Tag Archive for: action
Patterns
Knitting
Patterns for Life
Why not religion?
Religion should be three things:
Words Matter
Do you listen to your heart?
Words matter.
All week long one word has played continually into my thoughts.
Iโve felt as if it has been etched not only upon, but also into my heart and mind.
No matter where I went, or what I did, it would always return.
Itโs an unusual word.
Indefatigabilityโฆ! (Dutch โ onvermoeibaarheid)
I wasnโt even too certain what it meant, so I looked up the dictionary definition.
โTireless determination, incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring.โ
I reflected upon the definition for a while.
I questioned myself and asked “What does this word mean for me?”
After a while, I began to understand.
Day in, day out, week in, week out, I am surrounded by young missionaries who possess the most remarkable indefatigable spirit.
I am with them, constantly.
Being with them one by one, in group training sessions and large conferences, I am reminded of the desire of their hearts to share their witness and testimony of Jesus Christ.
They all take several knocks โ daily.
GRIT
Yet, each of them possesses grit!
True grit!ย And Iโm not talking about John Wayne!
A toughness, an indefatigable resilient courage, to bounce back, again and again and again.
As defined by Angela Duckworth, grit is โOur passion and perseverance to reach long term goals.โ
I am so grateful for my association with each and every one of them.
They have been called from many different countries and cultures all across the world to bring a message of hope and peace to a world that is in constant peril and commotion. (2 Timothy 3:3/D&C 45:26)
Through my personal interactions with each of them, I am a witness to the fact, that they possess an indefatigable zeal and testimony of the message they share.
It is a message of great hope, peace and centred in their love of Jesus Christ.
I know that when the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy, regardless of what is happeningโor not happeningโin the world or in our lives.
As President Russell M. Nelson has said โthe joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.โ
If you want to find real joy, peace, purpose and meaning in life, then I suggest you listen to your heart.
Reach out to one of these indefatigable young men or young women today. They will help refocus your life.
#HearHim
Do, Feel, Learn….
I have listened to hundreds, if not thousands of workshops, talks and conferences throughout my life.
At the end, frequently I’ll ask myself the following….
- What did I feel as a result of this experience?
- What am I going to do as a result of this lesson?
- What did I learn as a result of this teaching?
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
Through inspired teaching, feelings motivate us into action.
Signatures
Signatures
Speak up
Speak Up!
Asking Questions
What will you do differently because of what you learned today?
Asked any good questions lately?
Questions can be extremely powerful. They help us to think, feel and do things differently.
We all need to learn how to ask great questions!
Some professionals like doctors, lawyers and journalists are taught how to ask great questions as part of their training.
In my own professional career through sales and coaching, I have found it equally important to be able to formulate and ask the right question.
Questions aid performance, close sales, help provide inspiration and direction, they even help to build trust and rapport.
“Management teams aren’t good at asking questions. In business school, we train them to be good at giving answers.” – Clayton Christensen.
Itโs time to be a little more curious. Asking questions is an important part of life and learning.
As a coach, I am constantly asking questions to help clients move forward.
– What do you really want?
– What do you need most right now?
– So what?
– Why now?
– How can you be truer to yourself?
– Can you tell me more?
What question can you use today to unlock your own potential?
Barnacles
“What is holding me back from success?” asked a coachee. “Many things can” I responded.
I love this story, shared by Thomas S. Monson.
โShip Captains like to tie up at Portland, Oregon. They know that as their ships travel the seas, a little saltwater shellfish called a barnacle fastens itself to the hull and stays there for the rest of its life, surrounding itself with a rocklike shell. As more and more barnacles attach themselves, they increase the shipโs drag, slow its progress, decrease its efficiency. Periodically, the ship must go into dry dock, where with great effort the barnacles are chiselled or scraped off. Itโs a difficult, expensive process that ties up the ship for days. But not if the captain can get his ship to Portland. Barnacles canโt live in fresh water. There, in the sweet, fresh waters of the Willamette or Columbia, the barnacles die and some fall away, while those that remain are easily removed. Thus, the ship returns to its task lightened and renewed.โ
Barnacles increase drag, slow progress and decrease efficiency. Building up one on another, eventually they could sink a ship.
What โbarnaclesโ are holding you back from success?ย What is slowing you down?
Do you need to head for some fresh waters?
What action needs to be taken to move forward?
Thinking!
“What do I want to do from here?” said the small voice in my head – then the wacky thoughts started to explode!
In preparation for a virtual creative thinking session with a work colleague (thanksย Paulย – it was fun!) – I worked my way through some of Edward de Bono’s six creative thinking hats.
I started to think about the thinking – Blue
Next, I considered the facts of what I knew – White
I was mindful of my feelings and hunches – Red
The wacky, pie in the sky ideas surfaced – Green
Lots of useful positivity emerged – Yellow
Together, later in the day, Paul and I would discuss the risks – Black
My thinking complete, I emailed Paul with a number of my zany ideas. I carefully couched the descriptive language of my nutty thoughts, followed by some more traditional models and rational group exercises.
I was a little apprehensive, but curious too, as to what he’d make of my thinking! For over an hour, we bounced around a whole range of ideas together and what emerged, was a smorgasbord of creative concepts that were extremely satisfying to digest! It was great fun!
Working together – we created more in a balanced way. We both know that all of the thinking isn’t complete, but we are well on our way.
How do you brainstorm new ideas?