Individuals and teams would be interviewed and considered one by one, by a small judging panel of sales industry experts in order to be considered for an award. Yes – I was classified as an expert – please don’t laugh!!

Interviews

I recall, one year when a sales team gave a very impressive presentation, it was outstanding. My fellow judges remarked on how fresh and striking it was. I quizzed the team intensely on their efforts, their preparations and quite unique ideas, seeking clarification on how they came up with the concept and how they’d developed it into a presentation for the day.

They shared their story.

Outcome

Yet, unbeknownst to the sales team, I had been a judge 2 years previously in the corresponding category, where a sales team from the same company, had given the exact, identical presentation. Something my fellow judges had thought was fresh and unique, was in fact a rehash of some ideas shared previously.ย  Yes the presentation was outstanding, but the responses given by the sales team to my questions left me with a rather sour taste. Something wasn’t quite right, I felt we were in a sense being deceived, being played even.ย  That’s when I then explained to my fellow judges, why I’d questioned the team so directly,ย  seeking clarification, the way I had.

After all that was said and done, the judging panel determined that the team wouldn’t make the special awards evening a few months later.ย  Why?… Simply because they lacked genuine authenticity.

It was a powerful lesson learned for all, about the nature of truth and how it sets you free.

Never dissemble.

Authenticity is everything!ย  It is the power to be yourself.