The Slow Movement

Some of you may be aware of the Slow Food Movement that started to counter the environment of Fast Food.  This is just one component of a larger Slow Movement.  As part of the Slow Movement, there is Slow Food, Slow Travel, Slow Design, and many other Slow Life initiatives.

Have you ever considered Slow?  How could Slow be good for you?  What part of your Fast Life needs an injection of Slow?  These are good questions for everyone to ask themselves.  These questions can open up interesting conversations and interesting opportunites.

Consider your work too.  What about Slow Client Relationships?  What about Slow Growth planning?  What impact would it have on our business world?

So take a moment to consider Slow.

Smart Kids or Successful Kids

Are smart kids successful kids?  No. Not always.

If you want your kids to be more successful do you need to help them be smarter?  No. Research suggests that whether your kids are smart or not, you should not focus on how smart they are but on the effort they put into their work.  If you overemphasis their intellect and it’s ability to make them successful, they are more likely to be vulnerable to failure, adverse to challenge and lose interest in learning.

Certainly some positive feedback on their “smarts” is okay.  But, the bulk of the feedback they receive should be around the great effort they put in and how their persistence helped them.  Getting them excited about learning new things in a “play” sort of way is amazingly powerful.

This is great information for those of you who are parents but there’s more to this.  You may already be thinking, “Hey, this sounds like it could apply to me too!”  Yes, adults, too, often put too much emphasis on IQ and intellect.  They don’t value the multiple types of intelligence there are and they don’t value the persistence of strategy and action that help to create success.  If you want to reinforce one of your own behaviours, focus on when you’ve stuck to your plan and it’s paid off.

Valuable lessons, whether in school or out of school.

Be Happy Or Else

Research and reporting on happiness is everywhere. One article I read recently discusses the elusiveness of happiness. There was a discussion about nature versus nurture - are you born happy or can you become happy. As with many arguments, the research still suggests that you are born with a level natural happiness that you can alter throughout your life.

One interesting point which was being made was the issue of goals on one’s happiness. The argument was that people who strongly “link” their happiness with goals achieved can be quite disappointed when their goals don’t materialize. Strong “linkers” like this tend to be on average less happy because generally we have many trial attempts at success before we get it right and this just leads them to strong disappoint a lot of the time. I found this interesting because people often talk about goals when they talk about success. In my speaking programs and workshops, goals always come up as a measure of success. So, reading that goals can be a negative got my attention. The truth is that the argument makes sense. We have to have goals defined in our lives and businesses in one form or another. The problem is when we attach happiness directly and only with goals. And, of course, any discussion of happiness including “getting” more stuff or more money is absolutely not true. Much research has shown the emptiness of that argument and we know that when we stop and think about it.

So, be careful if you are obsessively focused on goals and goals alone. You might want to stop and take inventory if you are in this situation.

Blink

Finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink a while ago. It was a good read and helped to reinforce some interesting points on an interesting subject. The subject is rapid cognition. The book is all about how we can make rapid decisions that are quite accurate in certain circumstances. The book is not about intuition or making emotional split-second decisions. Although there is a place for these emotional decisions, I really enjoyed the fact that he looked at the cognitive side of split-second decision making. It’s an area that’s not really been looked at a lot and I think that is why the book has done so well.

One point that he makes in the book is that for small uncomplicated situations it can actually make sense to go through a normal decision making process. But, for complicated decisions in areas that you have a familiarity, rapid almost unconscious decisions are often the best way to go. This is a powerful rule of thumb for people to use in their day-to-day lives.

Finally, Blink also brings up an interesting side issue that he didn’t talk about in the book. Time. Or, more appropriately, wasted time. People can waste a lot of time by over-analyzing a situation, especially a complicated one. In the book, he talks about examples where people “lost” in some manner or another when they overanalyzed a situation, but he doesn’t go into the additional factors of lost time and the additional stress incurred.

Something to think about the next time you Blink.

Change - What Version Do You Want?

I had a simple concept illuminated for me in a workshop that I attend a couple of months ago.  I was listening to the moderators talking about change and how we can implement change to make it easier on teams and individuals.

