Setting up 2019 for success

Posted on January 6, 2019     2 Comments

I hope everyone’s 2019 has started well. We’ve been enjoying family time in Jindabyne for a triathlon camp with the wonderful Energylink Coaching community.

Some quiet moments in between training and hanging out with the boys has provided me with some reflection time to look back on 2018 and set some short and long term goals moving into 2019 using my goal digger journal.

I used one of these journals last year and found it really helped keep me on track with goals and good habits. This included a daily meditation practice which made me feel calmer and more centred as the year went on. Each week you state what you’re grateful for, your habits, goals and things to do.

I bought one of these for my god daughter who thought I’d originally said ‘gold digger journal’ and after googling gold digger was wondering why I was going to coach her to become one 😀

Part of the pre planning stage includes thinking about ’10 things I want to see, do and experience in 2019′. What would yours be? Mine include, seeing and feeling snow, a mountain cycle in Cyprus, climbing the York walls and running over warden hills when back in the UK and taking in a WA sunset. I’m grateful for having ticked off one item already, climbing up to Thredbo from Jindabyne on the bike and enjoying the thrill of the descent.

Looking back to 2018, a highlight included some r&r in December with my mum at Billabong Retreat. We enjoyed a couple of night’s away without the kids, mobile reception and wifi with twice daily yoga, meditation and delicious wholesome foods.

The theme of our retreat was yoga and in a workshop, we learnt about the eight limbs of yoga* which I thought other’s might find of interest.

I hadn’t quite appreciated the deep philosophy of a yogi lifestyle before this and was very intrigued.

Here are the first two limbs of yoga we learnt which I thought were a lovely set of ideals to live by if not already. We did an exercise, reflecting on how we can introduce these practices into your life in 2019.

Yamas (Limb 1)

  • Ahimsa – Non violence – to live in a way that is gentle, loving and kind (thought / action)
  • Satya – Truthfulness – only repeat things you know to be true
  • Asteya – Non-stealing – to give more
  • Brahmarcharya – Right use of energy
  • Aparigraha – Non-possessiveness (physical and emotional)

Niyamas (Limb 2)

  • Saucha – Cleanliness – food, mind, speech, action
  • Santosha – Contentment – choice
  • Tapas – Discipline
  • Svadyaya – Self study
  • Ishvara Pranidhana – Surrender

The remaining limbs were:

  • Asana – Yoga postures (Iyengar, Hatha, Vinyasa)
  • Pranayama – Breath control, controlling the vital energy
  • Pratyahara – Withdrawal of senses (stage one of meditation)
  • Dharana – Connection with an object (stage two of meditation)
  • Dhyana – Sustained concentration (stage three of meditation)
  • Samadhi Enlightenment/ complete union

* I understand the eight limbs of yoga are just one interpretation and there is a plethora of thought, material and reading out there. Intrigued, I bought a book containing a summary of the yoga sutras to learn more. This will form one of the 52 books I’m planning to read in 2019 with my book a week buddy Myza (you can follow our reads via this google doc here if of interest). As brain coach Jim Kwik says ‘Leaders are Readers’ and what a cost effective way to develop yourself and also switch off with fiction before bed each night 🙂

To commit to a more regular personal yoga practice in 2019 I have ordered one the beautiful beach themed Yoga everywhere mats to inspire me (thanks mum and dad for the Christmas gift!)

What are your intentions for 2019? I would to hear some of your goals to support each other. Haven’t set any goals yet and struggling where to start? Have a think about some focus areas, for example: Health and Fitness – Learning and Career – Family and Friends. Try and make them SMART too – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely

The Goal Digger journal I have quotes “People with written goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than people without written goals. Telling a friend increases this rate to 78%”. It also states, goals:

  1. Gives you direction
  2. Helps you focus on the important things
  3. Helps you build self-belief
  4. Increases your odds of success
  5. Motivates you to be your best self

To finish with a wrap up thought from our wonderful Billabong Retreat instructor Sarah:

Enjoy your life, look after your body, help others

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and productive 2019 ahead.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Posted on November 11, 2018     Leave a Comment

This blog entry shares a post I recently published on LinkedIn titled “Individual steps to help safeguard our planet for humanity’s future”.

I thought this topic may be of interest to my personal blog followers on the important and timely topic of sustainability of our beautiful planet and individual steps we can take to make a collective difference.

Some of these ideas were summed up and brought to life recently in an Oprah Super Soul conversation with Kathy Freston ‘The 8 Pillars of Wellness”.

Oprah opens sharing Gandhi’s attributed quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world” and her and Kathy discuss how we can all have courage of our own conviction, lean in to upgrade our ways and turn into what makes us feel dark which I do in this post ….

