To AI or Not to AI (WT679)

To AI or Not to AI (WT679)

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by Shirley Dalton | 30 Jun, 2023 | Blog, Business, Systems and Processes

WT 679 To AI or not to AI

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 to be reduced to 100 words.

Here’s the response:

Title: The Essence of Thought: AI Assistance versus Human Expression

In the realm of thought creation, a juxtaposition arises between AI-generated and human-written musings. While AI can produce coherent content, the distinction lies in the authenticity and emotional depth present in human expression. Human thoughts are infused with personal experiences, unique perspectives, and genuine vulnerability, fostering connections on a deeper level. The act of personal creation taps into imagination, intuition, and introspection, allowing for exploration, inspiration, and cognitive growth. Collaborative synergy further enhances human-written thoughts, as diverse perspectives and feedback foster evolution and innovation. Embrace the symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity, combining their strengths to shape a world where thoughts thrive with a harmonious blend of technology and the human spirit.

Wowza!

That’s certainly not something I would write.

Firstly, there are too many polysyllabic words (words with more than two syllables). When writing in Plain English, we want to use less syllables, e.g. instead of “receive” use “get”.

Sentences should be limited to no more than 14 words, which is why my Weekly Thoughts often have one sentence to a line.

When communicating, you need to write for your reader and the Weekly Thoughts are not meant for publishing in an academic journal.

They are simply my thoughts that I share in the hope they inspire you or educate you and certainly encourage you to think about the topic.

Whilst I am a fan of ChatGPT4 for creating checklists and giving me content, I won’t be using it to write my Weekly Thoughts. Afterall, writing the thoughts is like journaling and it’s a form of therapy for me.

And just in case you’re wondering what GPT means, it’s “Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and it’s used to generate human-like text, complete sentences, or even whole articles based on a given prompt or context. GPT models excel at tasks such as text completion, language translation, question-answering, summarization, and generating conversational responses. They leverage the knowledge and patterns learned during pre-training to generate creative and contextually relevant outputs. (Source ChatGPT4)

There you have it, to AI or not to AI. For me, it’s a blend of both, just like ChatGPT4 said:

Embrace the symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity, combining their strengths to shape a world where thoughts thrive with a harmonious blend of technology and the human spirit.

P.S. Today is the last day to save with the Early Bird Discount for the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience in August. Find out more here https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/.

P.P. S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

Get Yourself Organised (WT670)

Get Yourself Organised (WT670)

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by Shirley Dalton | 28 Apr, 2023 | Blog, Business, Mindset

WT 670

Get yourself organised or get someone to organise you.

That may sound harsh, however it’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be practical and encouraging.

The past few days Ross was preparing to get ready to go away for a few days on his motorbike. He was heading for a rally with some friends interstate.

He decided he wanted to leave by 3:30pm.

We were getting down to the wire.

“Have you seen my gloves?” he yelled.

“What sort of gloves?  Aren’t your riding gloves next to your boots?” I answered.

“No! Not those gloves. I want the waterproof gloves.”

I had no idea what gloves he was referring to, however I did get that they were important so I dropped what I was doing to look for the gloves, and his tiny flashlight. That was missing too.

“Have you checked the storage box with our other motorbike gear?” I asked, walking towards it.

“No, what’s that?” he asked.

I found the container. Opened it. No joy.

We searched through other shelves and boxes in the garage.

Underneath his workbench was one of the motorbike paniers.

“What’s in that panier?” I asked.

“I don’t know”, he replied as he pulled it out from under the workbench.

“Hello!”, said Ross, surprised.

Here were the gloves and other bits and pieces that he needed for his trip.

The panier was also supposed to be on the bike that he was taking.

Panic over, problem solved, I shook my head, smiled and walked away.

Being organised is both a skill and a talent.

Some of us have it. Some of us don’t.

You can learn it.

Even better though, if you’re not organised, hook up with someone who is. They love to help and it’s easy for them.

Even though I consider myself to be somewhat of an organised person, I still call for help when I need accountability or someone to help organise me to get going and do tasks that need to be done.

How about you?

Are you organised or do you need help from someone who is?

In the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), the organised person is referred to as The Integrator. The Integrator helps bring the Chief Vision Officer’s vision to life.  We need to have a dynamic duo, no matter what you call it.

We all have our strengths.

How about you play to yours.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

2022 What A Year (WT653)

2022 What A Year (WT653)

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by Shirley Dalton | 30 Dec, 2022 | Blog, Business, Mindset

WT 653 What a year

If you’re feeling like me, and I’ve spoken to a lot of people who are feeling the same, 2022 was a big big year.

Many of us were feeling totally exhausted coming up to the Christmas break.