What struck me as I was listening to them was the fact that there are two types of change - Change - Addition and Change - Replacement.  Often we think of change as Change - Replacement.  This is the kind of change that causes people to be upset and resist change.  But, there is Change - Addition.  This type of change is profound because when you add something to a person’s world they are more likely to accept it and be able to use it immediately.  Over time the old way of doing something or the old item becomes obsolete and naturally disappears.  This is especially true the more that the change makes sense and is appropriate.

For me, the moral of the story is we should try when possible to create change that is seen as an addition to what they have available to them.  The degree of success is much higher and in some cases it may make more sense to have more options for a period of time. 

Franklin & the Art of Team Building

I have 3 children and as part of my world, I get to watch a lot of children’s television.  Now, some of it is awful but much of it is very good.  Often there is a moral or a learning point.  And, yes, these learning points are pretty basic but everyone needs to keep hearing them over and over, kids and adults alike.

So, I was watching a show called Franklin (with my kids :-).  The show is about Franklin a turtle and this story revolves around Franklin’s soccer team (football for most of the world).  It seems that they just couldn’t even score let alone win a game.  This was obviously very frustrating for Franklin and his friends.

Does any of this ring a bell for you?  It does with many teams I know.

At one point after the game the ball was coming at Franklin and he head butted the ball.  His friend Bear was very impressed and I guess that knock on the head was just enough to give Franklin an idea. 

Again, sometimes we just need to give our heads a shake. 

His idea was that they weren’t using their strengths.  Franklin was good at head butts, Rabbit was really fast with great big feet for kicking, Goose was awesome but only at stopping balls with her wings, and Beaver had a great tail for passing the ball.

When they all played their natural positions and emphasized their strengths, they came together as a team.  Rabbit was a forward up front.  Goose played goalkeeper.  And, Franklin and Beaver played mid-field.

Did they win the next game?  No but they did score goals and more importantly they felt like a team and knew they were now working like a team. 

There’s a lot of wisdom in their for the teams that we are a part of day-to-day, whether they be work teams, volunteer teams, sports teams, etc.  So, go find out what position you play best and have fun!

Life List or Bucket List

Everyone should have a life list.  And now, with things like The Bucket List movie and articles on Life Lists, more people are using Life Lists to help them dream and scheme their perfect life.

Life Lists are one thing that I use to help my coaching clients.  It is a simple tool but highly effective. 

To celebrate the New Year and the launch of The Bucket List, I have a Life List Template here for you to use.  Please enjoy it.  Send others to pick up their copy of the Life List Template.

Mindscape Life List Template

I would love to also have you list some of the items on your bucket or life list here.  So, please make a comment and join the conversation.

And, as always, please let us know of your success.

Who’s the Most Important Person on the Planet…

Ever have one of those days when you’re just way to stressed.  Or, maybe you’re working with someone who is just a little too uptight!  Maybe they’re just being a little too self-important.  Maybe that person is you!

Everyone from time to time loses perspective on what’s important and how important what it is that you’re doing is.

One phrase that I learned from a colleague’s husband that you can use either privately in your head or you can shout it out is:

“Hey, we’re not folding parachutes here!!”

It’s a great phrase and it can help you refocus and get some perspective.

I think I saw Toto fly by…

I live in the country on 27 acres.  Much of the land around our home is open and it can get quite windy from time to time.  And, we can also suffer from other elements of nature as well.  All this comes with the benefits of living where we are.

Recently, we’ve been having “interesting” weather as much of this part of the world has been getting.  We’ve received a LOT of snow.  Now it’s all melted and melting away.  The creeks on our property are overflowing and there are ponds where there shouldn’t be ponds.  We’ve also been having powerful wind.  The kind that makes you think of Dorothy and Toto from the Wizard of Oz.  We’ve lost a lot of shingles from our house will likely see some other damage as well.

All of this “weather” has culminated today in most of our area losing power.  Now, this is not something that we haven’t experienced before but it did get me thinking.  My boys and I were moving about the house getting candles out checking on the status of the sump pumps (or more importantly the rising water levels in them) and so on.