As many of you may have been, I was shaken when I read a summary of the latest Climate Change report on the damage to our beautiful planet that’s been done. In this BBC article ‘Final call to save the world from ‘climate catastrophe’ it outlines the most extensive warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures and how off track we are keep that rise under 1.5 degrees.

Articles such as these are becoming more common sharing the extent of our consumption over the last 50 years in particular and its adverse effect on our planet. I found this article published recently by the Guardian particularly harrowing ‘Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds’ :

“We are sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff” said Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF. “If there was a 60% decline in the human population, that would be equivalent to emptying North America, South America, Africa, Europe, China and Oceania. That is the scale of what we have done.”

“This is far more than just being about losing the wonders of nature, desperately sad though that is,” he said. “This is actually now jeopardising the future of people. Nature is not a ‘nice to have’ – it is our life-support system.”

“We are rapidly running out of time,” said Prof Johan Rockström, a global sustainability expert at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. “Only by addressing both ecosystems and climate do we stand a chance of safeguarding a stable planet for humanity’s future on Earth.”

I’ve had growing awareness around this issue and now am inspired to make some compassionate changes. I feel I can’t read these articles and do nothing. As a mum of two young boys I have felt a real awakening about the impact for future generations and am keen to take steps to help the big global effort of making a difference.

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So where to start?

It’s easy to think our individual efforts don’t make much difference, but as my good family friend Myza says, “If we shift the mindset of “but what can I do? One person can’t make a difference” to “What can I do? Because I can make a difference” then it becomes the voice of one to a voice of a collective”

A recent David Attenborough Blue Planet 2 episode shared him saying “The actions of any one of us may seem trivial and to have no effect, but the knowledge that there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who are doing the same thing, that really does have an effect.”

In a recent Oprah Super Soul Conversations with Julia Roberts ‘Daring and Vulnerable Part 2’ they discuss tackling big world problems like the family border separation in the US. Julia shares she tries not to get caught up with where to start as that can be paralysing, she says “Every little tiny bit makes a difference, every conversation makes a difference”.And that with all the places she gets to go and people she gets to meet she can start a conversation and see what other people think / are doing.

Here’s a list the BBC article I referenced before shared on what we can do as individuals:

  • buy less meat, milk, cheese and butter and more locally sourced seasonal food – and throw less of it away
  • drive electric cars but walk or cycle short distances (great to see examples like this Bosch subsidiary Coup e-scooter sharing system in Berlin)
  • take trains and buses instead of planes
  • use videoconferencing instead of business travel
  • use a washing line instead of a tumble dryer
  • insulate homes
  • demand low carbon in every consumer product

To make our individual contributions, my husband and I have committed to go meat free, reduce dairy consumption and be even more mindful of walking short distances, using public transport versus the car and drying washing on the line versus using the tumble dryer.

The more voices on this crucial subject I think the better. It’s great to see a lot of high profile business men and women continuing / ramping up their quests to help save the planet.

Vegan meat investor Bill Gates recently said ““If all the cattle in the world joined together to start their own country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases,” – read more here

In May this year, women leaders came together to fight against climate change led by Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change – read more here

Sir Richard Branson who was recently in Sydney has been leading a Virgin Atlantic initiate to remove ingredients deemed unsustainable such as beef, unsustainable palm oil and soy from in-flight menus on flights the UK, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as part of a partnership with the non-profit organisation the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) Read more here

More locally, a lot of leaders in our International CEO Forum too are helping lead their corporations global sustainability and corporate responsibility programs and we’re looking to create a forum to share initiatives on our program next year to create a supportive environment for those with a shared vision for our future.

As an optimist, I’m inspired by the individual changes I’m seeing happen around us and am empowered to take some individual accountability. As my husband says ‘don’t bring me a problem, bring me solutions’. Let’s accept the situation we’re in and craft solutions together.

Would love to hear what others are doing and any thoughts / reflections on this big topic where individual’s actions are required to make a collective difference.

Image citation: http://www.organicsoul.com/25-ways-in-which-you-can-easily-help-to-save-our-planet/

Dani

Compassion for a Cockroach

Posted on October 7, 2018     2 Comments

A few weeks ago I witnessed a beautiful encounter of compassion between our three year old Ethan, 20 month old Huw and a cockroach that I thought others may enjoy hearing.

On Friday morning, Ethan and Huw had woken up and we were taking the usual walk down a few stairs into the lounge when we saw a cockroach upside on the floor.

My natural instinct was to scoop it up and put it in the bin. Ethan and Huw however were very concerned that the cockroach wasn’t moving and Ethan said “Let’s make him happy again mummy’. How could I resist not trying to now save the cockroach?!

