In reality, the small things we do actually are the big things… in terms of having an impact.

For example, I visit  a local residential home for the elderly with my dog Gracie as part of the Pets as Therapy charity. We’ve only been a few times and already the residents recognise us when we arrive and everyone’s faces light up. It’s really heart-warming and I realise that an hour and a half of my time every two weeks is making a huge difference to people’s lives. People are opening up, smiling, feeling loved, having physical contact.

This is a big deal. A tiny thing to do and a big impact.

And it got me thinking about all the other seemingly minor things I could be doing or already am doing that have a bigger impact than I realise.

What minor things are you putting off that could have an impact?

What minor things are you already doing that have a major impact?

We can sometimes get caught up in the next big thing. We think that to make a difference, we have to do something huge. The fact is that all over the world, people are making a difference, in many ways, some big, some small.

So it’s time to reach out, to connect with others, to start making a difference in any way you know how. You have talents and skills that are desperately needed. How will you use them?

Putting it into practice

1. Consider what you stand for. What 3 words sum up what you want for you and for the world?
2. Find small ways to bring more of those things into your life.
3. Notice the impact those things have and celebrate your magnificence.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

How minor things can make a big difference

Related posts:

1. Making a difference

Sadness…

Sadness because at great expense, global leaders came together to discuss a really important topic, something that is pivotal to society and our future and they failed to come to a satisfactory agreement.

Sadness because I watched countries pointing the finger at each other, trying to find someone to blame for the poor deal.

Sadness that this situation is replicated all over the world in governments and businesses. We look to the executive leadership teams to decide what we need to do and agree on the road we need to follow. We expect them to have all the answers to things that are beyond anything we have seen before, the answers to complex issues. Everyone has a different point of view, a different way of doing things, different agendas. Everyone blames everyone else. It seems an impossible situation.

…and hope

Hope that Copenhagen raised an important topic to the height of not just the political and social agenda but raised awareness of it to the masses. For more than two weeks, climate change has been the major topic of conversation. That can only be a good thing. It means that we care.  That we are starting to wake up to needing to look after the planet we live on. And in raising awareness, we become more conscious of the choices we are making on a daily basis.

Hope that people are starting to realise that every one of us must play a part. Instead of sitting around waiting for the global leaders to decide what we must do, every one of us  has a responsibility to look after the planet we live on, to preserve it for future generations. To personally reduce our waste, our pollution, our energy use.

Hope that our attention will go way beyond anything that was being discussed in Copenhagen. I believe that every one of us has a responsibility to live ethically and sustainably and in harmony…. with our own selves, with each other and with the planet. This is a really important point. That we live with compassion for ourselves, for each other and for the planet.

Taking action

One of the common complaints I hear in corporations is that people are expecting  the executive leadership team to do something to make their lives better.  We sit around and blame someone else, we wait for someone “at the top” to sort things out for us. Well, it’s time to start acting. It’s up to each of us to do our bit. To say no to things that are unjust, unethical and unsustainable. When we agree to do things that are not congruent with what we believe in, we are lacking integrity, we are colluding with the system.

Where are you colluding with the system?

How can you take responsibility and start taking action?

Of course, I’m not letting governments and executive leadership teams off the hook either. This is a joint responsbility, where every one of us can be a leader in every thing we do. So like the Greenpeace advert in the photo above…. don’t be a politician. Be a leader.

Putting it into practice

1. Consider an issue that you want resolved by “someone at the top”.
2. What small thing can you do to improve the situation?
3. Take action today.

Politicians talk… leaders act. Be a leader. Act today.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Taking personal responsibility for action

No related posts.

I don’t know where to start. I don’t know where it will lead. I don’t know if people will get it. There are more things I don’t know about it than concrete things that I am sure of.

In the past, in my corporate job, I’ve taken on new roles that were not clearly defined and I found a way to make things work, even when I was not sure how to at the beginning. It’s what I’ve spent my whole career doing.

And yet somehow, this is different. This has more meaning to me (and I believe to the world around me) than anything I’ve ever done before. This is something that will enhance the wellbeing of others, that will connect people with their own true nature as well as the nature of others and the natural world. It’s no longer about doing a job for a payrise or a promotion. It’s about doing something meaningful, aligned with my life purpose for the sake of making an impact on the world. Something that is created from my heart and soul.