What struck me was how it wasn’t necessarily a big deal.  We don’t have every precaution in place and every scenario dealt with but we do have a handle on most eventualities.  And, what that gives us is control.  We’re in control.  We are mostly prepared and feel a sense of being able to handle the situation.

Aren’t our normal days like that as well.  When we are prepared and feel a sense of control we are much more likely to be able to move forward and enjoy ourselves and feel that we’re accomplishing something.  Even in a scenario like this where at the end of the day Mother Nature can largely take charge, we can feel a sense of control over the situation.

We got a call from our neighbours, who are just amazing people, asking us if we needed anything, if we had water, or if they could help in any way.  We were able to comfortably say.  Thank you, but we’re okay at this point.  And, we weren’t just being polite.  At that point, we were doing just fine and we were able to admit that things might change.

How are you in control?  How are you prepared, day to day? 

2008 - Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to All!!

It’s going to be another great year.

I’m going to invite you to write down what you are excited about, what your New Year’s Resolutions are going to be, or what you want to declare this “The Year Of…”.  Please feel free to add a comment below.

Declaring this to be “The Year Of…” something is a great way to give your year a focus.  Give it a try. 

If you are going to write down a resolution or two, consider writing the date the you are shooting to be complete by. 

And always feel free to send me an email.  info <at> mindscape.ca

All the Very Best to You,

Paul

Winter, Christmas, Holidays and Family

My family and I have been celebrating Christmas and the Holiday season over the past couple of days.  What a great time of year.  As my family and friends know, I am not a big fan of winter (I’m a child of the low latitudes and I find that I don’t get a chance to enjoy the positive side of winter).  But, this season is a wonderful time to do just that, enjoy winter.  More importantly, it offers the ability to regroup and focus on family.

If you are Christian and celebrating Christmas, then I wish you a Merry Christmas.  If you are celebrating a Holiday Season wherever you are in the world, then I wish you a great holiday.  Whether you celebrate other religious times throughout the year or not, I wish for all of us more time to focus on family.  However you define your family, whether they are blood relatives to you or not, these people are truly what makes us who we are.  And, it is wonderful celebrating them.

How have you been celebrating recently?

Surrounding Yourself With The Best…

Again, I’ve had a chance to surround myself with people I respect, I learn from and who challenge me.  I think we should always give ourselves the treat of this kind of experience.  It helps to re-focus me.  It illuminates what I am doing at that time and how it fits into the bigger picture.  And, most importantly, I get to spend some amazing time with wonderful people who help me become more of who I already am.

In this case, I experience this by attending the national convention of the organization I belong to for professional speakers (The Canadian Association of Professional Speakers).  Going to this convention is both a great learning experience but also a wonderful working vacation.  It is a vacation in so far as it is so much fun and I enjoy the learning experience.

What a great way to treat yourself to something that enriches you as well.  How do you surround yourself with the best?

Dressing Up…

Today, I gave a keynote as the last program of a 4 day event for a large national association.  The program went very well and it was a great time to connect with people who had questions on Simply World Class performance.  For me, that’s always one of the best parts of my work if not the best - connecting with individuals and helping them make a difference in their career, business or life.

At the end of the day, I was reminded of a truly wonderful aspect of people… we get dressed up from time-to-time.  At the end of the day was a large gala to celebrate their year.  At least, that is the excuse.  In many ways, it is truly just a great opportunity to celebrate in general and to have some fun.  And, because it is a “gala” everyone comes out in their finest dresswear.

Ladies came in a variety of evening wear, smart classy outfits or just with a little extra sparkle in some way.  The men came dressed to impress as well.  Everyone looked fabulous no matter what they were wearing.  And, I would suggest that everyone “felt” great.  People knew that they looked great.  There was by no means a competition for best dressed.  People just dressed up because they deserved it!

Let me repeat that… They deserved it.  Do people always believe that they deserve it, that they deserve to look and feel great.  Probably not anywhere near as much as we should.

It was a great night with great music, great food but most importantly great friends.  It was a time to celebrate and get a little dressed up.  I can’t wait for my next “dress-up” opportunity… next Saturday night at the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers national convention’s ball.  Here’s to deserving it.

