I still believe, but I should also learn: England World Cup 2010

I sit here somewhat at a loss because of the England performance I witnessed.

I could talk about today’s game. There would not be enough words to describe how badly we played. We were indifferent, lacklustre and without any passion.

I could talk about the team. Why can’t a bunch of world-class talented guys play together and create a world class team?

I could talk about the manager. Why would you take a striker off the field when you need 3 goals in 20 minutes?

I could talk about the system. Why don’t we play Gerrard in the holding position behind Rooney?

I could talk about what we don’t have. Beckham. Passion. The list would be long!

I could talk about the fans. Incredibly loyal fans that cope with immense levels of disappointment.

But I thought I would talk about my business.

Everyone can see what is wrong with the England team, yet we all hope and believe things will be different next time. How often do I treat my business the same way? I’ll change maybe one or two things – but that’s it. I can see the problems, but do I change them? Do I listen to my fans, or do I believe that I know better than them? Do I still keep a member of staff that can’t play on my team because of their past reputation? Am I the type of leader that can create something totally world class, or do I blame someone else for it not working? Do I let my team put forward a display that shows no belief in what the company stands for?

I would be embarrassed if I was the England manager today.

I would be shamed if I was one of the England players.

I still believe that thing can change because that is what England fans do.

In short, though, I am like most people. I can see what others need to change. I am just not so clear at seeing what I need to change, and then having the strength to change it.

Dan Pink on Motivation – but much better!

Came across this video today (courtesy of inspirisimo.com). I love Dan Pink’s TED talk on motivation – but these guys add a whole different level to message with an extraordinary presentation that both captivates you and strengthens the message. Just brilliant and well worth 10 minutes of your time!

59 Seconds to Happiness

I was asked recently, “What makes you happy?”

What a great question! if you haven’t read the book: 59 Seconds: Think a little, change a lot, then I highly recommend it. It is a great read. I particularly liked the chapter on happiness. Here are some of my notes from that chapter. You might want to try the journalling tips too – I really like those.

Happiness doesn’t just flow from success it actually causes it.

Is it possible to buy happiness?

• Ask most people what they need to be happy and in survey after survey “more money” is the top answer.
• Studies showed that those who have won the lottery on no more or less happy than those who haven’t.
• Studies show that when people can afford the necessities of life an increase in income does not result in a significantly happier life.
• Why is this the case? Part of the reason is that we all get used to what we have very quickly. Buying a new car provides a short-term feel-good boost but we quickly become accustomed to it and sink back to pre-purchased level of joy.

The scientific make-up of happiness.

• Research shows that about 50% of your overall sense of happiness is genetic
• 10% is due to general circumstances (educational level, income and whether you are married or single, etc).
• 40% is derived from your day to day behaviour, and the way in which you think about yourselves and others. This is the easiest one for you to change quickly.

The power of positive thinking?

Does the road to happiness really depend on people being able to simply push negative thoughts out there mind?

No. Research suggest that trying not to ink about something makes us focus on it more – so increasing misery. Try asking someone on a diet not to think about chocolate means they will eat more (fact).

Journal your way to happiness

People who have experienced a traumatic event have been encouraged to spend just a few minutes each day writing a diary type account of their deepest thoughts and feelings about it.

Participants experienced a remarkable boost in their psychological and physical well-being, including a reduction in health problems and an increase in self-esteem and happiness.

Writing encourages the creation of the storyline and a structure that helps people make sense of what’s happened and work towards a solution. Just talking about it can be unstructured and even chaotic

Journal outline

Maintain this journal for a week or two. If you feel the effects wearing off, simply repeat the exercise again.

• Monday: Thanksgiving.
  Think back over the past week and must be things which you are grateful for.
• Tuesday: terrific times.
  Think about one of the most wonderful experiences in your life will stop now spend a few moments writing down a description that experience and how you felt will stop to simply commit your thoughts to paper.
• Wednesday: future fantastic.
  Spend a few moments writing about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Be realistic, but imagine that you have worked hard and achieved or your goals. Imagine you have become the person you really want to be, and your personal and professional life feels like a dream come true.
• Thursday: dear…
  Think about sign your life is very important to you imagine you only have one opportunity to tell this person how important they are to you. Now write a short letter to this person, describing how much you care for them and the impact it had on your life.
• Friday: reviewing the situation.
  Think back over the past seven days and make a note of three things went really well for you.

What makes you happy?

Overcoming writer’s block

I love the web, and the connection. Tonight is a great example. I have been pondering what to blog about tonight, and sat looking at a blank screen for a while. So I posted on twitter and facebook that I had writer’s block and asked what I should blog about.

The obvious answer: write about overcoming writer’s block (thanks Tim and Rob @tweetmktng). So rather than sit there, I thought about overcoming this problem. So – here is what I did to go from having no ideas in my head to lots, from no blog posts to having material and ideas for lots

1. I did a video shoot. I don’t know why I thought to do this – I just did. I set the camera up and just started talking about anything and anything that came to mind. A lot of it is pure nonsense (that will never be shown, I promise).
2. I wrote down all the ideas that came out of doing that – these were: answering some questions that were sent in to me, where I am up to with redefining our marketing strategy, what books I have read recently that I have enjoyed, what gadgets I have got recently that I could review and enjoying family life (even daring to talk about marriage).