So it is with some trepidation that I spring into action. When I say “spring”, It’s more of a nudging gently forward and dipping my toe in than diving in. For a long time, I’ve been considering what I need to do and actually, I’m not getting any nearer. So last week, I started talking to people about my idea and I realised that there is even more appetite for it than I could have dreamed of. Each person I speak to has different ideas that build on the last and I am creating from everyone I speak to. Creating from others.

Suddenly, I realise I am not alone with this. Whilst it was initially my idea, everyone I speak to adds a different perspective. Everyone builds on the last conversation and already just by talking about it, it’s evolving into something different from my first thought. I realise that I am surrounded by wisdom. I know people who know people who can help me get started with this. The more I reach out and ask for help, the more people come my way and offer support, in a variety of ways. The world is full of wisdom. I just need to ask and listen for the answer.

This morning I had a long skype call with a wonderful friend (hello Steven) who is opening his heart to the world. He is allowing himself to go wherever his heart takes him. That’s a bold thing to do. He knows that his ideas are meaningful. I know it too. He doesn’t yet know what it will look like when it comes to fruition.  But he trusts that the answers will come to him when he opens his heart and truly listens to the wisdom in the world. And he is doing just that. That’s inspirational.

The more we spoke, the more we added to each other’s ideas, building and building, creating something better than either of us could do alone. I know we will work together soon. I don’t need to know how.  I just need to trust that we will. When the time is ready. When we are ready. And I’m opening and expanding to the possibilities of what that might be and what it might look like.

So I’m letting go of needing to have any answers. I can create the answers from the questions around me, from the perspectives and ideas that others have. We are all in it together, creating from each other. We are never alone.

What can you create from others?

What are the possibilities when you open up and expand yourself?

Putting it into practice

1. Consider where you want to make changes.. either in your own life, your work or an impact that you want to have on the world.
2. Start opening the dialogue with everyone around you. Open up to the possibilities.
3. Let go of needing to know what it will look like or how you will achieve it. Consider where you are holding yourself back.
4. Take one step towards it. Have fun. Create from others.
5. Let me know how you get on by posting your comments below.

Much love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Creating from others – why you don’t need all the answers

Related posts:

1. Creating powerful relationships and magic
2. Is the energy you put out creating the impact you want?

As leaders, our physical, emotional and spiritual health is essential to enable us to have the stamina to lead in often challenging environments and situations.

The thing is… I’m low on energy at the moment. I believe that we are what we eat so I know that my low energy is down to what I am putting into my body. I normally eat a healthy diet and drink lots of water. For some reason, I’ve allowed my normal habits to slip in the last few months.

Telling on myself

I’m telling on myself as a first step to get back on track:

1. I’m drinking too much caffeine
2. I’m not drinking enough water
3. I’m eating too much bread which causes erratic sugar levels
4. I’m eating a lot of chocolate and cakes, further exacerbating my sugar craving
5. I’m not eating 5 portions of fruit and veg a day
6. When my husband is away, I’m not cooking properly for myself (hello Paul, yes, I can see your eyes rolling in despair!)
7. I’m eating more processed food than normal (I normally only eat freshly prepared food)

So what has gone wrong? These are all bad habits that I have a tendency to slip in and out of periodically. For some reason, I’ve allowed them all to slip at the same time. and for longer than usual so that they have become the norm.  By allowing these bad habits to take over, my energy levels have slipped and I’m lacking the energy to make the effort to plan and prepare healthy meals.

So I’m telling on myself because by making it public and writing it down, I’m accepting this it’s not ok. I’m accepting that I have bad habits that I’m not proud of, that I  am being lazy, that I am making looking after myself more difficult than it needs to be.

Getting back on track

The thing is that now I’ve accepted it, it seems like a mammoth task to get back on track. There are so many bad habits to let go of. So I’m going to make it easy and start with one step at a time. This morning, I had porridge with banana instead of toast. That’s a start. It seems a small step and it is. Deliberately. Because I know that that is a habit I can keep up for the rest of the week. And next week, I can focus on cutting out another bad habit.

So in 6 weeks, I should be back on track. Of course, I’d like to think I can get back on track in 2 days… and I’m realistic. I know that if I set my expectations too high, I set myself up to fail. So instead, I’m making it easy and taking one small step at a time.