When was the last time that you got dressed up?  Why don’t we get dressed up more often - either literally or figuratively.  We’re now entering the Christmas season in North America.  It’s time get out there and get a little dressed up… and don’t forget to have some fun too.

Mindset and Your Dentist

Every time I end up at my dentist’s office, I am reminded of a few things related to the work that I do.  One of the things that I’ve discovered that defines those people who are successful is the issue of control.  Everyone is more successful when they are in control.  When I’m coaching individuals, I will inevitably work with the individual around creating more control. 

 A visit to the dentist’s office is an interesting experiment in control.  It is one place in life where you relinquish direct control over yourself.  You start by waiting in the waiting room.  Simple enough but you are now subject to the time-lines of others.  Then, when you are brought to the examining room, many people have to enter into a conversation of defeat… where they were not as successful with their promises from the last time they visited.  But, the most significant issue of direct control that you give up is your personal space.  You will shortly be allowing someone who is an acquaintance to sit very close to you and put their fingers in your mouth!

I am sure that you will agree with me how you give up a certain amount of control and, in some ways, are subordinate to the dentist, nurse or hygienist.  Rest assured, however, that they too are giving up some control.  They are putting their fingers in your mouth and are trusting that you will not…. damage their fingers. 

So, a part from the obvious loss of control, what can a trip to the dentist teach us.  I think it’s a great playground for learning how we are going to react to a situation where we do not have complete control.  In other areas of life this is where you will be able to make great strides to even more success.

For me, I am truly lucky.  I have a great dentist and dental team.  I consider the visits to be a time to just sit back and relax.  Have I always done the best that I could have with flossing… maybe not.  But, I do realize that these individuals have my health care as their utmost concern.  That’s pretty cool.

And, regular trips to the dentist help create that external accountabililty that is so important for us to reach our goals - dental and otherwise.  And, good dentists know that.  But, alas, that’s a topic for another post.

Here’s to your health, in all ways!

Good News… Live Longer…

A dutch study suggests that optimism could help you live longer.  999 elderly Dutch people were followed and 9 years later death rates for optimistic men were 63% lower.  Optimistic women were 35% lower than their pessimistic counterparts.  The Dutch study tried to find causality by mapping optimism to healthy behaviours.

The end result is that as one might expect optimistic people lead healthier lifestyles and thus can live longer. 

The good news is that another study suggests that optimism can be learned.

As Spock would say, “Live Long and Prosper”

Procrastination - I’ll look into the problem later…

Reading some research on procrastination, I found a little bit of interesting information (surprisingly not as much as I would have liked). 

The material discussed procrastination as not being a state of laziness but rather of active mental diversion.  The area between our intentions and our actions.  20% of the population can actually lay claim to being a “procrastinator” while most of us just put off some things some of the time.

In either case, what can you do to be more action oriented?  One suggestion they gave was to record your patterns of procrastination.  This is the same as the act of Observe in my Performance Shift Model.  It will give you clues as to what is happening and why.  And, will allow you create a reasonable strategy for dealing with it.

They also suggest recognizing the problem is often frustration (interesting.)  Or sometimes boredom, uncertainty or guilt.  In these cases they suggest that you promise yourself to try to work at the task for 10 minutes and then decide if you want to continue.

Not a bad suggestion for a number of reasons but one thing that is rarely offered as a solution but I find works well both for myself and others I work with is to plan your procrastination.  Yes, that’s right.  If you really aren’t going to get started on something then celebrate it.  Say, “Okay, I’m going to procrastinate…. for another 1 hour, and then I’m going to start on this at exactly 2pm.”  This does a couple of things.  First, it gives you a break or treat first.  Instead of task then treat, it is treat then task.  Not perfect but if it works, great.

And, second, the planned procrastination allows you to not get caught up in the mental gymnastics that people do when they’re procrastination.  You don’t end up wasting as much time.  This is really really important. 

If you’re going to procrastinate, at least be effecient with your time. 

What things do you do to help with procrastination?

Value Investing…

One of my loves is investing and personal finance.  And, I’m presently reading a book that I’m really enjoying for a number of reasons.  First, it is offering me the opportunity to learn even more about investing (because there is always something else you can learn). 