We scooped the coackroach up carefully (or bug as Huw was saying) and placed him / her on the side away from the floor. There was a bit of movement (which showed me the roach wasn’t dead) and then stillness again. Ethan then took a sultana left over from a snack the night before and put it next to the cockroach as he said the bug might be hungry.

Huw was chanting “happy bug, happy bug” when my husband Owain came home from his gym session. We then moved the cockroach outside to see if there was enough strength for it to run into the wild. There was not much movement and Ethan wanted to put his blanket over the cockroach as it was cold and share his toy cars. Eventually the bug managed to move away back into the wild.

I was very touched by this natural act of compassion from the boys and it made me think how I’d really like to cultivate this as they grow and develop further.

Some people may wonder the difference between compassion and empathy. I like the distinction that empathy is walking in other’s shoes and then compassion is empathy into action.

This example of the boys and the cockroach made me realise that small daily acts of compassion in any facet of our lives can help inspire others to be more compassionate.

Earlier in the week I’d ironically listened to an Oprah Soulful Conversation (thanks for the recommendation Simone!) with Jeff Weiner, CEO of Linked In on the theme of compassionate leadership. Oprah shared she thinks Jeff is the leader to inspire compassion to be taught as mainstream in schools which I think would be fantastic. I know mindfulness practice in schools is now getting a lot of traction globally. It was great recently to see yoga postures being encouraged at Ethan’s daycare and breathing exercises. My sister who is a primary school shared how a quiet minute can make wonders to settle the children down too. How great for compassion to be an extension of this.

In the podcast interview which I highly recommend for anyone interested in this area, Jeff talks about leading compassionately and his journey to being a better human through meeting his wife.

He shared some thoughts on happiness from advice he received from his mentor Ray Chambers, a Wall Street giant who later walked away from financial success to study happiness and pursue a life of philanthropy.

Ray’s five principles of happiness that Jeff relayed were:

  1. Being in the moment
  2. It’s better to be loving than to be right.
  3. Be a spectator to your own thoughts, especially when you become emotional, which is fundamental to compassion.
  4. Be grateful for at least one thing every day.
  5. Be of service to others, to help others every chance you get.

I thought this was a beautiful packaging of life lessons linking in compassion and a good way to finish this post.

Love to any thoughts and compassion stories from others.

Road to the Gold Coast World Triathlon Champs as a Mum

Posted on September 23, 2018     5 Comments

I recently represented team Australia in the ITU Age Group World Triathlon Championship Sprint distance event. I was happy to finish 37th in my age group in a time of 1hr16mins21sec.

Having emigrated to Australia back in 2011 this is something I wouldn’t have pictured, not knowing how to swim freestyle when I first arrived. Fast forward seven years and anything is possible!

This has been my first major championship event since becoming a Mum which has been a different experience with two little munchkins following my every move.

How this campaign began…

When I returned to racing after having Huw in late 2017 I hadn’t initially thought of this event as a goal. I was happy to just get some fitness back and get back out there. I was then inspired however by some friends racing the qualification circuit and I thought I’d have a go as it would be nice to have a race goal again. I managed to qualify and started training properly for the sprint distance event in late June after a trip back to the UK.

Lessons learnt racing as a mum

I’ve previously written about lessons learnt from completing an Ironman distance triathlon (prior to kids) and thought it would a good chance to reflect on the journey this time round as a mum. Here are some thoughts:

Acceptance and laughter – Along the way I had to accept that with little ones there can always be unpredictabilities. The week of the race for example, Huw developed conjunctivitis and wasn’t sleeping properly. The night before the race we discovered headlice had returned to Ethan’s blonde Afro (it was inevitable!). I went straight from the opening ceremony parade to the chemist to delice him before the big day! This is a frequent piece of adaptation that parents will be used to. I’ve learnt you have to laugh where appropriate and keep perspective.

Perspective is paramount – Being a mum this time round in a build up to a big race helped me keep a good sense of perspective. Sometimes as any athlete knows you have a bad training session and can feel disheartened. Seeing the boys for mummy cuddles afterwards always made me realise perspective. On race day Ethan was running around in my husband Owain’s race helmet which made me laugh and loosen up the nerves.

Patience is a virtue – With the reality of having a 3 and 1 year old, a solid job and a husband who coaches and races at a top level, I knew I realistically I wasn’t going to be able to fit in two sessions a day. I had to accept that a lot of my competitors would be training more and just focus on what I could do and not worry about anyone else. A saying I heard which rang true is ‘comparison is the evil of all joy’. I just kept my head down and ticked off what I could do and kept improving against myself. I believe no one has exactly the same composition or circumstances as you do so it’s hard to directly compare yourself to others. If you focus on developing your own personal bests that’s something you can track. Comparing myself to myself in a growth mindset approach, I raced a lot better in the Gold Coast than in 2012 when I raced at the world age group tri champs in NZ and came 72nd in my AG.

