Blog

The Trust Dilemma

If there is one word I find nobody feels neutral about, it’s the word TRUST. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and everyone has stories to tell that lead to their opinions. Confucius is known to have said: “I wouldn’t know what to do with someone whose word cannot be trusted. How would you drive a wagon without a yoke or a chariot without a crossbar?” John C Maxwell said: “Trust is like oxygen; when there is enough available, nobody notices its presence. The moment there is a shortage of trust; everybody notices it in very real way!” Many people refer to trust as the foundation of relationships; and yet most people in my trust sessions seem to have difficulty trusting, and therefore experience foundational problems in many key relationships in their lives.

Yes you CAN Change!

“Do you like change?”

I start so many of my personal mastery workshops with this question; and have never received an indifferent response. Delegates either indicate that they love change or that they hate it… I am however of the opinion that no normal person loves change.

A friend of mine, Bill Gibson, shared a fun exercise with me that I often use during these sessions. I ask everyone to write down the following short statement: “It’s nice to be here today.” As soon as it is done, I ask them how it felt. The looks always say the same: “DUUUHH”, what a silly question!” I then ask them to write the same simple statement using their other hand. The sudden change in the room always amazes me. The energy shifts. The body poster, levels of concentration and even the mood in the room undergo a complete transformation… nervous laughs, determination, jokes and even a few complaints from those who believe they can’t do it, erupts all over. I join in to pull the Mickey out of a few, and when, at last, all are done; I ask the same question: “How did that feel?”

The Human Iceberg

That is only the tip of the Iceberg!

Everyone understands what you mean when you use this phrase. Referring to the fact that things are not the way they seem... there is a lot more to it than meets the eye, you have to look deeper, do some homework, some research, and ask more questions… think for yourself! But when it comes to human behaviour, we all too often act on face value. We assume that we understand what the person says or understand why she did what she did. We think that by telling people (our children, partners, staff members or friends) what they should or shouldn’t do would change their behaviour… We don’t understand why they don't listen, and why we seem to be talking to the wall? There is always more to it than meets the eye!

In Search of Greatness

“Perfection is a term that humans will never achieve a consensus on, because it exists mainly in our imaginations.” This is the opinion of Kerri Strug who won a bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. John C Maxwell says that to strive for perfection is to set you up for disappointment. No-one will ever reach perfection in his or her life time. What we can work towards… No HAVE TO work towards is Excellence! Another word that I came to love is the word Greatness. According to the Urban Dictionary, greatness is an acquisition of status by the people who have contributed to an organization, group, or purpose that is greater than them. It is defined by the deeds of people that make this world a better place. To provide a purpose to those who have no purpose, and to sustain it, mitigate it from damage, and praise it in any way they can, while still maintaining their own dignity and greatness.

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