Blog
Why Can’t I …? (WT786)
Today’s thought might be a bit confronting as we ask and answer what I think is a deep question. This week I had scheduled to run 3 x 2 hour presentations, “How to Succeed as a Solopreneur”. On Sunday afternoon I lost it. I’d spent practically all weekend preparing and practising. In tears, I cried to Ross, “How come I can’t be like everybody else?” “Why can’t I be happy to just work for someone and have weekends and evenings off, like other normal people? How come I always seem to be working on the weekend? Why do I put so much pressure on myself?” Of course Ross knew too well to even...
You Put Too Much Water In (WT785)
This week wasn’t one of my best weeks. Feeling a slight twinge in my back last Thursday night, by Friday morning I could barely move. My remedy is to strap a hot water bottle to my back, do lots of tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique), be grateful for everything and go into my mental healing lab and heal myself. It took a few days and today I am 80% there. Now the reason for the context is actually to remind us all to use our communication skills in order to enjoy harmonious relationships. Ross was filling my water bottle for me and instead of using an “I Message” to assertively and kindly...
Those Who Show Up … (WT784)
This week I put my hand up to get some feedback on one of my roleplay calls from my mentor – in front of the group. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I had recently resat the training after I had submitted the recording, so I was able to give myself a huge amount of feedback on what I had missed. At the end of the mentoring session, one of the group members reached out to me privately on What’s App and gave me her feedback. She said “You are fearless”. I was sharing this story with another colleague and confessed, that’s not how I would describe myself. In fact, in lots of ways, I...
Keep Practising and Improving (WT783)
I don’t know about you, but this week I’ve been resitting a training course I attended about 12 months ago and it’s like I never attended. As we went through the exercises, I kept thinking, “I don’t remember this. I can’t recall doing that before.” I’m guessing this has happened to you. How come? Because this week I presented the final session for a 6 month internal customised training program for a client and as we revised what we had learned over the period, it was clear that some of the participants, like me with my course, hadn’t fully taken in the information when first presented. As I...
Make A Procedure (WT782)
Before we get into this week’s thought, Ross and I were debating about the correct way to write the title. Should it be “Write a Procedure” or “Make a Procedure”? Before screen-capture tools like Loom.com or transcription services like Otter.ai or AI in general, the only way to capture a procedure was to write it, hence “Write a Procedure”. Today though, there are many ways to capture a procedure, hence “Make a Procedure”. So, whichever one you think is correct, use that. To get us started, I have a question for you. Have you ever been employed in a role and been asked to complete a task but...
You Can Be Too Pigheaded (WT781)
My 87 year old uncle lives alone. A few years back he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome in which he experienced muscle weakness of the legs. Over time, his legs became more painful and his mobility was severely restricted. Unsteady on his feet, when he fell, he was unable to get himself up. Despite having a special alarm that would summon the ambulance or other help within an hour if he fell, he refused to carry it. Hence the “pigheaded” description. No amount of pleading, arguing, bribing etc. would get him to use the alarm. And this week he ended up in the hospital after having...
Fifteen Years (WT780)
Oh my golly goodness! Today marks our 15th anniversary of Weekly Thoughts and I haven’t missed one single week in all that time. This is something I am very proud of – my commitment to you. I don’t want to miss a week because I don’t want to let you down. How about you? What or who are you committed to? Let’s take a minute to reflect on the past fifteen years. What’s happened in your life? Where has your journey taken you? Ross and I travelled Australia and lived in a motorhome over Covid. We lived in the USA for 7 months. We lived on the Gold Coast for a year. Like gypsies, we’ve bought and...
Just Do Your Job (WT779)
Every now and again we have a conversation with someone and something they say gives us goosebumps and chills all over. I call these “truth bumps” because they indicate to us that what we are hearing is the truth. This week my body tingled with truth bumps. I was talking with a colleague about making sales calls. Prospecting is something that a lot of people resist. We were discussing how important it is to include a request for introductions or referrals. My colleague even encouraged me to reach out to past Leading Yourself and Leading Others Graduates to check in with them and also invite...
The Cycle of Change (WT778)
Are you thinking about changing something or are you wanting prospective clients to purchase a product of service? If so, you might be interested to know a little bit about the process we go through when we want to change something in our lives. In the late 1970s, James Prochaska, a psychologist interested in psychotherapy outcomes, noticed a disconnect in treatment approaches—particularly around behaviour change (e.g., quitting smoking, substance use). Traditional models assumed that people were ready to change, and that all they needed was the right intervention. But many clients weren’t...
Into The Label Maker We Go (WT777)
This week I’m sharing a conversation I had with a good friend and colleague. We’ll call him Andrew. Andrew was telling me about one of his team members. The team member was bemoaning his clients. “Rather than being grateful for the work or understanding of the needs of his clients”, Andrew said, “Into The Label Maker We Go”. He went on to explain. The team member would mention the client’s name, throw them in the label maker and then spit out any number of disparaging judgements and labels to describe his clients. Now, this shouldn’t be funny and yet I found myself laughing heartily at the...