Teamwork makes the dream work – With Owain and I both competing at this event in separate races we had to create a schedule that would work. Owain (coach Waino) crafted this and was a great support to me. Some days I’d get home from a big day at work and once the boys had gone to bed felt like I had no energy to train. He’d always encourage me and I’d feel better for ticking off the session afterwards. The team was extended for this event with our wonderful babysitters Kya and Bri who enabled us to get the key training sessions in together on a Thursday evening and Saturday morning.

Community is key – I believe our local triathlon club, Balmoral tri had the largest amount of representatives for the world’s this year. There was a wonderful spirit of comradeship and support in the build up to the event. My favourite weekly session was our Saturday morning team brick at the beach. I really believe a sense of community is one of the big keys to happiness.

Enjoy the journey – not just the destination – From my previous experience at the World Triathlon I recalled the actual event flashed by so remembered it’s important to enjoy the journey as much or if not more than the main event. I think this is a good metaphor for life too. Instead of dreading the drive up to the Gold Coast with two little ones we decided to make it an adventure and had a great family road trip.

Back yourself – There were some comments early on around how can you fit this in and I’m sure some judgements along the way. I’ve learnt what other people think of you is none of your business, everyone is welcome to their opinions. As one of my mentors said “For me it’s about what you do and not what you say. What you do- role models to your kids – anything is possible if you back yourself…. the habit is the outcome.” I think you know what works and what is right for your family and you have to trust that and back yourself even if others don’t always think it’s the right thing to do.

Watching Ethan put on my medal while he ate his weetbix the next few days after the race morning endorsed this has been a worthwhile journey and I look forward to some more racing and family goals. Ethan started his own swimming lessons this morning inspired by watching mummy and daddy swim.

I feel grateful for an incredible experience. What I’ve learnt is, whether you’re a Mum or not, if you put your mind to something, create a plan, focus, be consistent, have an awesome support network and keep perspective then anything is possible. Go chase your dreams!

After the sprint distance race, it was very inspiring watching my husband race in the Olympic distance event and win the 35-39 year old age group coming 5th overall. You can read his race report here.

Now we’ve been celebrating success and look forward to the next adventure.

Congratulations to all the athletes that raced and wishing those chasing a dream all the very best xxx

The podcast revolution

Posted on August 26, 2018     Leave a Comment

As an avid lover of learning I’ve really enjoyed embracing the current podcast revolution.

Whether it’s on a run home from work, the bus commute, cooking dinner or a quick walk pushing the pram I love that you can learn and listen on the go from so many wisdom inspirations.

I enjoy having conversations with others around what they’re listening to and thought it may be useful to share ten podcast recommendations that I’ve found valuable.

#1 The Tim Ferriss Show

This was the first podcast I listened to and is perhaps my favourite podcast to return to. I admire the way Tim thinks and his network brings along some awesome guests.

Episode I recommend – Adam Robinson – Outflanking and Outsmarting the Competition – Note some great words of wisdom to university students.

#2 Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn interviews great masters of scale including Airbnb’s Brian Chesky which I recommend listening to here.

#3 Making Positive Psychology Work with Michelle McQuaid

I was a fan of Michelle’s work before her podcast and really enjoy her creative format including the lightning round at the end. A recent favourite episode was ‘Are you Curious Enough?’ With Diana Whitney

#4 Ladies We Need To Talk – ABC Radio

A refreshing podcast with smart women talking about issues not normally tackled on air, caution not for the faint hearted! Time to name (and shame) the mental load gave me an interesting reflection on the mental load of lots of daily items that build up over time.

#5 The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll discusses all things wellness with lots of forward thinking minds.

His interview of John McAvoy, criminal turned professional athlete really gave me a fresh perspective.

#6 Don’t Stop Us Now with Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas

This was a podcast I came across more recently and loved the openness of the presenters. Recommend this episode exploring the topic of purpose.

#7 Coffee Pods with Holly Ransom

I heard Holly speak at our Emerging Leaders in Multinationals event this year and was inspired by her words around embracing our courage zones. Holly asks some great questions and has a lot of episodes related to supporting entrepreneurs, check out this recent episode with Vicki Saunders, Founder of SheEO.

#8 Deep Listening ‘Impact Beyond Words’ with Oscar Trimboli

Oscar is a dear friend and mentor and his thoughtful podcast delves into deep insights on listening with professional listeners including anthropologist Michelle Barry.

I’m inspired by Oscar’s mission to create 100 million deep listeners in the world.

# 9 TED Talks Daily

Short podcasts for flashes of inspiration from the team at TED. Next on my list is this episode- ‘Don’t Fear Superintelligent AI’

#10 Optimal Daily Living

Justin Malik narrates blogs on areas such as personal development, minimalism, finance and health.