You see, I realise that adopting bad habits is quick and easy and they have become the norm. When I think about it, it’s been a steady decline of unhealthy eating over the last 2-3 months. And letting go of each bad habit will take a similar amount of time if I am to stick with it long term. If I take it slowly, I can make it easy to let them go and in 6 weeks, I can be back on my normal healthy diet again.

What bad habits have you adopted either as a leader or in your personal life?

What will it take to get you back on track?

Putting it into practice

1. Consider an area in your life where you have allowed bad habits to creep in. It might be food, exercise or at work.
2. Identify the 5-6 bad habits.
3. Choose the easiest one to change and do it for a week. Then in week 2, choose an additional habit to overturn and so on until you are back on track.
4. Post your comments below and let me know how you are making changes for the better.

Letting go of bad habits can be difficult… or we can make it easy. What will you choose?

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Letting go of bad habits one step at a time

No related posts.

It can provide clarity and focus on what you want to achieve as well as who you want to be in the world.

I created one which helps me connect with the essence of me, who I am, what I stand for, my role as a leader in the world. It defines who I am being as much as it defines what I want to do. 

It’s a representation of my core values – freedom, love, connection and playfulness. It has a strong outdoor, natural feel to it and a connection with the diverse world we live in.

When I look at it, I can’t help but smile. I feel so connected to what I want in my life, the experiences I want to have and who I want to be in the world. It reminds me of who I really am.

I’ve put it on the wall in my home office where I can look at it at the beginning of every day ands it really helps inspire me on my way.

What are the benefits of creating a vision board?

You may be thinking you’re too busy to do it, you’ll do it another day, you don’t see the point, you’re not sure what to do it on, etc etc. The thing is…  if you want to be really fulfilled in your life, then you need to know what that looks like and you need to start making it happen.

Here are my 9 reasons why you should create a vision board:

1. It enables you to connect to the essence of who you are and what you stand for
2. It can be an inspiration for the choices you make and enable you to make decisions from your heart and soul, rather than your head. You can connect with what you really want rather than what you think you should do or believe is the best thing to do.
3. It enables you to tap into your creativity to design your life how you want it to be
4. It can increase the clarity around what you want in your life
5. It can be an inspiration to keep going under adversity
6. It can help break a bad mood or lift your spirits
7. It enables you to see when you are disconnected from your true self and being driven by external factors or the ego
8. It can help you reconnect and refocus to your goals and dreams, as well as who you are at your core
9. If you have a life purpose statement, you can align the vision board with your life purpose statement to increase your clarity and deepen your focus

You can also use a vision board to help you gain clarity and focus on something more specific, e.g. your next house, a book you want to write, a new business idea, etc.

Putting it into practice:

1. Find 2-3 magazines on different topics that you find interesting and some photos of your past and present that inspire you.  Let go of needing them to make sense at this stage. Don’t try to figure it out. Just pick the things that you resonate with.
2. Then go through each magazine/photo and cut out the pictures and words or phrases that inspire you. Consider what each picture represents in your life or your chosen topic.  What’s the emotion that it invokes? Get really focused on this and shut out all other thoughts from your mind as you do it.
3. Stick your chosen pictures and words on a sheet of paper or card approx. 60cm x 45 cm or bigger if you wish. You can also add drawings or paint or a pictorial representation of a song that has meaning for you. Let your creativity run riot.
4. Pin it on your wall and look at it every day. Or you could take a photo of it and use it as a screensaver or background to your desktop.

So if you don’t already have one, start today. And if you do already have one, review it today. Does it still represent who you are and what you want? Make the most of this precious life.  It’s yours to design however you want it.

Remember, you get out what you put in. Make it worth your while.

Please let me and other readers know how you get on by posting your comments below.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

9 reasons why you should create a vision board

Related posts:

1. 11 reasons why you should ask for help

Most of the activities I do in the week and at weekends are driven around my routine. It feels comfortable. I can be sure they will happen.

I realise that I can easily keep with my routine and forget to make time to enjoy small special moments.  It’s a choice.  A choice to do things that I enjoy but perhaps have not done for a while. A choice I sometimes forget to make.

I’m missing out on the variety of life when I live only according to a routine.

What are you missing out on by following the same routine every day?

When was the last time you surprised yourself and others?

My cat sat on my knee yesterday for 30 minutes. It was a surprise. He’s an outdoor cat and has never sat on my knee before. His normal routine is to go out at 7.30am and come home at 10pm. He surprised me and he surprised himself.

