Tag Archive for: opportunities

Are you being tested?

Many things look good until they are ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐.
Many theories look good until they are ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐.
Many software applications look good until they are ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐.
Many people look good until they are ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐.
Any piece of rope will hold when there is no weight on it, but we also need to know that we can count on it, when the heavy weight it was designed to carry, actually holds.
We have to test everything that we produce because things can go wrong.
And like things, we too are frequently tested in all kinds of ways in life.

Life is the field of tests.

We are living in times of great testing. No one is exempt from lifeโ€™s trials.
I do not believe that it was intended that our earthly experience would be a smooth and easy one.
It is my experience that tests always come.
Accidents, illness, old age, the loss of a loved one, death, unhappiness, depression, tragedies, financial loss etc.
How do you see you life now?
Sometimes it may seem that life will bring some unexpected challenges โ€“ almost daily at times.
Tests are designed to show our strengths and our weaknesses.
We cannot choose most of the tests we face in life, we can however choose how weโ€™re going to face them.
Facing up to every challenge, every test, is a chance for you to become the person you are meant to be.
These moments truly define us and prove what we are really made of.
Personally, I know that when you face the tests of life, when you learn from them and grow with them, you can become that person you are meant to be.
Always remember to put things into perspective, tests always eventually pass.
I am grateful for well proven guiding principles of faith, obedience, work, morality, honesty, persistency, integrity that always prove themselves when they are tested โ€“ when they are required to perform.
Turning to a family member, a friend, a work colleague or to your faith can help.
Who do you turn to or what principles do you follow, to help you through your tests in life?
#tests #life

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!

Opportunities

Its easy to feed the ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’Ž๐’” and starve the ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’†๐’”, a well known phrase, used frequently by legendary Management Consultant – Peter Drucker.

Reflecting this morning after another exceptionally busy week, I got to thinking about the phrase and my question is simply this…

Do you focus on your ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’Ž๐’” or your ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’†๐’”?

All week long I’ve been coaching or leading virtual group sessions on coaching for performance with managers from all over the world. I have learned that effective people are not problem minded, they are ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š minded. As a coach, working with lots of people, together we consider the present, but more importantly, I help each individual to look to their future.

Which leads to my second question…

What are you devoting your time and attention to?

My thoughts – stop feeding the problems and deal with them as best as you possibly can.

As you make your decisions in life, you will get most of them right, occasionally you may make a mistake, learn from it, put it behind you and move on.

Despite the challenges of today, my invitation is to look ahead to the future and all the bright opportunities that lie before you.

Open your eyes and see, they are all around you.