This morning I took the opportunity to have a relaxing cup of coffee in the garden while listening to a podcast.
Looking forward to the day the blackberry bushes behind me will be full of fruit and I’ll be picking some every morning for my breakfast.
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
Today I had to take my cat to the vet for an annual check-up, and she knew.
There are three reasons my cat has been in a carrier in the last 2 years (since I got her).
One, to bring her home from the foster home.
Two, to take her to the vet health check when I first got her.
Three, for a long drive up to my mums. (This has been the most frequent reason).
She is not thrilled by any of the reasons, but I swear she knows the difference!
When I collected her the first time, she cried the entire 45 min journey home.
The first time to the vet she cried all the way there but not on the way back.
Then the first time to my mums she cried for a few minutes then settled down. Subsequent times she is not happy getting in the carrier but settles straight down when I let her look around the car.
And today she knew it was the vets, she cried as soon as I picked her up to put her in the carrier, while I took her out to the car and did not stop until we got there. (Smart move shutting up when there is also a dog in the waiting room!) Even when looking around the car (pictured) from her carrier she was crying.
The main picture is back in the car after the visit, where she came out to sit on my lap to settle her before the drive home.
Had she really noticed I had not been packing bags and loading the car (to go to mum’s)?
Did she notice my time critical action of going to find her? (When going to mum’s the time does not really matter, so I wait till she come to me)
All of this got me thinking about how there are times when we know something is happening/going to happen. Call it intuition, gut feeling, Spidey sense, reading the signs etc we have all had times where we knew how it was going to pan out, but we continued regardless, trying to create a different outcome. Only for the ‘inevitable’ to happen.
How often do you get these kinds of feelings?
Do you notice them at the time, or just looking back?
How do they show up for you, what physical sensations do you feel? (Knot in your gut, hairs on the back of your neck etc)
What will you do next time?
#businesscoach #businesscoaching #whenyouknowyouknow #trustyourself #sensations
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
There are lots of angles on this one, which I’ll probably expand on another day, but today was definitely about going with the flow and seeing what happens.
The picture is from another classic car meet, this time at Burghfield Spices / The Hatch Gate
It was very much an ‘If I get there I get there’ if not I’ll work something else out for a picture.
A nice selections of cars in attendance and again the conversations of what people should and maybe should not do to their cars came up. Along with lots of stories of ‘I had one of those x years ago’.
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
Yesterday I asked:
Is there something where you just need to do something? What is that first step to get the ball rolling?
For me there was, so an afternoon working in the garden repairing a garden wall.
I’ll probably have to leave doing the rest of this until later in the year when the plants have died back but the overall result is it is now much more stable and safer. The repair blends in with what was already there and I’m now shattered!
What is your next best step?
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
Originally today was going to be lazy Saturday, doing a couple of bits and pieces but nothing that would really give me a photo of anything particular to talk about. So the plan was (at some point) to just snap a photo and post it.
The trouble is, when I snapped the photo I was pretty much in the middle of something, so didn’t post it straight away (I tend to post from my laptop rather than phone as posting on personal and business Facebook plus Instagram it’s easier to do the cross checking/proof reading on a decent size screen).
But this gave me time to think, rather than just getting the job done. I’ve got another 34 days so plenty of opportunities to share ponderings, so the odd just a photo is fine. But when I have time to think, I think. It’s pretty much what makes me good at what I do. I think about things in the background (more than my unconscious) I literally work them through while doing other stuff.
This means we have ended up here with me writing and sharing something that maybe will resonate with you. But in reality it has bogged me down (a little) all day. Which on a lazy Saturday is fine, but when there is real work to be done can start to cause issues.
This can happen with things you are putting off because you don’t want to do them, but also (as here) with something you do want to do, but you want to do it bigger and better. However all the speculating of how the bigger and better would look means it actually doesn’t happen.
These could be personal (health/wellness/relationship) or professional (actual job/career etc). No more thinking about it just take the actions. (Where something is better than nothing)
Is there a something where you just need to do something?
What is that first step to get the ball rolling?
#businesscoach #businesscoaching #gettheballrolling #nextstep #dosomething #takeaction
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
No reflections (other than those in the window) today.
Roof down, shades on.
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
I wasn't really sure if I was going to do any writing today, I knew that the footpath along the river had been closed so went along to get a picture of the closure sign and maybe write something about boundaries, but it had reopened (which I had guessed it would have). So a quick photo in my tatty hat (hopefully getting my other one back this evening).
But then saw a group of huge tree trunks and a pile of wood chips, which probably explains why the footpath was closed.
So back to the trees.
