Collaboration raises the bar for the human race
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Gordon Brown has announced the election date for the UK and the campaigning begins in earnest.
What I am most disappointed in is the apparent lack of willingness of politicians to work together to find creative solutions.
When the politicians debate in parliament on major issues, there appears to be more focus on shouting and jeering at each other and scoring points. It’s an ego-driven, testosterone filled environment that seems to be more focussed on making the opposition party look stupid and themselves look better. Read More→
Stop being a busy clown and start being a leader
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Your ego likes you to be busy. It believes it makes you look and feel important. Like the conversation at the office:
“How are you?” says x.
“Really busy!” says y.
Y could be almost anyone. It’s such a regular response that it becomes meaningless. We’re competing over how busy we are.
When did being busy become a measure of success or value? No wonder the workplace is full of people who are stressed out and over-worked.
Your ego likes this. Your ego feeds on being the best. The busiest. Your ego believes that being busy is the same thing as being successful.
It is not.
How minor things can make a big difference
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I sometimes think that if I want to make a difference in the world, it needs to be a big thing. I can sometimes get stuck because my ideas are either too big and scary or seem too trivial.
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?
Releasing the fears that bind us
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Fear constrains us and holds us back in life.
You only need to watch a rabbit in headlights to know how fear can sometimes cause us to do things that don’t serve us.
Fear paralyses us. It makes us play small. It makes us show up inauthentically. It makes us say and do things that we don’t really mean.
Our fears bind us so tightly that we often dare not admit them even to ourselves. We even convince ourselves that we are not afraid. We convince ourselves that we don’t have a choice… even though we always do.
Fear keeps us doing the same job even when we don’t enjoy it. Read More→
Setting boundaries to meet your needs
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I remember being asked some time ago what my boundaries were. I wasn’t even sure I understood the question. I realised that I didn’t have boundaries.
There was virtually nothing that I would say No to. If I was asked to work longer hours, I did. If I was given some awful challenging project that nobody else wanted to do, I did it. I put myself out to please others. And that surprises me because I’m normally someone who speaks their mind.
So when I was confronted for the first time with this question, it seemed rather strange. You mean… I get to choose what I want? What about the impact of saying no? What if I lost my job because I said no? What if I didn’t get the next payrise or promotion? Read More→