So there you go – that is how I overcame writer’s block: I did something different and forced my brain to be creative. Honestly – I enjoyed it and will do it again!

What about you? Any advice or tips for overcoming writer’s block?

Overcoming stuff: Oprah should do this show!

Zach’s oprah deal from Zach Anner on Vimeo.

Ok, anyone else inspired? Anyone else able to put their life into context?

Today, I had a great leaders meeting at church…I know, I was surprised too!

Today we had a meeting at church and I am very happy to report that it was a great meeting!

Normally, when you have a leaders meeting (especially in the church) it tries to do too many things and it becomes yet another meeting that goes on too long because too much has been shoe-horned into the time.

This meeting had the potential go do that. Brilliantly, the pastor spotted this and sent out a revised agenda yesterday that trimmed the fat and made us focus on the specific area that we are responsible for.

The first agenda was deflating. The second agenda was freeing. I felt such a sense of relief when I received it in the email. The pastor started the meeting by explaining why he had changed the agenda. Everyone in the room agreed with him and were extremely glad at he did. To give him his full credit – Nic (pastor) had got everyones thoughts on the matter and listened to them. Not only did he listen but he acted on the collective opinion of his leadership team. He knows that if you can trust someone to be a leader you can trust their ideas, even if they are not the same as yours.

The meeting also had a clear purpose that was stated at the start! I loved it.

It was a great meeting – and it felt like we achieved what the team has been put in place to do. And, we finished in time! Something that I am amazingly grateful for.

How many of your team say that about the meetings that you run?

Diary of a storyteller – 1st entry

Must learn to be better at story telling!

Why?

Simple:

1. Connects with people
2. People get the idea
3. Memorable and authentic
4. Message is easy to spread
5. Requires creativity and not the usual trollop!

I don’t want to do just to write a novel (although, that would be pretty cool), but I do want to do it so that I can become much better at both communicating and influencing. Stories will help me do that.

So, I have committed to re-learn this old art-form and adapt it to every area of life that I can. This is my diary of lessons learned.

First lesson learned: storytelling is an art-form that can be learned. Great news for me! I can learn this stuff. So, I have done what I always do when I want to learn about something, I buy some books…so I will update the diary of the storyteller as I learn new things.

Some questions:

So what makes a great story? What are some of the most memorable stories that you know?

How to deal with feeling nervous – lessons from a 8 year old

MP3 Version | iPhone/iPod/iPad Version | YouTube | Vimeo | iTunes

Josh, my 8 year old son, rode his bike on the road today for the first time.

This short video is a quick interview with him about how he felt (nervous) and what he did to deal with those nerves. He did it in-spite of the nervousness, and at the end he felt a great sense of achievement and pride.

What do you do when you feel nervous?

Talking with Claire Cowles about Lamb Bananas and motherhood

MP3 Version | iPhone/iPod/iPad Version | YouTube | Vimeo | iTunes

Spent some great time talking with Clairey recently (aka Claire Clowles).

Claire, has set up her own business doing fundraising and marketing. More recently, she had been involved with the Superlamb Banana project, and gives us some insight in to a great project for Liverpool and one that was really successful.

Claire also talks about being a new mum and how that affects her business and the importance of not panicking or worrying about work.

An extended interview will be available on en-thusePREMIUM (coming soon).

My 30 Day Challenge

Just read Matt Cutts blog post: Help me pick my new 30 day challenge. What  a great idea.

I have 12 month Strategy Maps (business and personal), Quarterly Priorities (business – no more than 5) and 3 month goals (personal). I have done 12 week challenges before – but never 30 day challenges.

This idea really jumps out to me…so I am gonna try it.

Here’s my plan: set a challenge. Blog about how I am doing and set a penalty using Stickk.com. Should be interesting!

My first challenge:

• I could go for exercise: it is always good to do exercise and let’s be honest, there aren’t that many people in the world that couldn’t benefit from more exercise!
• I could change my eating habits: no junk food/treats for 30 days. This would be hard (I am partial to the odd biscuit or chocolate bar). This would have some instant benefit.
• I could do something financial – no spending money for a month (except on standard bills etc). This would be real hard. Not sure what the boundaries would be here.
• It could be something spiritual: again – you can always pray more!
• Maybe write 30 blog posts? Or do 30 vlogs? Maybe a combination of the both?
• I could do something everyday that benefits someone else who doesn’t have the ability to pay me back.

The challenge should be used to form a new habit, or bring some kind of balance to life. All the above would meet those criteria. My only problem is that I have to do something that I have done today (strike whilst the iron is hot, and I have some kind of motivation to do it).

So I have chosen to do the blogging/vlog challenge. Follow progress on Stickk.com if you use it.

Next month I think I might cycle to work everyday?

What do you think? What should be my next 30 day challenge?