This year, I’ve had the immense privilege of supporting and facilitating an amazing group of coaches who have been preparing their submissions for professional accreditation with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. What I noticed at the beginning of the week was how many of us are conditioned from an early age to see such exercises …
Like it or not, we can’t think our way to being different. Anyone who trains in a sport knows this instinctively. In business life, we tend to comply consistently with the tyranny of the value placed on thinking and logic. However, as Dr Dan Siegel notes, ‘mind is not what the brain does. The mind is an embodied …
The black belt is a symbol of achievement in Aikido. To onlookers is signifies skill, experience and seniority and occasionally a hint of mystery. Attainment requires students to demonstrate a set repertoire of learning on the mat to meet a specific standard of performance. And yet, students know that this is not what it means at …
There is something about a field of sunflowers in bloom that is majestic to the eye . When I see a field of sunflowers, I am often reminded of a phrase I overheard many years ago that has always stuck with me. “A sunflower doesn’t chase bees.” In these turbulent times, it is too easy to engage in …
Being number 1 (or first past the post) is not the same as being first on the call list. In the music industry, Carol Kaye, Craig Blundell and Steve Lukather belong to an exclusive list of ‘first call’ studio session musicians. They’re the ones who get called first by producers to work on high profile projects. Being …
There are no shortcuts to accomplishing anything worthwhile, ever. Yet we all look for them, don’t we? Experience affirms that there is only ever a direct path from A to B, where B is mastery of something. Instinctively we resist the path. Our inner gremlin whispers “It’s too hard. It’s uncomfortable. I’m bored. I’m tired. …