This episode looking at decision making was impactful for me.

I hope you may find a podcast that resonates for you and provides an insight and action to help you on your life long learning journey.

Would love to hear any thoughts on these or other recommendations to spread the podcast love. Thanks to those of you who have recommended me to these, paying forward the learning.

Image citation – http://theelearningcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/podcasts-for-learning.png

How are you managing your energy?

Posted on July 29, 2018     Leave a Comment

Today’s theme of energy management builds on the concept of identifying and balancing our different buckets which I’ve written about previously in “Getting real about trying to do it all – identifying and balancing out buckets”

I’ve enjoyed a recovery day today after a busy few weeks (including the boys picking up conjunctivitis and headlice – it was inevitable with the blonde Afro!). Or as close to a recovery day as you can with two high energy boys tag teaming with the husband 😀

The concept of recharging our energy like a battery makes sense to me. There is only so much we can give before some renewal is needed. A wellness coach I know calls it depositing in our wellness account.

Leadership coach Paul Mitchell shares tips on personal energy levels in this 5 minute video which really resonated with me (thanks Myz for sharing).

Paul opens with a powerful reflective question – Are you lighting up the room when you walk into it or out of it?

Although Paul is focused on leadership and energy levels I thought this could be extended to other roles in our lives which for me include parent, wife, friend, family member, athlete and colleague.

Paul’s three strategies for better energy management are:

#1 Diarise renewal and make it sacred – Paul quotes one of his mentors Dr Fred who talks about having your 10’s, 25’s, 50’s and 100’s in order with your 10’s being daily things that recharge you which may be 8 hours sleep, exercise and a meditation. 100 is an annual event for recovery like an annual health retreat.

#2 Balance your pies – Paul states four pie sections of physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. He questions which ones have you got going in your life and which ones are missing?

#3 Make a choice to see life as a series of sprints rather than a sprint or a marathon. I love the concept of seeing life as a series of sprints with Paul sharing a mantra “go for it – renewal, go for it, renewal.”

Life as a series of sprints, reminded me of hearing Jason Fried talk about Basecamp’s 6 weeks project cycles followed by recovery in Tim Ferriss’s recent podcast.

Also, a periodic exercise program, like the triathlon program I’m on for the world age group champs with I a training cycle of 3 weeks on, followed by one week recovery.

As a parent, I reflected it’s a bit harder to have a sprint then a recovery with two active boys but I think finding ways to ensure you get some rest is highly important to be at your best. For me this involves being able to ask for and accept help which didn’t come naturally at first.

So how else can we manage of energy?

Three tips that came to mind for me are:

The power of five – Consciously surrounding yourself with people who energise you – I once heard you’re a product of the five people you spend the most time with which has stuck with me.

Reflect on what actually does renew you – I think it’s important to understand what actually recharges you. When I wore a heart rate variability monitor I learnt that meditation got me in the green recovery zone and not going out to lunch (read more here).

Letting go – What do you need to let go of to move forward? This powerful question was asked at a girls’ night out on Friday with a spiritual link to the blood moon. It really had me reflecting and I think I need to let go of needing to achieve and my own expectation. Others shared included fear of failure and guilt for the breakdown of relationships. What could you let go of?

Would also love to hear any other thoughts and tips on how you manage your energy.

Image citation: https://images.indianexpress.com/2018/07/lunareclipse_moon_1.jpg

There’s a reason we’re called human beings and not human doings.

Posted on June 24, 2018     Leave a Comment

Dear reader,

I hope you are well. It’s been a busy and rewarding period for me since my last post including a trip to the UK for my mum’s 60th birthday and moving into a new family home.

I’ve been waiting for some writing inspiration and some came through yesterday when a beautiful friend sent me a link to a Richard Branson letter on how to be happy which you may have come across since it was posted at the end of 2016:

“Dear Stranger,

You don’t know me but I hear you are going through a tough time, and I would like to help you. I want to be open and honest with you, and let you know that happiness isn’t something just afforded to a special few. It can be yours, if you take the time to let it grow.

It’s OK to be stressed, scared and sad, I certainly have been throughout my 66 years. I’ve confronted my biggest fears time and time again. I’ve cheated death on many adventures, seen loved ones pass away, failed in business, minced my words in front of tough audiences, and had my heart broken.

I know I’m fortunate to live an extraordinary life, and that most people would assume my business success, and the wealth that comes with it, have brought me happiness. But they haven’t; in fact it’s the reverse. I am successful, wealthy and connected because I am happy.

So many people get caught up in doing what they think will make them happy but, in my opinion, this is where they fail. Happiness is not about doing, it’s about being. In order to be happy, you need to think consciously about it. Don’t forget the to-do list, but remember to write a to-be list too.