We can all see what they, the space, looks like now and I only walked past the other day. I don’t remember seeing anything that would suggest the dramatic change was about to happen. Having said that I can’t even remember what it used to look like. I can’t remember if the other side had already been cleared, or if this bit was slightly more open.
This got me thinking about how we acknowledge change. How sometimes we don’t even notice it (even when we are working hard for it), the little incremental nudges in a new direction that seem insignificant or ineffective at the time, until we are so far down the line that we cant remember a time before now.
This can be both good, taking us towards something we want, or bad, the little habits/patterns/circumstances that take us away from who we are/what we want. And one day it’s “how did I get here” but you can’t put your finger on the one action, the big leap that made it happen. Or maybe you can, but you never moved past it, you stagnated not consistently taking the little steps (because you could not see any change as you were making them) to get back to where you wanted to be.
… There is a story in The Slight Edge that refers to how the water hyacinth grows, as an example of this kind of compound interest (tomorrows interest applied to today’s stake + today’s interest) doubling every day. And another story from somewhere about two siblings being offered a million pounds or a penny that doubled every day (£5,368,709.12 on day 30 when you do the sums).
These stories are always huge and dramatic, and almost unobtainable, there is no such thing as a doubling penny. (And if someone offers you that as in interest rate it’s likely to be a pyramid scheme)
So just look back at the trees.
They started as a seed that fell or were planted and grew over I don’t know 20, 30, 50 years (I’ve been walking along that bit of river on and off for at least 20 years) and covered the riverbank. And it’s not until now that I notice how much of an impact they have had/space they have taken up.
If you look back, 6 months, a year, 3 years. Can you see a significant change? (good or bad)
Is that what you hoped for?
Can you identify something small you can do every day, that will create the opportunities for more of what you want?
#businesscoach #businesscoaching #littlesteps #noticethechange
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
For today's #50DaysOfShades the theme is Time to reflect.
As I approach the 2 week mark of this current 50DaysOfShades I wanted to take some time to reflect on how it’s going and what I am experiencing this time round. (So dropped into @Tutus Ethiopian Table for a coffee, no laptop, no writing, just time to sit, and obviously get a photo or two, but mainly to think, but did then sit in the park to write this up)
So how is it going? (for you, drop a comment, and for me?)
Well I have way higher expectations of what it will be this time round. Not sure yet if that means more pressure, or simply that I want it to mean more.
There is something in me that is using it to force myself to share more thoughts and insights however they come out that day. Looking back they do tend to be a string of questions for myself and anyone that reads the posts.
It is, no matter what the public rules are, way more than just a photo a day.
There is also something about the combination of screen protector, polarised sunglasses and bright sunshine that means I can’t see a thing when I’m taking the photos so getting way more random shots/poses and amusing pics (particularly like the googly eyes one today). So am definitely embracing the fun side of what comes out which slightly contradicts the ‘want it to mean more’ but if it means I have more fun and you get a laugh maybe that is ‘meaning more’ enough.
Do we embrace the fun when things don’t go as planned?
Where do we elaborate on the rules (for ourselves and others)?
Do we write between the lines, leave things unsaid, create judgements that the criteria for have never been expressed?
And what does this do:
Does it make our life easier (as we don’t need to properly express ourselves) or is that only temporary leaving us to deal with the mess it creates later down the line?
#businesscoach #businesscoaching #embracewhathappens #clearcommunication #boundaries
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
Interesting one for me today. The photo has me wrapped up warm with my jacket on because it was ‘cold’
Well it wasn’t really cold, but I expected it, I felt it, I believed it, I convinced myself it was (going to be) cold. I’d collected my (faulty/partial) evidence and that was it. Cold it was going to be.
Basically it was a bit gloomy outside, it was also a bit blustery so the movement of air though the house had dropped the temperature a little.
So wrapped up and headed out to get my daily photo.
As soon as I shut the door there was an “ah, it’s nowhere near as cold as I thought it would be”
I hadn’t checked the outside thermometers (I’d moved them a couple of days ago an not put them back) so had no reality check on what it was ACTUALLY like outside.
I had jumped to the conclusion based on limited information.
As you can see from the 2nd picture (that I set back up once I got home) it was actually peaking at 30°C outside in the sun, it just happened the wind was coming from the shady side of the house.
This is just a simple example (with no real consequences) of how only looking at one outcome and finding the evidence to support that outcome can lead errors of judgement.
Just check with yourself, Where do you look for evidence that supports you existing point of view? Are you avoiding looking for anything that will counter that view, or simply dismissing it if it is there?
Whenever you do something (that has real consequences) make sure you add a reality check that challenges your existing outlook.
#businesscoach #businesscoaching #realitycheck #challangeyourviews
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4
