Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

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by Shirley Dalton | 21 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 469 Make use of your resources

A few years ago, I was attending a training course with Clinton Swaine of Frontier Trainings. I was in the hot seat. Clinton is a master at training using experiential games. In this particular game I was the CEO. I wasn’t doing very well. The mock company was in chaos and was losing money.

Ross was there with me, although not participating in the games or training. He was actually a resource I could have used although I hadn’t thought of that until Clinton reminded me, “Shirley, you are the leader and you have resources available to you and you are not using them. Good leaders are resourceful.”

Of course I felt embarrassed at the time and it was one of those lessons that we learn the hard way.

Interestingly for me, the same concept has reappeared this week.

Earlier this year we completed 3 Leading Yourself and Leading Others experiences training about 30 people.

The experience includes some 1:1 coaching with me. As the coach, I am a resource that is available to participants. I was amazed that not all participants made use of this resource.

The time frame for coaching had an expiration but not all participants have booked their sessions, despite receiving friendly reminders.

So you get the learning this week.  Make use of your resources. Good leaders are resourceful.

It’s a great reminder to take stock of the resources that are available to you and perform an audit for yourself.

Are you using your resources? Are you being resourceful?

Nine Years (WT468)

Nine Years (WT468)

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by Shirley Dalton | 14 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 468 Nine Years

Have you ever started something on a bit of a whim and then found yourself completely committed to it?

Well, this week is the 9th anniversary of our Weekly Thoughts and I’m so excited to share and celebrate with you.

I often mention how proud I am of the fact that I haven’t missed one single week in that time. That absolutely astounds me. Why? Because I love change and variety. I often get bored once I’ve mastered something and I’m always looking for the next best thing.

In fact, I can say there are only 5 main things in my life that I’ve committed to:

  1. Marriage to Ross (30 years in February 2020)
  1. Completing my University Degrees in Education and Psychology
  1. Successfully continuing my business for the past 10 years
  1. A handshake agreement with former employer for 5 years of service
  1. Weekly Thoughts

If I dig into it, there are most likely more things that I’ve committed to however these are the standouts to me. What about you?

What are or have you committed to?

Commitment is a big word with a big responsibility and an even bigger impact.

I’m committed to completing another year of Weekly Thoughts to make the 10 year mark and then we’ll see what happens.

It’s been such a great journey over the years. We’ve self-published our Weekly Thoughts book which was a huge learning curve. We’ve managed to find a topic every week, even when I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. We’ve also managed to ensure we made the deadline for Friday mornings, although not always meeting the 3:00am timeframe. 

As I reflect back on the years, the thoughts started as a whim; a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, sort of like journaling and for me, it’s also all about self-reflection and education.

I remember a flat mate of mine saying to me once, “You’re not much of a talker are you? You’re a real thinker.” Up to that point I hadn’t realised that about myself.

Self-awareness and knowing myself and then knowing others has always been a passion of mine as has sharing what I know with others.

This week I’d like to combine all three. As a celebration I am offering 9 complimentary Reach Profiles for the first 9 people to reply with a “Yes Please”.

These profiles will help you to see how you show up in the world and the degree to which you can influence the 3 other personality types.

Normally retailing for $200 each, it is my gift to you to say “Thank You” for being on this journey with me. If you’ve already completed the profile, don’t worry, the offer is transferrable so you can nominate a team member or spouse or friend, etc.

Simply reply with “Yes Please” and I’ll send you a link for the profile. You can download the results when you complete the quiz.

Here’s to another year of thoughts, feelings, education and support.

Woohoo, we made it to 9 years!

Thanks for being on the journey with me.

https://reachquotient.com/Participants/TakeSurvey/Start?code=QTKBUAIM

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

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by Shirley Dalton | 7 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 467 Messages from your Heart

This week I want to share some words of wisdom from one of my mentors because it’s a different way of looking at an issue that many of us experience.

I am a big fan of “Tapping” (Emotional Freedom Technique) to clear negative emotions.

I follow Nick Ortner and his sister Jessica Ortner (www.thetappingsolution.com). They have written a number of books and have created a number of online programs to help educate people about the power of tapping to improve relationships, emotional well-being, abundance, weight loss and more.

This week I opened an email from Jessica and was thrilled to read her words: “I easily begin to care less about what other people think, so I can more clearly hear the messages from my own heart.” 

I love this. Why? Because I often struggle with worrying about what other people think of me and up until now I have not had a way to frame it to be able to effectively embrace changing.

I know on a logical level that I “shouldn’t” care about what others think of me. Like you, I’ve heard the saying, “What others think of me is none of my business” and yet the words didn’t make any difference.

However, from Jessica’s point of view, I can see clearly that there is a far greater reason not to be concerned about what others think. 

The more I worry about what others think and might say about me, the less I can hear what my heart really wants to tell me. Now this is something I do want to hear. This is something I do want to know so I am now motivated to free up that line of communication and of course the added benefit is releasing the pressure and worry of being good enough to only ever be thought about or discussed in a positive way.

And whilst we’re sharing mentors’ quotes, here’s another from Stu McLaren, Founder of Tribe (my membership mentor), he says, “Love me or hate me, there’s no money in the middle.”

“OMG. What might you think about that? Am I being mercenary? Maybe I shouldn’t mention money?”