Kids are often asked: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ The world expects grandiose aspirations: ‘I want to be a writer, a doctor, the prime minister.’ They’re told: go to school, go to college, get a job, get married, and then you’ll be happy. But that’s all about doing, not being – and while doing will bring you moments of joy, it won’t necessarily reward you with lasting happiness.

Stop and breathe. Be healthy. Be around your friends and family. Be there for someone, and let someone be there for you. Be bold. Just be for a minute.

If you allow yourself to be in the moment, and appreciate the moment, happiness will follow. I speak from experience. We’ve built a business empire, joined conversations about the future of our planet, attended many memorable parties and met many unforgettable people. And while these things have brought me great joy, it’s the moments that I stopped just to be, rather than do, that have given me true happiness. Why? Because allowing yourself just to be, puts things into perspective. Try it. Be still. Be present.

For me, it’s watching the flamingos fly across Necker Island at dusk. It’s holding my new grandchild’s tiny hands. It’s looking up at the stars and dreaming of seeing them up close one day. It’s listening to my family’s dinner-time debates. It’s the smile on a stranger’s face, the smell of rain, the ripple of a wave, the wind across the sand. It’s the first snow fall of winter, and the last storm of summer. It’s sunrise and sunset.

There’s a reason we’re called human beings and not human doings. As human beings we have the ability to think, move and communicate in a heightened way. We can cooperate, understand, reconcile and love, that’s what sets us apart from most other species.

Don’t waste your human talents by stressing about nominal things, or that which you cannot change. If you take the time simply to be and appreciate the fruits of life, your stresses will begin to dissolve, and you will be happier.

But don’t just seek happiness when you’re down. Happiness shouldn’t be a goal, it should be a habit. Take the focus off doing, and start being every day. Be loving, be grateful, be helpful, and be a spectator to your own thoughts.

Allow yourself to be in the moment, and appreciate the moment. Take the focus off everything you think you need to do, and start being – I promise you, happiness will follow.

Happy regards,

Richard Branson”

Wow what words of wisdom from Sir Richard. I have been pondering on this great thought of embracing being versus doing for the last year or so.

As a goal driven person who likes achieving it can be easy to get carried away into always thinking what’s next. I think when we create some space to just ‘be’ as Richard describes it can be really powerful to see what emerges.

I do think we of course need a balance of being and doing to help connect us to others and realise what we’re capable of. I like the thought of being whilst doing, ensuring we’re connecting to the moment and not doing things on autopilot.

Talking to my uncle on this subject, he shared how he finds it sad when people can get too wealthy, always wanting the next material good and stop appreciating the simple ‘being’ things that really make us feel alive like the feeling of catching an ocean wave.

As an avid ‘to do’ list person to help keep me accountable, I love Richard’s concept of a ‘to be’ list too. For me, this would contain gentle reminders like:

⁃ Be grateful

⁃ Be curious

⁃ Be amazed by natural wonder

⁃ Be present

⁃ Be open to life

– Be generous

I try to consciously tap into the moment each day by taking the time to hear the birds in the morning, feel the rush of the wind on my outings, take the time to be really present with the boys and laugh with them.

One thing that’s helped me this year is starting most days with this 10 minute morning ritual meditation by Jason McGrice on Insight Timer. By the end of the recording I’m always smiling and feeling connected and in a good space to start the day ahead. It also helps clarify what really matter and is a priority for my to do list.

How does Richard’s message of a human being versus a human doing resonate for you? Love to hear any thoughts.

Image citation – https://laveldanaylor.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/an-existential-idea-being-versus-doing/amp/ (worth a read on this subject)

Until next time

When were you last in your courage zone?

Posted on May 7, 2018     Leave a Comment

I’m feeling inspired after cheering on some of our local triathlon club members compete in Ironman Australia over the weekend. For those not across the sport, it involves a 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run, no mean feat! It was especially great to see the first timers putting all their hard work into action, digging deep and stepping into their courage zones. It brought back memories from when I completed the distance back in 2014 having not been able to swim freestyle when we first moved over to Australia in 2011. A challenge I remember and draw from when needed.

A couple of weeks ago I heard a presentation from Holly Ransom at our Gartner Emerging Leaders in Multi-nationals event who talked about stepping out of our comfort zone and into our courage zones which I have been reflecting on since. For those who haven’t come across Holly before, she’s certainly a young leader to watch. Some of her achievements include being CEO of her own company (Emergent), being asked by the Prime Minister to chair the G20 Youth Summit, being named among the “100 Women of Influence”, having Richard Branson as a fan, interviewing Barrack Obama on his recent visit to Sydney and being a Board member of Port Adelaide’s AFL club. On top of this she managed a top-10 finisher for her age group in her most recent Ironman endurance triathlon. Phew! For me though, perhaps most inspiring and courageous was Holly sharing on this witsup video that she has battled depression and how she came out of it: http://www.witsup.com/video-be-inspired-holly-ransom/ An act of courageous vulnerability to help inspire others talk more freely about mental health as we do with physical health.