My immediate reaction was to push him off as I had things to do. Instead, I recognised it as a rare moment and sat quietly with him and my own thoughts. I enjoyed it and he had the biggest smile on his face. We both benefited because he broke from his routine and did something surprising.

And I realise that doing something surprising doesn’t have to be big. It can be a small thing. And yet, the impact is greater than I could ever imagine.

What happens when you do something surprising?

Putting it into practice

1. Do something surprising or different every day for a week. Surprise yourself and surprise someone else. Here are some ideas: Change what you have for breakfast, do exercise at a different time of day, listen to different music, listen to a different radio station, wear a colour you don’t normally wear, hug someone, laugh more, tell a joke, cry, play a game with family or friends, paint a picture, make a birthday card for a friend, do your chores on different days, ring an old friend for a chat, leave a note for a loved one, buy them flowers or chocolate or a small gift, go to the cinema, take up a new sport, read a book, sing a song every morning before work, sing in the car, do air guitar to your favourite music, dance.
2. What is different?
3. Share your ideas on how to change your routine by posting your comments below.

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Break from your routine and do something surprising

No related posts.

More recently, I’ve been asking for help a lot. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and asked a surprising number of people for help in surprising circumstances.

What I found as I asked for help was that people really want to help and are delighted to be given the chance. Even with strangers or people I don’t know very well, people genuinely want to contribute, they want to share their experience, they want to add value where they can.

Here are my 11 reasons to ask for help: 

1. Intimacy and connection – When you ask for help, people see who you are, what you stand for, what’s important to you and where you get stuck. You become seen and known and that builds intimacy and connection.
2. Trust - When you put your trust in the person helping you, they are more willing to trust you too. It becomes reciprocal.
3. Improved relationships – Relationships improve because they are built on trust. People are more likely to invole you in future decisions that they make.
4. Receiving - Giving is only really of value when you know what it is like to receive as well. See another article on Giving and receiving. Asking for help provides an opportunity for you to receive graciously.
5. Giving - When you receive, you are giving someone else the opportunity to provide support and give something to you. Other people want to give too and they get to share their talents and experience when you ask them for help.
6. Feeling included – One of the primary motivators for teams is to feel included in the decision-making. When you ask them for help, they feel part of the process and are more committed to the end result.
7. Vulnerability - Asking for help shows your vulnerability. Being vulnerable is powerful. It’s authentic, it’s compelling, it builds trust, it shows you are human.
8. More available time – It enables you to let go of needing to do everything yourself and this allows you to have more time for other things.
9. Speed - Asking for help can speed up the task because someone else can bring their experience to the table.
10. Quality - You get a better result because you are blending together different viewpoints and additional experience.
11. Love - When you ask for help, you are letting other people in to your heart. They help because they want to, because they love you. See a previous article on Putting love back into business

At first, asking for help can be uncomfortable if it’s not your normal style. It’s a bit like building a muscle… the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Putting it into practice

1. Try letting go of needing to look good and be on top of everything.
2. Ask a friend for help at least once this week. What is the impact on your relationship?
3. Ask for help at work – from your peers, your team, your boss. What is the impact on your relationship?
4. Where do you resist asking for help? What is the impact?
5. Share the benefits you get from asking for help by posting your ideas in the comments below.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

11 reasons why you should ask for help

Related posts:

1. 9 reasons why you should create a vision board

If I had stepped back and thought about it, I would not have done it. It would have seemed like hard work. I would have been worried that my back was not strong enough to do it. I would have realised that I was busy on Tues and didn’t have time to finish it. I would have concentrated on doing some work instead. I would have had 101 reasons not to do it.

I didn’t. I let go of having to plan everything meticulously and allowed it to be chaos. Oh and fun.

Having no plan

Since I had not planned it, I didn’t have the materials to do the job. First stop, DIY store to buy some paint and a roller. I painted one wall and the colour was wrong. I went back to the DIY store and bought some more paint.

On Tues, I was busy with work commitments so I didn’t have time to finish the job. Furniture and paint paraphenalia everywhere. Oh well.

On Weds morning, Paul and I decided we didn’t like paint #2 so I went back to the DIY store (we’re now on first name terms I’ve been there so many times in 3 days) and bought paint #3.