I’ve had a few days off now and feeling less exhausted, although still sleeping in and looking for a nanna nap in the middle of the day.

How about you?

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is to listen to my body. In days gone past I would have pushed and pushed and pushed and kept going until my body would say “Enough!” and send me to bed for rest with a wicked cold or flu or a bad back; just enough to be annoying and stop me working.

As recently as a week or two ago, Ross challenged me with his comment, “You’re a workaholic!”.

“Ouch.”

Like I mentioned though, I am learning to listen to my body and to not push push push (as much).

Mentor, David Bayer talks about the paradox of overwhelm and one way to let go of that feeling is to recognise that everything that needs to get done in a day, gets done. That which doesn’t need to get done, doesn’t get done.

I’ve adopted this mantra and it helps.

I get done what needs to be done and allow myself to say “tomorrow” for the things that don’t need to be done that day.

Perhaps you too could adopt this mantra if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed.

Back to how I started this week’s thought with the feelings of exhaustion. If you look back at the past 3 years, starting January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 up to now, we’ve been dealing with what management consultants call “V.U.C.A.” (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity).

According to  Nate Bennett and G. James Lemoine in Harvard Business Review, the characteristics of Volatility include the challenge being unexpected or unstable and of unknown duration (think Covid). Uncertainty – despite a lack of other information, an event’s basic cause and effect are known (e.g Covid). Complexity describes a situation that has many variables and interconnected parts. (Again Covid). Ambiguity – no precedents exist. You face “unknown unknowns” (you guessed it. Covid.)

The past 3 years have provided plenty of V.U.C.A. However, according to Bennett and Lemoine, V.U.C.A. can be misleading, so they suggest that strategy and planning can help to prepare for a V.U.C.A. world.

What will 2023 bring for you? Will you end up exhausted again because you don’t listen to your body, you continue to live in overwhelm and you fail to plan and develop a strategy for predicting and coping with V.U.C.A. or will change your responses throughout the year, anticipate V.U.C.A. and end 2023 feeling full of energy and vitality?

Wishing you a fabulous 2023. May it bring you all that you desire.

P.S. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT for our February 2023 Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience ends tomorrow.  Save yourself up to $1500. If you’re thinking about enrolling, do it before the 31st December, 2022. Click the link for more information https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/

Best You Become a Millionaire (WT651)

Best You Become a Millionaire (WT651)

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by Shirley Dalton | 16 Dec, 2022 | Blog, Business, Leadership, Mindset

WT 651 Best become a Millionaire

Jim Rohn was one of the pioneers in personal development.

He touched on mindset long before neuroscientists were able to support what he was teaching.

You know how at times, someone says something, which is almost like a throw away line and it resonates with you? It resonates so deeply that you remember it for years to come. It changes you. It changes the way you think.

Well, this saying from Jim Rohn resonated with me all those years ago.

He was telling the story about how many people win the lottery etc. and within a few years they are back to where they were financially. Many end up broke.

Jim’s line was, “If someone hands you a million dollars, best you become a millionaire”.

He wasn’t referring to the fact that you now had a million dollars and could call yourself a millionaire. He was reinforcing that you need to become a millionaire. You need to start thinking, feeling and acting like a millionaire.

Why am I telling you this?

This week I was doing some strategic work with clients. They were looking at their marketing budget. I remember Kip McGrath teaching the franchisees that your marketing budget should be in line with the revenue you want to generate, not the revenue you currently have.

For example, if your marketing budget is 10% of sales and your current revenue is $100,000, then your marketing budget is $10,000.    Ten thousand dollars won’t get you a million dollars in revenue. If you want a million dollars in revenue, you should be investing $100,000 in marketing.

“But how can you do that Shirley, when your revenue is $100,000? You can’t spend it all on marketing.”

“No, but you can get an investor to give you the $100,000 so you can generate revenue of a $1Million.”

Best you become a millionaire.

How would a millionaire think, feel and act?

It reverses the old thinking of when I HAVE something, I’ll be able to DO and FEEL something else.

No! You have to BE in order to HAVE and DO

Best you become a millionaire.

Whatever it is you want, now is the time to start thinking, acting and feeling like the person you wish to become.

Ask yourself, “How would a person who has (fill in the blank for what you want) think, feel and act?”

Model that.

Remember, if someone hands you a million dollars, best you become a millionaire.

P.S. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT for our February 2023 Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience ends on 31st December, 2022.  Save yourself up to $1500. If you’re thinking about enrolling, do it before the 31st December. Click the link for more information https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/

Focus On The Big Rocks (WT645)

Focus On The Big Rocks (WT645)

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by Shirley Dalton | 4 Nov, 2022 | Blog, Business, Mindset

WT 645 Rock

As we head towards the end of the year, most of us choose one path or the other:

  1. Start to wind down and reduce our focus on tasks, or
  2. Look towards next year and start planning for the year ahead.

