Have Faith – Take Action (WT473)

Have Faith – Take Action (WT473)

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by Shirley Dalton | 19 Jul, 2019 | Blog, Mindset

WT 473 Have Faith - Take Action

It was 1am. We were sleeping in a paddock (a free camp), with only two other caravans nearby.

We had stayed there the night before with about 20 vans and motorhomes and it was quiet and peaceful. We felt safe.

But not the next night. 

The locals had been partying all night and were starting to get unruly. Walking through the paddock they were singing, dancing, fighting and swearing.

I woke Ross. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“There’s people outside and they sound like they’re drunk. I’m uncomfortable. I think we should go.”

“It’ll be fine. They’re just loud like Charlie used to be. They’re most likely harmless.” 

I did my best to go back to sleep without success.

“I can’t do it. We have to go.”

Ross sighed as he got out of bed and got dressed.

Within about 10 minutes we had elevated the bed, pulled the covers off the windows, packed up and were driving out of the paddock.

“I need to get fuel,” Ross reminded me.

We found a service station and the lady (who was working by herself) said we could have stayed across the road but there had been quite a lot of people walking around.

With nowhere to go, we just had to have faith and take action.

As Ross drove northward amidst the fog and B Double trucks carrying sugar cane, I checked the internet and we found another roadside camp about 40 kilometres away.

We arrived around 2:30am and just fitted into a spot off the road.

It was noisy and we didn’t care.

We were safe and our faith and taking action had paid off.

Your turn, what would you have done?

Would you have stayed or gone?

Can you remember a time when you had to act on faith and it worked out?

“Have faith” is something I constantly remind myself.

Accountability – Your Team Actually Want It (WT472)

Accountability – Your Team Actually Want It (WT472)

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by Shirley Dalton | 12 Jul, 2019 | Blog, Leadership

WT 472 Accountability - Your team actually want it

As a leader or supervisor, it’s our responsibility to ensure our team are on task.

When they lose focus, come in late or produce poor quality work, it’s up to us to find out what’s going on, and if necessary, have THAT conversation with them.

It’s often uncomfortable and something we put off and yet it is our job to hold people accountable.

The interesting thing though, is that people actually do want to be held accountable.

Why? Because it shows we care.

Secondly, people do want to achieve and they want to know you are watching and interested in their performance.

Thirdly, it’s often easier for us to be accountable to someone else rather than ourselves.

Talking with a client this week, she shared how she made sure that she did her homework because she knew “Shirley will ask and hold me accountable” (and of course I did). 

She also realised that she has her own cheer squad for some personal goals and this helps motivate her to complete her actions because she knows the cheer squad are watching and they will know if she doesn’t fulfil her commitment. 

As you read this you might be disagreeing, (as Ross did). “No, Shirley, my team hated me holding them accountable. They hated it when I confronted them and encouraged them to get back on task.” 

“Perhaps, however at the end of the day, if you asked them what sort of leader they would prefer and who they respected the most, I can tell you, it would be the one who held them accountable and helped them to fulfil their potential.” 

Grudgingly, Ross agreed. 

What do you think? 

Are you willing to step up and hold your team accountable to experience the difference or will you continue to be N.I.C.E. (Nothing In me Cares Enough to tell you truth)?

Are You Burning Energy? (WT471)

Are You Burning Energy? (WT471)

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by Shirley Dalton | 5 Jul, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 471 Are you burning energy?

I’m guessing you’re well aware of the word “procrastination” and what it means?

Today I’d like to look at it from another angle.

I was talking with a client this week who was totally distressed by what he perceived as his “lack of achievement” towards his goals. (I can totally relate to that!) 

It’s not that he is lazy.

It’s not that he won’t take action.

It’s not that he’s not motivated and it’s certainly not because he doesn’t know what he is talking about. 

Indeed, he is totally frustrated because he can’t decide; he can’t choose the first step to take.

As we talked, I encouraged him to “simply lean into it” and just do something.

We burn so much energy when we waste our time trying to come to a decision.

Many of us need to see the perfect outcome before we can take a step forward.

The irony is, that life is not like that. We make progress by taking one step at a time.

Like my client, I’ve been stuck myself with making a decision about how to niche down my own business and who to attract.

I admit, it’s difficult when you have so many choices. Again, like my client, when you can serve many people with different solutions and you enjoy them all, it’s a daunting task to say “No” to some.

When you think about the energy you’re wasting, it becomes critical to stop procrastinating.

Simply make a decision, choose an action and take one small step towards it.

If you find you don’t like the direction it’s going, simply make another decision.

The only way to overcome “paralysis by analysis” is to do something.

A mentor of mine once put it this way, “Just pick a horse and ride it”.

Your task this week is to do exactly that.

If you’ve found yourself paralysed and burning energy, simply choose one small action you can take and do that.

Go on. Do it now. You can always change it.

Stop burning energy.

Do It Fat, Do It Thin, Do It Scared, Do It Anyway (WT470)

Do It Fat, Do It Thin, Do It Scared, Do It Anyway (WT470)

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by Shirley Dalton | 28 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 470 Do it fat, do it thin, do it scared, do it anyway

In a couple of weeks, we launch our new membership site and only that we have Founding Members, I think I would have backed out of it, if I could.

It’s a curious thing that many of us experience self-doubt and fear as we embark on something new.

Listening to one of my mentors this week, he shared that every year he does something that “scares the crap” out of him.

When asked why, he replied, “To condition myself to doing things even though I may be scared. Being courageous is a muscle and it needs to be exercised just like any other muscle.”

For me I’ve been making excuses not to create videos because I am carrying a few extra kilos.

I’m also scared of putting myself out there and being criticised or rejected. 

I was so thankful to hear my mentor say that no matter what level of success you experience, the majority of people still experience self-doubt and fear.

He went on to share his story of launching a product for the first time and how some criticism almost caused him to give up and abandon the project just as they opened the cart for sales. Fortunately for him, one of his colleagues sent him a message of encouragement and he went ahead and enjoyed a hugely successful launch.

How about you? Is there something new you want to do or achieve and are finding that fear or limiting beliefs are holding you back?

I encourage you to go for it.

Do it fat, do it thin, do it scared, do it anyway.

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

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