During her talk, Holly shared a year long fear factor challenge she did with a friend, challenging and supporting each other to do one thing out of their comfort zones everyday for a year. Holly described the early encounters as the more stereotypical things that come to mind when thinking of confronting your fears, like jumping out of a plane (blog title picture from my adventurous gap year skydive :O) or into Antarctic waters. By the end of her challenge however it was seemingly smaller things like learning to say no which can make a big difference to your life quality. This made me think that there is an opportunity everyday to do something that stretches you and pushes you into your courage zone. Whether it’s taking the route with the steep hill, making a phone call you’ve been avoiding, sharing a vulnerability or trying an new adventurous menu item.

I was inspired by Holly’s session and have my own fear factor buddy to check in with and share examples of stepping out of our courage zones. What could you do this week to step into your courage zone? Whether it be applying for your dream job, saying no to something you’re feeling forced to do, taking an opportunity to publicly speak or joining a group fitness class.

In a conversation with one of our International CEO Forum members afterwards we were saying how often something great emerges on the edge of fear. When we get too comfortable it’s easy to get complacent and not stretch ourselves and grow.

Speaking to members of my network this last week on the topic, conquering a fear of open water swimming seems to be one on a few people’s list. For those new to swimming you may find this blog by Tim Ferriss useful: https://tim.blog/2008/08/13/total-immersion-how-i-learned-to-swim-effortlessly-in-10-days-and-you-can-too/

Would love to hear any thoughts and support each other in stepping out of our comfort zones in our courage zones. For those interested to hear more from Holly, you can follow her coffee pods podcast here based on the premise that in the time it takes to have a coffee with someone you can learn from their lifetime of experience.

You can change your mind and your actions at any time

Posted on April 8, 2018     1 Comment

After my last post ‘Getting real about trying to do it all – identifying and balancing our buckets’ we’ve been getting into our new family routine of work and daycare. Things are going well, although it hasn’t all been plain sailing with new daycare bugs being picked up, as many working parents will relate to!

After the big transition, Huw and I had another one over the long Easter weekend, weaning Huw off the boob.

This is something I’d been thinking about for a while but hadn’t been ready to commit to. I was feeling pretty tired working, training, being mum and still feeding Huw in the night and early in the morning. It felt like time, but could I fully commit?

This experience made me reflect on the decision making process and why sometimes we commit to something and there’s no looking back and other times there are multiple relapses. For example, you hear stories of someone who has tried for years to give up smoking and then suddenly is able to just go cold turkey. I’m curious about the patterns of events that lead to this moment of irreversible insight. For me with the weaning process I reflected on the following 5 factors which helped lead to a successful commitment:

1. My own commitment – From earlier this year, I realised that Huw didn’t need mummy’s milk anymore (those who have seen him eat will understand that!) and he was using me as a comforter to sleep. I had not been committed to the change however, holding on to feeding as it seemed the easy option to help settle him to sleep and then get some more snooze time in the morning. This wasn’t useful for Owain or others when they tried to settle him. I also think deep down this transition was the reality of Huw leaving the baby stage and into toddlerhood!

2. Sense of urgency – With my mum and dad visiting us soon I had committed to weaning Huw so that Owain and I could enjoy a weekend away to celebrate our recent wedding anniversary (and so I can enjoy more than a couple of wines with my parents!). I learnt a few years ago from completing my Myers Briggs personality profile that I thrive on being pressure prompted and that a sense of urgency can really help drive decisions.

3. Support system – Having Owain ready to support me with the decision and available to help settle Huw on that first night of weaning was instrumental. He also would help distract Huw and say no more milk. This reminded me of the importance of having a system set up to support a change.

4. Inspiration – I was inspired after speaking to a friend who similarly had procrastinated for a while about the weaning process, even trying multiple times and then giving in. She was almost ready to get a night nurse in to help with the process when she had an aha moment. Like with labour she realised she needed to get through this with her toddler, without a third party. Something had clicked and over the next few days she went through the weaning process reaffirming to her son that mummy still loved him but there was no more milk.

5. Timing – An extra long weekend presented the perfect opportunity to go through the weaning process, sometimes things seem to align and you have to take the opportunity and just do it.

Interestingly, my friend and I have both found that the boys have slept much better after weaning, are less clingy and irritable after sleep / feeding times. I have since discovered this through conversations with other friends too.