But, what’s as important and less obvious is that it reinforces a couple of life and business truths.  The book is basically on the application of value investing (such as what Warren Buffet does.)  It suggests that when investing you should find a great company that is priced at a wonderful bargain and then sit and wait as it appreciates. 

What’s key here is that it is a great company.  It was great yesterday.  It is great today (although at a discount).  And, it will be great tomorrow.  The strength is the foundation and the inertia that that greatness provides.  And, as business people, volunteers, parents, athletes, we need to do the same thing.  We need to strive to be great people everyday.  We may have our off days.  We may be discounted from time to time but that shouldn’t prevent us from our greatness.

Also, value investing reminds us that as in all things it is value that is important.  What is the value that we are bringing to the table whether that be our businesses, our families, our charities, etc. 

I hope that all of us have great success in value investing…. in ourselves.

Today… I am not going to stop, period.

Okay, today is one of those days.  I am being challenged with everything that I do.  Trying to finish my newsletter - The Performance Navigator - I was dogged with technical difficulties.  Even when I actually finished the article and was happy with the video that I had attached for my subscribers, I ended up fighting with technology.  And, I used to work in I.T. so I’m not easily stumped.  I kept going and did not give up.  I finally got my newsletter out and see that it’s possible that many of my subscribers did not get it… or will not get it since it may be filtered because of some of the code behind the scenes.  Frustrating.

But, this is only a fraction of the things that haven’t worked as planned today.  Another example, is my attempt to start to do some research.  Being behind of course in my day.  So, I’m looking for some research that I put aside on happiness, ironically.  I can’t find it for the life of me…. at least not yet. 

I decided to take a break and write this blog.  Why?!  Because I am not going to let my challenges get a hold of me.  Not today.  Most of the time, I’m pretty good with dealing with bumps in the road.  But, today, I am definitely not going to stop pushing forward.  I may fail but I’m going to keep pushing.

Okay, so I’m sure that you experience those challenging days.  What do you do?  What are your strategies?

I am putting this into perspective.  The stuff that doesn’t quite work today is not going to be that big a deal.  A colleague’s husband uses the phrase, “We’re not folding parachutes here are we?”  That puts it in perspective.

I also treat the process as a game.  I’m going to be challenged today and the name of game is pushing forward and quickly and efficiently as possible.  I need to make good decisions in a timely manner.

I hope your day is just amazing.  But, if it’s not.  I hope you’re going to blast through it and conquer the day anyway.  There’s nothing quite like not giving in!

Look Up… Look Way Up

Sometimes, I recognize that I’ve had the same point of view for a little too long.  Now, I’m not talking about a prejudice or opinion about something.  I’m talking about just what I’m actually seeing.

I am fortunate to be able to enjoy both the city and the countryside on a regular basis.  We live in the country on many acres of beautiful land.  But, I also get to work within different cities with their different and yet equally interesting visual “candy”.  No matter where we work or live or play, I have found that we can far too often get stuck in looking ahead and only in front of us. 

To combat this, I will force myself from time to time - no matter where I am - to look up… way way up.  And, it is surprising what I’m missing.  I will also look down and be more perceptive as to what is below me.  And, of course, it is also possible to turn around an look at where you’ve just been. 

So, as silly as this may seem or as busy as you may think you are, I would challenge you to look around.  See what you’ve been missing.  It will help to put things in perspective.

Living The Future - Remembrance

Today is Remembrance Day in this part of the world.  A day when we are asked to remember and honour those who have fought in wars, many of whom also died.  It was my honour today to be part of a wreath laying ceremony at our local war memorial and cenotaph. 

What stuck me about the ceremony today and a church service earlier was one specific way in which we can honour those who have fought for freedom and for our future.  Today, we can all work hard at living the future that these soldiers had been fighting for.  We can live each and every moment knowing that people sacrificed for our todays.  We can celebrate and live passionately in each moment.  We can enjoy what we have instead of worrying about what we don’t.  We can live the future right now that we have been given.

Lest we forget, we should also remember those people who are living or fighting in areas of war and conflict today.

And, most importantly, let’s all work toward a planet without any war or conflict.  Now, that would be success!

Peace.