A panting dog, a mad cat and a painted vole

I worked like a trouper. Dennis my cat decided to help. He chased imaginary mice under the dust sheets. I had to keep coming down the ladder to rearrange them. Then he started to attack my bare feet. I managed not to spill any paint.

It has been hot and a storm has been brewing all day. Gracie my dog decided it was all too stressful (the painting and the storm) and spent the day following me around and panting on the back of my legs. I got hotter and hotter.

Dennis went out and came back with a vole. It was live. He let go of it in the lounge. I leapt back up the ladder as I had bare feet. Paul appeared, lifted the sofa a couple of times to let the vole out, Dennis went underneath, Paul shouted for me to come down the ladder and move Dennis from underneath the sofa so he could put the sofa down.

My back is aching by now. I’m wondering if the cost of the osteopathy that I now need is actually going to be more expensive than hiring a decorator.

Paul decides to leave me to it.

I carry on painting. Gracie carries on panting. Dennis carries on chasing the vole round the lounge. The vole walks through some wet paint on the dust sheet and spreads it round the lounge. I run around with a glass vase trying to catch it. It’s not easy to dodge around furniture, stepladders, paint cans and dust sheets, hotly pursued by an over-excited cat and a panting dog.

I finally catch the vole and put it outside in the fields. It has a nice stone colour on its feet.

Finally the job is done. Gracie collapses in a heap on a dust sheet and gets covered in paint.

Paul says: “Good job of the lounge but did you have to paint the dog, the cat and a vole as well?”

Time to reflect

I sit and reflect on the last few days. There was no plan so nothing could go off schedule. Interesting. No plan. No deadline. No pressure.  I handled every challenge that came my way. No problem. I made it easy and fun.

If I’d stopped to think, I might not have got started. Sometimes it’s best just to get on with it and handle every situation as it arises.

What stops you getting started?

How we respond to situations is up to us. We get to choose. We can make our lives easy and fun or we can see them as hard work and stressful. I had some challenges. I chose to see them as fun.

What is it like when you make your life easy and fun?

Putting it into practice

1. Make your life easy and fun this week.
2. Every time you find yourself in a difficult situation, consider how you can make it easy and fun.
3. Notice the impact on you and those around you.
4. Have an easy and fun week and let me know how you do by posting your comments below.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Creating fun from chaos

No related posts.

We have a tendency to focus on the problem when what we really want is a solution. Sometimes, the problem can become so overpowering that it consumes all of our energy and there is no time and energy left for actually creating the solution.

What happens when you focus your attention on the way you want your job to be instead of on what you don’t like about it?

What is possible when you change your approach to your job?

Here are my 5 top tips to love the job you hate:

1. Love the team – We all find some people easier to work with than others. Consider the people you don’t get on with as easily. Try loving them as human beings. Understand what motivates them, what they value in life and in work. Understand their goals and objectives. How do they differ from yours? How can you meet the needs of both? When we love each other as human beings, it becomes easier to connect and easier to collaborate because we treat each other with respect. Ask them what they want and what would make their life easier. Very few people come to work to do a bad job. Consider what is driving them and help them meet their needs. Putting love back into business explores this further.

2. State your needs – What is important to you? Which of your personal values are not being met? How well does the team understand you? Tell them what is important to you. Be open and honest and that starts with yourself. Be willing to accept your mistakes and ask for help when you need it. Encourage the team to do the same. The more we understand our differences, the more we can accept them and work with them.

3. Be your authentic self – Many people say they are very different at home compared to how they behave at work. When we are playing different roles like this, we are not being fully authentic. We are acting and playing a role. If you were to behave at work in the same way as you behave at home, what might your impact be? Which one is the real you?

4. Turn up your strengths – Consider where you excel. How can you do this even more? e.g. if one of your traits is to be enthusiastic, try being enthusiastic in a situation that normally drags you down. What is the impact on you and the team?

5. Focus on the things you can do – Where can you improve your job? What can you delegate? Do the things you don’t like doing first each day so that you reduce the amount of time spent prevaricating over them. Review your workload on a sweekly and monthly basis. Where are you focussing your energy? Where would you like to focus your energy? Conisder what needs to be dropped in order to do the things you really want to. Be willing to say no to them. Be willing to say No to others.

Take responsibility for your actions. You have the ability to drag yourself down or free yourself up. What will you choose?

Let me know what works for you.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

5 ways to love the job you hate

Related posts:

1. Putting love back into business