So what did this teach me?

For me, I reflected I had unconsciously been making the decision not to wean Huw, even if I was consciously saying it. I hadn’t mentally committed until Friday morning of the long weekend when I had a pivotal conversation with my friend and everything aligned. I pondered, what’s the trigger when we finally make the decision to change and you feel that internal shift that means we’re committed and there’s no going back?

It made me think of corporate change initiatives and how many fail (70% according to McKinsey) through a change being mandated without taking into account people’s individual decision making processes to commit to the change. When you’ve fully committed to something in the past, what was present for you? How can you leverage these factors to help you commit to something you’ve been putting off?

In the Japanese phenomenon ‘The Courage to be Disliked’, a philosopher is having a conversation with a youth throughout the book. In the chapter entitled ‘People Always Choose Not to Change’ in response to the youth’s remark that ‘there’s no way I can just change on the spot’ the philosopher says ‘Yes, you can. People can change at any time, regardless of the environments they are in. You are only unable to change because you are making the decision not to.’

For those interested in the neuroscience behind decision making I recommend reading this Psychology Today article from a few years ago –

Christopher Bergland writes:

“Understanding the neuroscience behind making a decision can be helpful when targeting new behaviors and changing bad habits. When you reach a fork in the road and need to make the right decision for your long-term health and well-being, using the brain science behind decision-making is a useful tool



Decision-making is in the locus of your control. You have the power to break patterns of behavior simply by making better decisions. You can change your mind and your actions at any time. Even when you’re stuck in a cycle of rut-like thinking and behavior, a change of attitude and decision-making can turn your life around

.

Using mindfulness could give various regions of your striatum and prefrontal cortex time to relay the true “neuroeconomic” costs of a decision and help you make smarter choices. Mindful decision-making can derail compulsive or addictive patterns of behavior and take you down a path that’s in your best interest for long-term health, happiness, and overall well-being
..

The next time that you need to make a decision, take a few deep breaths and think about the the pros and cons of your next move in a pragmatic and mindful way. Then, do the right thing for your well-being.”

Since I started using Insight Timer earlier this year to reignite a regular formal meditation practice I have definitely found it helpful to manage decisions and change. I have been inspired to see the ripple effect of others using this app to help them better manage themselves.

Until next time, to finish with Christopher’s wise words:

You can change your mind and your actions at any time.

Getting real about trying to do it all: identifying and balancing our buckets

Posted on March 18, 2018     4 Comments

Last week was a big transition week for family Matthews – Owain’s six month parental leave finished, I started a new job and Huw officially started daycare after his transition program.

During the few weeks leading up to this there were some big decisions for me and I was back to my decision making compass. There was a lot going on with family commitments, social gatherings, Owain’s Ironman in NZ, my tri training, volunteering for the International Coach Federation (ICF) and LaunchPad Media business activities.

I was reminded of a thought from one of my early blogs – “You can have it all…. in the long term”.

In this post (interestingly my most viewed ever blog) I reflected ‘Can you be an exceptional parent, business leader, athlete, volunteer, friend, entrepreneur..

.?’ I said yes…. but not all at the same time.

With a lot going on, it was time to pause, reflect and review the landscape. After a conversation with a valued mentor, I drew a priority map of all the things in my world and then ranked them in priority order.

For this next phase in our journey, I reflected my priorities and key focus areas are Owain and the boys, my family and friends, work and financial stability and health and well-being.

For my activity to reflect this, I had to make a couple of big decisions and decided to stand down from the ICF NSW Branch leadership team and put my LaunchPad Media business on hold to take a great job opportunity with Gartner and build more financial stability in light of increased daycare costs.

Stepping down from the ICF NSW Branch leadership team was hard as I really believe in the purpose of helping the coaching industry thrive and the people on the team. As a natural maximiser and activator, stepping away goes against my nature but I realised the importance of foresight before having too much on and being overstretched.

Reflecting on this with my aunty was very useful who shared she has four clear buckets of health, work, family / friends and charity work. For her, all of these buckets are non-negotiable and need to have a good level in and she can feel it if one goes really out of balance. Her mantra for this year is simplify and if something doesn’t align to her buckets it’s easy to say no.

This made me reflect that my buckets for now are Owain and the boys, family and friends, work, triathlon and self care (and maybe a chilled one for prosecco?!).

I thought I’d share this thought which may help others prioritise and make key decisions. I’ve discovered change is constant and it’s good to be able to adapt and re-prioritise regularly.

What are your buckets and are they in balance? Is there an overflowing one or leaky one that need some attention?

For those interested in this area, I found Megan Dalla-Camina’s “Getting real about having it all” an insightful book which reflects on asking what this big question meant to her and sharing practical steps to achieve this.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Dani

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