There seems to have been a gap in broadcasts!!!

Well folks it seem to have been a while since I last spoke to you. My wife and I have been away on a 29 day cruise around the parts of Southern Europe and the Balkans then crossing the Atlantic to Florida. I wrote blogs and tried to email them from the boat, but as yet only the first one has arrived and that was today.

The best laid plans of mice and men....it did not work. My role as an international correspondent was not entirely successful. Well in fact not at all!



All that remains is to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Holiday season and I will start again just before the New Year!

Suspension of Blogs until after Christmas

Hi all, I am away on a holiday and the internet is spotty at best. So there will be no blogs posted here until after Christmas. Thanks for your understanding.

Many thanks,
Paul

The gift of anticpation

We are going on a trip to Europe for 5 weeks leaving this Thursday coming. I must say we have done a fair bit of travelling over the years and most of the time I just turn up on the day and go. Obviously I pack and do all those kinds of things but I don't usually anticipate ahead.

This time however I have made the effort of join my wife as an anticipator of things to come. This is not without risk I must say because you take the risk of being disappointed if it doesn't fulfil your expectations. I have decided this time I am just going to jump in with both feet. It certainly feels like we are closer together as we leave.

We have planned, plotted, chosen and experienced all that is on offer before we have left. So we have indeed maxed out the experience thus. far. I used to think I was living "in the day" but I think I have gained in anticipating this experience even in living each day ....one day at a time.

Anticipating has proven to be a gift I wasn't expecting. it has set a gateway to the trip that I have never head

Bev has just told me ....................................It's three days to take off.......................magic!

Next week I will be reporting in from London or Venice, two places I love. Bucket list things happening soon!! Watch this space.

Never too old to learn

I was on Church set up yesterday. Our church takes place in a local community centre that has multiple users both in the week and weekend. So we must set up the main community hall meet to our requirements each week. That involves make sure the kitchen is prepared and everything is ready for the service. One of the tasks is putting out the chairs ready for the service. Now you think that maybe a fairly basic task, just set them and follow the church pattern and to a certain extent that is true.

There are however some ways of approaching this that are better than others. The task of setting out chairs requires us to move the chairs in stacks of six from a storage area to the main auditorium. Now I have usually moved from the chairs closest to the front first and worked my way back, fairly straight forward. Now yesterday I was working with a couple that own and manage a funeral home and have to move chairs around a lot. I was busy in the kitchen when I came to do the chairs they were well into moving them. Rather than moving from front to back they were moving from right to left. The space on the right was actually much more open as opened out into another storage part. As I looked I realised how much more efficient their method was for both putting them out and returning them.

It dawned on me that no matter how often you have done something you can always see a better way either from someone else or a good idea of you own! You are never too old or too experienced to learn a better way! It’s not we are too old, we just stop trying to learn. Look for a new way to do something this week.

Why.....Indeed

As a life coach, I was trained not to use the word “why” in my questioning techniques. This is ostensibly because when you use it with other people it implies some form of judgement. That you are questioning that persons decision. It can often be construed as a negative.

I was thinking about this recently. I came to the conclusion that the word "why" is a very powerful in our own personal repertoire for exactly the same reason. It implies judgement, it forces us to look at our decisions. Why would chose to do that? Or conversely why would we decide not to do that?

I have made a couple of decisions using this technique recently. When I have been looking carefully at a decision. In the end I did not make the decision I normally would have expected, but I am very content with my choices. I believe I made a better choice by critically asking the question Why would I do this or conversely why would I not do this?

Add “why” to your personal decision making repertoire; it forces you reconsider and make judgement before making a final decision.

Simple but effective.

Just STOPP!

You know sometimes you see something and you think wow this is great.

Well I was walking through my wife's office and I saw this small card about the size of a credit card with STOPP written on it well I thought that's unusual or misspelt, one of the two. So I stopped to read it and thought this is awesome, I need to share this!

You have heard of hatching or snatching an idea......................... well this is a snatch!

So here goes: These are a set of steps to use when life throws you a curve ball.

1. Stop
2. Take a breath
3. Observe: What am I thinking? What am I reacting to? What am I feeling in my body?
4. Pull Back: Put in some perspective. See the bigger picture. Is this fact or opinion? How would someone else see this?
5. Practice what works: What is the best thing to do for me, for others, for this situation?

A simple but a great intervention, Give it a try next time your not sure what to do.

You do have time! Go smarter not necessarily faster!

A dangerous pastime for some!

 

 

I am at heart a procrastinator…….. I may be somewhat of a reformed procrastinator, when my will dominates my very easy going nature. Which basically says "why do today what you can put off till tomorrow." So I have learned to be disciplined and get things done over time, but it certainly does not come naturally.

 

 My observation is that the very thing that we think is going to save us from our procrastination just provides a further smoke screen. I am referring to planning and goal setting. You may say well if you only planned when you are going to get things done your problem would be over!

Not so unfortunately for some it can give a false sense of achievement. We emotionally feel like we have actually done the job when we have only planned to do it. The real achievement is actually in completing the task not just planning it! So I have learnt to go past the good feeling of planning and actually just do it! I do not deny procrastinators need to plan and goal set like everybody else but they  must also complete the task! This provides honest and real sense of achievement not just an emotional high!

 

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet!