Let’s Talk About Accountability (WT771)

Let’s Talk About Accountability (WT771)

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WT 771 Let's Talk About Accountability 600x300

It always amazes me how themes seem to appear at different times.

The past month or so, the theme of Accountability has popped up enough times to be more than a coincidence.

As I prepared to present The 5 Pillars to Become an Effective Leader, I was reminded again and again to hold myself accountable.

One of the pillars is “Support for Success”.

If you look at all the successful leaders, sportspeople, politicians, business people, one thing they have in common is they haven’t gotten there alone.

Many have team members to help them, and the majority of them have coaches and mentors.

Why is that? It’s because a coach or mentor can do 4 things for you:

  1. Help you observe the blindspots and point out mistakes you’re not aware of
  2. Help you with strategy
  3. Provide you with quality questions to get you to think about things you’re not thinking about when you’re stuck, and
  4. Help keep you accountable.

One of my mentors recently brought up the subject of accountability as well.

I signed up for a 6 week challenge to help me get into action. To help me do the things I know I should be doing but could easily let myself off the hook.

As part of the challenge, each week we report on action taken. It’s there for all to see.

As my mentor put it, “Accountability equals Proof”.

That’s it. So simple.

Show me the proof.

If you said you were going to make 100 prospecting calls this week, show me your call record.

If you said you were going to walk 10km, show me some evidence.

It’s the act of showing our evidence that gets us to complete the task.

So this week, I invite you to reply with something you want to be held accountable for doing and then next week email the evidence.

Just knowing that someone is waiting to see the evidence can be motivation enough.

So, if you can’t keep yourself accountable, then seek some support for success.

Get yourself an Accountability Buddy, BUT it has to be someone whom you will allow to keep you accountable.

For example, I can say to Ross, “Don’t let me eat any chocolate this week.”

As he sees me heading for the chocolate, he will mention it. “You asked me to not let you eat chocolate.”
I smile, ignore him and continue opening the wrapper.

He will venture a second reminder, only to receive a glare in return.

He knows better than to offer a third time.

Why? Because we both know I haven’t really agreed for him to hold me accountable.

Interestingly though, if I engage a coach or mentor, then I’m absolutely giving them permission to hold me accountable and as such I hold myself accountable to do what I say I will.

How about you?

Are you able to hold yourself accountable or could you use an Accountability Buddy or Coach to help you achieve what you say you want?

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

The Way You Practise Is The Way You Perform (WT770)

The Way You Practise Is The Way You Perform (WT770)

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WT 770 How you practice is how you perform

I confess, up until recently I haven’t been someone who placed a great deal of importance on practise.

I’d put a bit of effort into something and then “wing” the rest of it, often with less than optimal results.

More recently I’ve gained a huge appreciation for practise and the reason for that is because I am understanding more about how our brains work.

Practising increases the traffic in our neural networks. The more traffic, the quicker we act and the quicker we learn.

I’ve been working with clients lately helping them to create new neural pathways, in other words, to rewire their brains.

At first, it is challenging when the neural pathway doesn’t exist. It’s like being asked to create a path in a jungle that is totally overgrown and all you have is a machete.

And bit by bit, you clear the trees and undergrowth until you forge a path and as many more people travel on the path, the path becomes much easier to use and eventually could become a highway.

So too with our brains. We need to create the neural pathways to be able to take action towards the things we want.

When we practise we are creating the path.

And, the way we practise is the way we perform.

For example, if I’m practising giving a presentation and I keep stopping and starting to change my words or because I forgot a sentence or decide to change a powerpoint slide, then that’s the way I will perform.

When you practise, practise the complete thing, not parts of it. Practise in smaller time frames and then increase the time.

As you practise the whole thing, you learn. You hear the words you say and they will get stored in your cellular memory.

This week I’m practising for a one hour presentation I’m giving next week called “The 5 Pillars To Become an Effective Leader”.

What are you practising for?

Regards Shirley

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

I Only Remember The Three (WT767)

I Only Remember The Three (WT767)

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WT 767 I only remember the three

Last week I presented two x 2 hour webinars, “Reset Your Mindset: 4 Steps to Change Your Thoughts and Change Your Life”.

