Nicholas Bate

The Relaxation 10

How can you relax more? Well:

1. Stop carrying everything in your head; write it down and 'forget it' until you do your daily review. If you need more on this, see here. Trying to 'remember' everything is stressful.
2. Take more walks. And don't do anything on those walks: just 'be'.
3. Use music and/or reading to allow you to 'forget' the hassles of the day.
4. Don't use alcohol to de-stress. It simply does NOT work and you know that.
5. Don't use junk TV to de-stress; activity such as a walking and cooking is much more likely to work.
6. Consider learning a formal meditation: it's cheap and easy at your local college.
7. Stay away from negative people. Associate with people who are more up-beat and resourceful.
8. Remember it is just a job and you have a Life you want to live.
9. Read for inspiration.
10. Do start

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The story so far:

To be creative you need three things:

A belief that you can be creative.
Time to allow your brain to be creative.
Some techniques to encourage creativity.

That's the priority order, too.

A brain which is over-loaded finds it very difficult to do two things: (1) process all the data it has and come up with other possibilites (2) reveal that amazing new thinking to you. Essentially most of the time the brain is in data input mode. So-give it a break. Give it some periods of doing nothing. Let it dream, wander and even 'be bored'. Don't try and think of nothing, don't try and empty your brain. Just let it 'be'.

And notice you start getting more creative.

Tomorrow we'll look at how to accelerate that process with some deliberate techniques.

Start now!

See you tomorrow at 0700.

Peppermint Tea

Trying to find a hot drink as an alternative to tea and coffee as you would like to cut down a bit on the latter? And you have noticed most herbal drinks look and sound attractive but actually taste disgusting?

Try peppermint tea. Of course you'll probabaly need to give it a couple of tries, but most people end up loving it. Especially refreshing in the summer and brilliant if you can get you hands on the fresh leaves.

Start brewing now.

Time Machine

So you are 33. In 5 years time, what will your part of the world be doing? How will you be earning money? Ensuring you have choices over your employability? What can you do now to ensure your own 'future-prooofing'? More than you may thank; as long as you start early. Whether you are a school-teacher, a medic, in law, a CEO or teamleader it is lighly likely that the world of 2007+5 years will (still) want:

expertise that cannot (yet) be 'chipped'. Do you have skill e.g. disease diagnosis, start-up auditing, leadership, film production that cannot be replaced by silicon-chip? Excellent: make it even better. Get more. Now.

the EQ ('emotional intelligence') skills that ensure the best is released from others e.g. leadership, coaching, customer service. Got some of those? Great: make them better and get more.

Today would be a really good day to start.

TTD (Things To Do): for better meetings

Never, ever run a meeting unless:

1.the objective is clear and stated and visible
2.there is an agenda
3.someone 'owns' the meeting and will keep it to time and to purpose
4.actions are agreed at the end: action/owner/time-scale

PLUS
5.start on time: late-comers will soon learn
6.invite the LEAST number of people you can
7.be radical: short meetings (eg 30 mins or 45 mins max): discourages time-wasting/stand-up meetings: encourages action/walking meetings: encourages fresh thinking.

Start: you have a meeting today, don't you?

the Weekly Tutorial: On Being Creative

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The story so far:

To be creative you need three things:

A belief that you can be creative.
Time to allow your brain to be creative.
Some techniques to encourage creativity.

That's the priority order, too.

If you are a regular reader of this blog and/or have attended some of my workshops, you will know this fundamental mantra: belief drives behaviour which in turn drives results.

To be creative you must have a set of beliefs or a mindset which allows you to be creative. Thus:

I am getting more creative..
I can become creative..
I am at times very creative..
There is nothing stopping me becoming creative..

are all empowering and helpful. These on the other hand are not:

I can never be creative..
It's just not me..
I'm useless at brainstorming..

Time to up-grade your personal software: less limiting, more empowering.

Start now!

See you tomorrow at 0700.

Something to think about

"The living body is the best pharmacy ever devised. It produces diuretics, painkillers, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and antibiotics. It applies the right dosages with minimal or no side effects, and the directions are inbuilt."

Deepak Chopra

Just a reminder..

..if you haven't yet sorted out this all important skill: the elevator pitch. Adding to Rowan's excellent post, I'd encourage you to stop thinking of your job title (CEO/Sales Assistant/Team Leader/Receptionist...) as these are nouns. Nouns don't do anything; they are static. No, become a verb (I take this company to great places: every day/I help people choose things to make their Life better/I encourage people to live out their dreams/I ensure people feel really welcome to our organisation). A verb does stuff.

You are a verb; not a noun.

Get all the business cards re-printed with verbs rather than nouns. Go on! You can apologise later. By then, the results will be showing.

Tell me a story

Presenting is about communication, not PowerPoint..
Communication is about engagement..
Engagement is about story-telling..

When's your next presentation? What story could you tell ? Don't buy another book about 'Presentation Skills'; buy a book on becoming a story-teller.

By design?

The board-room was perfect: wonderful polished table, comfortable chairs. Chilled water available. Tasteful prints on the walls. Easy to operate AV with all wires hidden. Great views across London. Coffee poised; lovely pastries.

But there, in full view was a scrawled note stuck on the wall with sticky tape: PLEASE LEAVE THIS ROOM AS YOU FOUND IT; DO NOT EXPECT OTHER PEOPLE TO TIDY UP YOUR MESS!

Howard Schulz of Starbucks says 'Everything matters'. So true. That note reveals so much about the true nature of the organisation's culture.

What does your reception, your conference room, your web-site say about you and your organisation? And how does it align with your marketing messages?

Everything matters.