This week I’ve been involved in planning for the year ahead with one of my clients.

We’ve been following a methodology which I thought I’d share with you.

You’ve most likely heard of Steven Covey’s “big rocks” analogy where he takes a container and fills it with small rocks and sand and then hasn’t got enough room for the big rocks vs filling the container with big rocks and filling up the gaps with smaller rocks and sand and water. The analogy being that the rocks are the most important tasks to be completed, in order to achieve a goal.

This methodology incorporates that analogy.

Start with the goal or outcome or end in mind. What is it that you want to achieve, by when?

Be very clear on this. Use the S.M.A.R.T. goal acronym to test the robustness of your goal, (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and to a Timeframe).

Then work out your Rocks, ie the tasks or milestones that need to be achieved by when.

Next, look to what Dr Fred Grosse calls “mooring lines” or another of my clients calls “pre-mortems”, where you identify the obstacles or things that could cause you not to achieve your goal.

Finally, identify solutions to mitigate the mooring lines. If you think about a post-mortem, investigators look to see what went wrong after the fact. With the mooring lines and pre-mortem, we are looking to see what could go wrong before the fact and prevent these as much as possible.

Here’s an example of a very common goal. Say you want to release some body weight.

Using the S.M.A.R.T. system:

Specific – release excess body weight

Measurable – 5kg

Attainable – yes

Realistic – yes

Timeframe – 3 months (depending on which dieting method you choose).

Rocks:

  1. Clean out the cupboard. Remove all junk food and chocolates and biscuits.
  2. Create a menu plan for your meals.
  3. Buy the appropriate food.
  4. Engage an accountability buddy, and so on.

Mooring Lines:

  1. It’s coming up to Christmas and party time. There’s lots of temptation.
  2. The accountability buddy doesn’t hold you accountable.

Solutions:

  1. Plan for the parties. Eat before you go. Know what you can eat at the party.
  2. Choose another accountability buddy, whom you trust to keep you on track.

Implement the plan. For some this is the hardest part. We plan, we mitigate the risks and then we just don’t put the plan into action.

Focus on the big rocks and follow the plan.

Let me know your goals, rocks, mooring lines and solutions.

What is it you want to achieve before the end of the year or for next year?

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

It’s All About Networking (WT638)

It’s All About Networking (WT638)

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by Shirley Dalton | 16 Sep, 2022 | Blog, Business

WT 638 It's All About Networking (WT638)

Since we’ve been back in Newcastle (after selling the motorhome), I’ve attended a number of networking events and have even been a guest speaker at some.

When I first started my business, I used to get teased by my colleagues. They would say that I would go to the opening of an envelope. Hahahaha, although I did attend a lot of networking events.

Networking is a great way to meet people and promote your business, however it helps if you know the etiquette for networking.

It’s not polite to thrust your business card in someone’s face. It’s not polite to harass guests to work with you. What does work is to go with an intention to be helpful to the people you meet.

How you show up at an event influences what people think of you and what they say about you. How you behave impacts on the impression people have of how you do business.

If you are consistent in your attendance and you find ways to help people, you’ll be rewarded with a great reputation and many many referrals, many of which you may receive years after you’ve been in touch with the referrer.

Just this week, I started working with another fabulous client. She was referred to me by a colleague that was in the same BNI group as me about 16 years ago. It has been over 3 years since I was in personal contact with the referrer and thankfully she reached out to me via Facebook so I was able to reconnect with her and thank her for the referral.

It’s all about networking. Networking in my opinion is about helping people. You might introduce someone and recommend another colleague. You could provide some resources that are helpful or you might just make someone feel comfortable.

I remember attending a luncheon for a Lifeline fundraising event. Marlena Jeffreys was the guest speaker. Marlena was the wife of the then Governor General. She told us of her experience attending Princess Mary’s wedding to Prince Fredrik in Denmark. She was teaching us how to network.

She said, “Look for the person who is standing by themselves and looks a little lost. Go and talk to them and make them feel comfortable.” As she was waiting in the reception area, she noticed a lady standing by herself, so she thought she would go over and introduce herself. “Hello, I’m Marlena Jeffreys from Australia”, she said. The lady smiled and bowed slightly and said, “And I’m the Queen of Norway.”

You don’t know whom you might meet at a networking function nor where it might lead. Thanks to the Lake Macquarie Women in Business Network, I’ve connected with some long time business pals and rekindled some great relationships.

It’s so good to attend a function and be able to smile, wave and hug with people you know. Your Community. We certainly missed this sense of belonging and familiarity whilst we travelled to places with people unknown.

It’s all about networking.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts

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