It was the first time I had presented these webinars and I was quite nervous.

In the month leading up to the presentations I had to learn new software.

I practised and practised to give myself the best chance of success. As we discussed in the webinar, the more we do something the more myelin we produce around our neurons and the more myelin, the quicker the response & habit formation. (In fact, it can be the difference between your neuron firing 100 times faster or slower.)

After the second presentation was over I shared with Ross what I thought I could have done to improve.

Even though the feedback from attendees was very positive, I was critical of myself.

As I spoke, Ross listened and then when I finished he shared that he had heard an interview with Tom Brady, arguably the best NFL quarterback ever. Ross continued, “Brady has been in 10 Superbowl competitions, of which he was on the winning team for 7. When asked about his successes, Brady replied that he didn’t remember the 7 (wins), only the 3 (losses).”

I find this interesting that we often focus on what we don’t do or don’t achieve rather than what we do.

In our Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience participants have to keep a diary of compliments and criticisms (for want of more politically correct words) that they and others give to them over a 7 day period.

Overwhelmingly the feedback from participants is how often they are the ones who are doing the criticising and how often they do receive compliments and yet they don’t seem to take these on board.

So my point this week, and I’m listening too, is to focus on the 7, not the 3.

Try it for yourself this week.

Take a piece of paper or whatever electronic gadget you use and rule up two columns. Write two headings:

  1. Compliments/Appreciation
  2. Criticisms/Negative Thoughts

Be alert to comments that you get from others and also your thoughts.  Every time you identify a compliment or positive thought make a note in that column. Similarly, every time you receive criticism or have a negative thought about yourself, enter a point in that column.

At the end of week take a look at the number of comments and/or thoughts you have received.

 

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

Why Save It? (WT765)

Why Save It? (WT765)

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WT 765 Why save it

What do you do when you receive a gift?

Do you save it or spend it or start using it straight away?

Ross and I have different strategies.

Ross is a saver.

I’m a spender/user.

For example, if we receive money for birthdays or Christmas or chocolates for Easter, I’ve spent, used or eaten mine within a week.

Ross still has his weeks and sometimes months later, (which I usually manage to share – Hahaha!)

It was the same when we both attended Weight Watchers years ago.

We had discretionary points to use over the week and mine were usually consumed within the first couple of days and Ross still had his at the end of the week.

Why am I asking you this and sharing?

Recently I was coaching one of my fabulous clients. We’ll call her Leanne.

Leanne is like Ross. She’s a saver.

She saves her coaching sessions until she feels she “really needs it”.

This week she came with a topic that she expected would take the full time to discuss and resolve.

To her surprise and delight, she resolved the issue within 10 minutes.

“I can’t tell you what a weight has lifted from my shoulders”, she said. “I feel so much lighter. I’ve been carrying that stress and anxiety and feeling of responsibility around with me for months.”

“Yes”, I replied. “You can be a bit tardy in using your coaching sessions.”

“I wished I’d addressed this months ago. I could have been so much more productive”, she continued.

To my point: Why Save It?

If you have an issue or a challenge, it’s much better to address it earlier than later.

In this instance Leanne was able to use the remaining time to resolve another issue.

By addressing issues and challenges as they occur, you can save yourself months of stress, anxiety, anger or resentment or any other negative feelings you may experience.

In relation to a coaching session (or other areas of your life), Why Save It?

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

In Perfect Time (WT763)

In Perfect Time (WT763)

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WT 763 In perfect time

Do you get yourself in a tizzy when things don’t go according to plan?

Are you a bit of a control freak; wanting things to be done the way you want them done, when you want them done?

I used to be like that.

I’ve mellowed over the years. I’ve come to realise and accept that things happen In Perfect Time.

Last week our air conditioner stopped working.

We called a few people. One person had a look at it and said, “That’s a warranty job. I can fix it, but it will cost you thousands because I am not an authorised warranty repairer.”