Wow! How freeing these quotes have been for me. Worrying less about what others may think enables me to hear my heart and that is to create an awesome experience for the people I work with to guide and support you through change, transition and transformation.

How about you? Is this a message you needed to hear?

He Was So Proud of What He Had Done (WT466)

He Was So Proud of What He Had Done (WT466)

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by Shirley Dalton | 31 May, 2019 | Blog, Leadership

WT 466 He was so proud of what he had done

This week we were late travelling to our intended destination so we ended up staying at a different location. Originally booking in for one night, we’ve ended up staying 5 nights. It’s so peaceful and beautiful.

We were talking to the caretaker/manager who shared that the owners of the caravan park call in each week to collect the money and how he wanted to show them some of the improvements he had initiated.

“Come down the back and see what I’ve done,” he suggested to the owner.

The owner looked at his watch and grimaced.

“No. I can’t. I have some other places to be, so I’ll have to get going.”

The caretaker shared with us, “I was so proud of what I had done and he didn’t even bother to have a look.”

After he left, Ross and I discussed the ramifications of such poor leadership.

When you have someone who is showing initiative and is proud of what they’ve done, take the time to be interested and have a look. They are looking for your approval and your praise and appreciation.

Not giving them the recognition is one of the quickest ways to lower engagement, productivity and work satisfaction.

I felt really sad for the caretaker and annoyed at the owner.

I wonder how long it will be before the park starts to look shabby and goes downhill because the manager has lost motivation.

Like training your pets, you reward the behaviours you want to see.

When someone is proud of what they have done, be sure to notice and acknowledge it.

What sort of leader are you? Do you notice and acknowledge and encourage?

Stand Down Your Ego (WT465)

Stand Down Your Ego (WT465)

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by Shirley Dalton | 24 May, 2019 | Blog, Mindset

WT 465 Stand down your ego

I’m not sure if this week’s heading is grammatically correct. Maybe you can come up with a better heading. 

Here’s the message.

Since Ross and I have been travelling we’ve learned sooooooo much; so many things we didn’t know we didn’t know. 

This week I was listening to a presentation and the speaker mentioned how he had evolved his business once he was able to push his ego aside and take on the lessons.

This really resonated with me because I have had to do the same thing during the past few months.

I don’t know everything and certainly I am finding out, I know very little about travelling in a motorhome.

Standing at the counter at a pharmacy, I asked the assistant for some Bettamin (Vitamin B1). My sister-in-law told me about it the night before. It’s supposed to help prevent reactions to sandfly and mosquito bites. The assistant knew exactly what I was referring to.

I also asked her for some insect repellent. As she went to get it for me, an older man who was waiting on a script quietly advised me, “the bushies recipe works better than that and it’s much cheaper”.

“Oh. What is that?” I asked.

“Equal quantities of Dettol and Baby Oil. Mix it in a squirter bottle and it will keep all the insects away.” 

“Fantastic. Thank you so much. We are going to the supermarket now, so we can buy the stuff now, too.”

We still purchased the insect repellent from the pharmacy and made our way to the supermarket, only to run into the man again.

Holding up our ingredients, we were eager to show him we had listened to his advice.

Ross made up the recipe as soon as we got back to where we’re staying.

The next day I was working from my computer at the local library. (I needed to charge my computer, since we didn’t have electricity the night before.) A lady started chatting to me and we both admired and were thankful for the library resources. 

I mentioned the recipe, to which she added, “Oh, Dettol can be a bit hard on your skin. We also add Sorbolene to that. We even rub it on the horses at our property”, she replied.  (We were in a rural town.) She added, “We use 1/3 of each and it is so easy to rub on your skin.” 

“Thank you so much.”

Later that day we met our new neighbours in the caravan park and they added tea tree oil to the recipe.

So far I have used the initial recipe of half Dettol and half Baby Oil and it has worked. We also bought some Sorbolene and will add that and test it and then after that will add the Tea Tree Oil.

It’s a long winded story to make the point about putting your ego to one side or demanding it to stand down long enough to accept that others may know more than you do about particular topics.

How healthy is your ego? Are you open to it standing down?

Follow the Path (WT464)

Follow the Path (WT464)

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by Shirley Dalton | 17 May, 2019 | Blog, Mindset

WT 464 Follow the path

Many times I’ve mentioned, “How we do anything is how we do everything.”

Whenever I am walking or driving somewhere I tend to follow the path. 

The other day we stopped in Coffs Harbour to get some chemicals for our bathroom. Ross reversed Contessa and I jumped out to run in to the shop and quickly buy what we needed. 

I scanned the carpark and found a path with hand rails. 

I headed for the path. 

As I walked up the path I realised that the shop entrance was directly opposite Ross and the motorhome. 

I turned the corner and walked the extra few metres to the entrance. 

Of course as I looked in Ross’ direction, he had been watching the whole thing and there he sat, laughing his head off. Typical of Ross, he doesn’t miss a thing, even when you wish he would. 

Embarrassed and red faced because I could have simply walked across the carpark straight to the entrance, I started to laugh myself, as I gestured my middle finger towards Ross. 

“How we do anything is how we do everything.” 

I always follow the path. 

I’m curious, what would you have done? 

Would you have noticed the quick and easy way or like me, would you follow the path, even if it takes longer?

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