This e-zine is a little different than previous ones. It is written by Wayne Morris - the other half of Leading and Learning [with Bruce Hammonds]. Although having trained as a teacher and taught in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors I have in recent years been largely involved in the personal development and business arenas. Having said this the views expressed by Bruce are shared and supported by me!!
My newsletters, however, will focus on personal development themes, change, leadership, teams and so on.
And don't worry - Bruce will be back. He's a much more prolific writer than I am. He will be regular with me being occasional!
What's in this e-zine:
- Habits for change
- Hurry sickness
- The Stress Buster pack
- Lighten the load
- Resources
1. Habits for Change
I was talking with a friend last week. We'll call him Brian. He's been having a rough time. And it's not the first time. I asked him why he keeps on behaving the way he does when it obviously isn't working for him. His reply: "I guess that's just the way I am".
How many times have you heard people say, "That's just the way I am. I can't change". Perhaps you've said it yourself.
W.C. Fields is quoted as saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. Then do something different, because there's no point in being a damn fool about it."
It's good advice.
There is nothing new or unusual about changing. We've been doing it all our lives - learned to walk, ride a bike, swim, acquired habits and acquired work and life skills.
And we have all experienced the difficulties of learning something new. These difficulties have to do with the length of time the 'old ways' have been with us and some of the struggle is due to the resistance we feel in letting go of who we are and becoming someone different.
Some people react to life and by doing so often cause themselves and those around them considerable pain. "You made me angry so it's your fault I hit you". Their use of power is usually to control others and they often regard themselves as victims. They take very little responsibility for their lives and tend to blame others. Brian does this.
Some people are proactive and know they have choices. They may not be able to control what happens to them but they can control their response. We have the ability to choose how we think, feel and act. Its what makes us different from animals. Although Brian would disagree with this.
Living successful and happy lives takes work and I won't pretend that it is easy but it can be done. Even Brian is thinking about it. It'll be interesting to see if he does more than think about it. How about you ? Will you just think about it or will you do something about it ?
Someone once said "Insanity is doing the same things over and over again hoping the results will be different". If you want different results in your life, do things differently. It may take work but there's no rocket science involved.
2. Hurry sickness
The hurrier I go, the behinder I get! Ever have that overwhelming feeling of hopelessness? You go into work earlier, determined to get caught up, only to be to get hit with a deluge of crises, interruptions and new projects. By the end of the day, you've worked as hard as humanly possible. Yet you have marked nothing off your list while you added six new things. Sound familiar?
"Just as Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate inappropriately, we have learned to hurry inappropriately. Our sense of urgency is set off not by a real need to act quickly, but through learned cues. Our 'bells' have become the watch, the alarm clock, the morning coffee, and the hundreds of self-inflicted expectations that we build into our daily routine. The subliminal message from the watch and clock is: time is running out; life is winding down; please hurry," says Dr. Larry Dossey in his book, Space, Time and Medicine. He continues, "The perceptions of passing time that we observe from our external clocks cause our internal clocks to run faster . . . . [Hurry sickness then is] expressed as heart disease, high blood pressure, or depression of our immune function . . . " and we all know that that means.
More on this and what to do about it can be found on Dr. Ann McGee-Cooper's web site: www.amca.com
3. The 'Stress Buster' Pack
My work involves me with a lot of people who are under high levels of stress. To support people in addressing their 'stress' issues I have developed a pack that I use with my coaching clients. One of my clients suggested I make it more widely available so here it is: The STRESS BUSTER Pack.
It contains:
- Dealing with Personal Change workbook [42 pages]
- Stress is an Inside Job workbook [27 pages]
- Turning Intentions into Results workbook [24 pages]
- Living on Purpose workbook
plus Stress Release CD [11 tracks to relax you]
plus relaxation activity scripts
plus additional techniques for achieving goals / managing stress
It costs $59.95 incl. GST and postage for one copy. If you want more than one the price reduces. If you want me to coach you through the workbooks, that can be arranged. You can order copies from me on future.edge@clear.net.nz
4. Lighten the Load
[Health Warning: My sense of humour may be harmful to your health!]
A friend of mine found life quite stressful so he went to a counsellor and complained about having recurring dreams. 'First I'm a wigwam, then I'm a tepee, and then I'm a wigwam, then I'm a tepee. It's driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?"
The counsellor replied, "It's very simple. You're two tents."
A young man hired by a business reported for his first day at work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him the broom and said "Your first job will be to sweep out the storeroom."
"But I'm a university graduate", the young man replied indignantly.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know that", said the manager. "Here give me the broom and I'll show you how."
5. Resources
In each e-zine I'll include resources that I've been using recently and found valuable.
You might try these books:
Lessons from the Art of Juggling [1994] Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan: Aurum Press
The New Leaders [2002] Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee: Little, Brown
The Power of Simplicity [1991] Jack Trout: McGraw Hill
and these web sites:
www.fastcompany.com [business]
www.newdreams.com [personal development / coaching - some great free stuff!]
And remember: Insanity is dong the same things over and over hoping the results will be different. Maybe now is the time to make the change you've been promising yourself!
Wayne Morris
wmorris@leading-learning.co.nz
On behalf of co-editor Bruce Hammonds
Kia ora
Kia kaha