He told us who to contact, which proved challenging because we couldn’t speak to a person. Ross spent 90 minutes typing via a Chat Bot.

The Chat Bot would pass on the particulars.

Ross asked for the next steps and when these would happen, to which the Chat Box replied, “We’ll let you know.”

A week passed.

The temperature and humidity increased.

We were getting testy.

Ross followed up again with the Chat Bot.

Success! He was given a case number and the name and contact details of the authorised repairer – a real person.

To cut a long story short, the repairer came to inspect. “Yes, it’s a warranty issue. I’ve ordered the parts but don’t hold your breath. They are taking a lot longer than you might expect to get the parts.”

Not exactly the news we wanted to hear.

I sighed, smiled and thanked him.

I’ve learned that everything happens In Perfect Time.

If I get upset, it’s only me who is suffering.  Being anxious, angry or stressed only puts me in the Primal State (sympathetic nervous system) and in this state I cannot be resourceful.

It will get fixed when it gets fixed.

There is nothing I can do about it at the moment.

If you find yourself in a situation that isn’t going how you want, please consider surrendering. You’ll feel a lot better, and the irony is, that when you feel better, you’re more in tune with universal energy and as a result, things often start going your way a lot quicker.

Everything happens In Perfect Time.

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

You’ll Get Used To It (WT762)

You’ll Get Used To It (WT762)

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WT 762 You'll get used to it

It’s a sad fact that a lot of people do not like change, even though most of the time, change can be positive.

This week, I’m going to share my understanding of how the brain works and how we can hack the system to speed up learning and change habits.

First, a disclaimer. I am not a neuroscientist, so my understanding may not be 100% textbook correct.

This week I bought a new computer and 2 new monitors and what feels like a very large keyboard.

For the past 6 years I’ve been working with a HP laptop.

I bought the new computer and monitors to make it easier to present my webinars and group coaching.

Anyway, I struggled to find the keys on the keyboard. It’s not what I’m used to. I’m a touch typist, having learnt to type on typewriters when I was 14, so I know where the keys are, but the format is different.

I asked myself, “How can I speed up the process of learning and getting used to my new equipment?”

I remembered some training around this from Benjamin J. Harvey at Authentic Education.

According to Harvey, “Your habitual behaviours are nothing other than actualised neural networks. If you want to change your habits you must first seek to change the way your neurons are wired together. Think of it like a series of roads inside your mind. If you want to end up in a different location you must take different roads to get there.”

The weakest points in the roads are where one habit finishes and another starts. This is important to know because it’s at this junction that we can insert a new habit or behaviour.

When we practise or repeat actions over and over, cells called “Oligodendrocytes” start to wrap axons with myelin. The myelin sheath insulates the axon so the electrical impulses can travel faster with less effort (wiring the brain).

Here’s an example. Say you want to start adding “sit ups” to your morning routine. Your current routine includes:

  • waking
  • going to the bathroom
  • cleaning your teeth, and
  • making a coffee.

You’d like to do your sit ups after you clean your teeth, before you make your coffee.

The way to activate your oligodendrocytes to start adding myelin to the new neural pathway is to practise adding the sit up after you put your toothbrush away (the end of cleaning your teeth habit).

Now, here’s the interesting point. You DON’T have to wait for the next morning to get started.  

The hack to the system is to practise over and over in one to three sessions to master the new habit or learning. This is known as “Deliberate Practice”.

In your practise session, you’re going to practise putting the toothbrush away, then practise doing ONE sit up, then practise walking to the kitchen and pretend to make your coffee.

Rinse and repeat. Do it again and again and again.  

Continue practising these three things over and over and over for about 20-30 minutes or more. This rapidly increases the myelination of the axon, which effectively rewires your brain, so when morning comes, guess what you want to do after you’ve put your toothbrush away.

This is an amazing hack for creating new habits.

I’ve been sitting at my new computer and practising using the keyboard. I’ve been getting used to it.

Harvey says, Practise makes myelin, and myelin makes perfect”.

Your mission this week is to set aside some time to practise your new habit.

Let me know how you go.

P.S.  Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

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