Blog
I Won’t Bother (WT686)
How many times have you said or heard, “I won’t bother”? The reason I’m mentioning it this week is because I’m thrilled to announce that I have recorded an audio version of my book, “The Loyal Lieutenant: How The Second-in-Command Brings The CEO’s Vision To Life” and 10 lucky readers will receive complimentary access to listen to the book rather than read it. Thanks to Lee Woodward for his skill, advice, mentoring and support, we now have an audio version. When we celebrated 13 years of Weekly Thoughts a few months ago, I gave away a complimentary enrolment to The Loyal Lieutenant...
This Is Really Awkward For Me (WT685)
I’m sure at one time or another you’ve had THAT conversation with someone; a conversation that you’d rather not have. A conversation where you have to confront someone. It could be at home with your personal relationships or at work or with your sporting team etc. The truth is that most people would prefer not to have the conversation and many actively avoid it. However, if you avoid it, it only tends to get worse. When I’m coaching my clients, many find that even when they resolve to have the conversation, they don’t know how to start it. So this week, we’re going to talk about a concept...
Which One Holds The Most Belief? (WT684)
This week I finished reading Bruce Lipton’s book, “The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles”. It was first published in 2005 and then updated ten years later in 2015. It was a fascinating book, written by a scientist who explains how our beliefs or perceptions are “programmed” before the age of 6 and “which control our biology for the rest of our lives … or at least until we make the effort to reprogram them.” (Lipton, p173) Lipton states that our subconscious mind controls about 95 percent of our behaviour. This explains the disconnect we have...
You’re Only Cheating Yourself (WT683)
Have you ever “gone on a diet”? Have you ever taken action to change a habit? This week I started back on “The Fast 800”. Eight hundred refers to the number of calories you can eat in a day. I followed it a year or two ago and released about 8 kilos. (I can’t say lost, or I might find it again, which I did.) I found it challenging and I know what I am in for again. I’m having to use my mindset training not to allow my limiting beliefs to dominate and create the exact experience I don’t want, e.g. “It’s going to be hard”. Well, that may not be true. It could be easy. I’m also...
The Dash (WT682)
This week I had a really interesting conversation with a participant in the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience. Participants complete a profile and we spend 2 hours together understanding the report and identifying what works and what gets in the way of achieving what they want. Participants share their life stories and I feel very privileged to hear what people have done and experienced in their lives. In our meeting this week, I commented about the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis, that is often read at funerals and which is about the metaphor of the hyphen that separates...
There Are Always More Options (WT680)
This week’s thought is for those who may get disheartened thinking that you only have one option and if you get a “No” that it’s the end of your desire. Not true. There are always more options. I’m in the midst of writing my next book, “Leaders are Listeners”. I wanted to make sure that I don’t infringe copyright and that I acknowledge my mentors and coaches and other great resources. The book includes some concepts and activities from the Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience. You might be thinking, “Why would you include activities from your Leadership experience in your book?...
To AI or Not to AI (WT679)
You’ve probably heard all the hype and excitement lately about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ChatGPT4 in particular, so I thought I’d trial ChatGPT4 to write my Weekly Thought. Here’s what I asked: “i write weekly thoughts. they are a dose of inspiration, education and support. Please write me a 200 word article on the difference between having ai write my thought and me actually writing the thought.” I can’t help myself. Even though I know it is a machine, I still use my manners. Mum would kill me if I was impolite at any time. The article that came back was too long, so I asked for it...
You Gotta Keep At It (WT678)
You may have heard the term “overnight success story” in the media from time to time. The interesting thing is that most “overnight” successes have taken 10-20 years. Now, that’s not to dishearten you, rather I want to encourage you to keep going. If you’ve started something, don’t give up if it’s not an overnight success. I’ve been running the leadership experiences for over 10 years and there were times when I could have called it quits and now we receive so many referrals from past students, we would be doing our clients a disservice if we stopped. Same with the Weekly Thoughts. You gotta...
My Beautiful Bookcases (WT677)
Firstly, congratulations to Joanne Danckwardt. Joanne is the lucky winner of The Loyal Lieutenant Masterclass Series to celebrate our 13 years of Weekly Thoughts. Secondly, thank you for your beautiful messages last week. I appreciate and enjoy receiving your feedback. Now to this week’s thought – my beautiful bookcases. Well, they will be when they’re finished. There’s a couple of messages to this week: How to lose a customer The power of teamwork A lesson in patience The beauty of craftsmanship When I packed up my books before we went travelling, I had 500. I think that number has now...
Are You Shirleying Me? (WT676)
Thirteen years Lucky! Today we celebrate 13 years of Weekly Thoughts. I can hardly believe it myself. Cancel Cancel that negative thought. I am so proud to say I have not missed one week in all that time and today is no exception, so here’s your thought. I was coaching this week with a client, we’ll call him Jack, who was explaining how he did his best to reassure one of his employees that everything would be alright. The business is undergoing some changes. The client is a Coach personality and the catch phrase of the Coach is “we’ll figure it out”. The employee is a Counsellor type...