Monday 30 June 2014

Head Quote

"You must take personal responsibility.

You cannot change the circumstances,

the seasons, or the wind, but

you can change yourself"

- Jim Rohn


and as Matthew Pinsent put it

"Control the Controllables"

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Friday 27 June 2014

Head Quote

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
John Wooden

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Thursday 26 June 2014

Head Quote

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
J. K. Rowling

What choices are you making today?

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Head Quote

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
Albert Einstein

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Head Quote

"You are a living magnet.  What you attract into your life is in harmony with your dominant thoughts."
Brian Tracy

What has been your dominant thought today and is it moving you towards your goal?

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Monday 23 June 2014

Head Quote

"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want"
Ben Stein

Huge congratulations to Niki Rouse and Kerry Large who will be representing GB at the World Aquathlon Championships in Canada in August.

Have you decided what you want?

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy


Saturday 21 June 2014

Saturday Silliness

One for all those who get 'that look' from their pets!

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Friday 20 June 2014

Head Quote

"You can be a doctor or nurse or policeman or woman.  A bit of hard work and determination and you can achieve anything, you've just to have that in your heart.

Nicola Adams, Boxer

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Thursday 19 June 2014

Head Quote

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."
Dale Carnegie

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Head Quote

"You have to enjoy yourself when you're out there, which I try to do as much as possible"
Chris Jordan, Cricket - after taking 5 - 29

(for those that don't follow cricket that means he took 5 wickets for only 29 runs!!)

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy


Monday 16 June 2014

Head Quote

"You can't put a limit on anything.  The more you dream the further you get"
Michael Phelps, Swimmer

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Friday 13 June 2014

Head Quote

Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the DEDICATED
Unknown

Have a great weekend being dedicated!

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Thursday 12 June 2014

What's your Learning Style?

Have you ever considered how you learn?  Do you prefer to listen to instructions before trying a new task or do you prefer to go straight into it, learning as you go along?

A couple of years ago I was asked to run a interactive workshop at Bisham Abbey with sports coaches to explore how they could identify the different learning styles of their athletes and therefore be able to coach more effectively.

It is always useful to know where you start your learning cycle from and therefore be able to make sure you do have a fully rounded learning experience.  The following is just under 10 minutes of audio with slides which is the condensed version of the full workshop (and obviously no interaction!!)

The learning styles covered here are by Honey and Mumford and if anyone is interested in doing the questionnaire and finding out more about their preferences and how to use the information then please do let me know.



Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Head Quote

"You don't win tournaments by playing well and thinking poorly".
Lee Westwood, Golf

How is your thinking helping or hindering you?

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Head Quotes

"I'm glad we don't have to play in the shade..."
Bobby Jones, Golf
Taking part in a tournament and told that it was 105 degrees in the shade!

As we get some long hot summer days do look after yourselves in the sun, put on the sun cream, wear a hat and sun glasses and make sure you stay hydrated!

Something many people forget is they do need salt (sodium) in their system so make sure you are getting enough and not diluting it in your system by just drinking water.  You can make your own easy sports energy drink with water, full fat squash and a sprinkling of salt!

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Monday 9 June 2014

Head Quote

"Practice does not make Perfect, Practice makes Permanent..."
Larry Gelwix

When did you last think about, in specific detail, your daily practices?  What are you making permanent?

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Saturday 7 June 2014

Friday 6 June 2014

Flexibility and Learning

Following on from out Outcome Thinking which we looked at on May 8th (in case you have forgotten...) This article looks at how we learn from what we do and how being flexible in thought will help us achieve our Outcomes that we have set.


What is Flexibility?

One of the core beliefs in NLP is that the person with the most flexibility has the most influence in any given interaction.  This belief comes from the Law of Requisite Variety, which is from systems theory.

What this means is that it is important to be able to vary your response to possible change and uncertainty around you, so that you have alternative choices available to you.  By knowing your outcome from the start will mean that you can decide what choices you might need so that you can respond immediately with a reaction that has been thought through rather than reflexively and possible chaotically!



Why is it useful

If we understand that what we are doing (in thought or behaviours) isn't working it is much more useful to already have thought through more choices so that we can quickly and effectively change what we are doing in order to reach our outcome.  It is said that 'if what you are doing isn't working do something different - do anything different!'  If what you are doing has proved to not be effective then it does not seem a good use of time and energy to continually prove this to yourself.

It is useful to think about the implication that if you come across resistance in another person then it is probable that there is inflexibility in you in this particular situation.  So if you are confronting resistance in others then look to yourself to see where you are not being flexible.


How to use it

If you are getting stuck in your communication or when using particular techniques, because they worked before, then take a step back and look at coming at the issue from another approach. - Remember if something is not working then do something, anything differently.




We also need flexibility when we are looking at how we learn and there are two frameworks to keep in mind.

The first model is from the work of Chris Argyris.  He described the concept of single loop and double loop learning.  With single loop learning we continually attempt to work out a way of achieving our goal using the same method of thinking and behaviours and without questioning the goal we are working towards.  With double loop learning an individual or organisation is able, having attempted to achieve a goal on different occasions, to modify the goal in the light of experience or possibly even reject the goal.



The second model you may have seen as a learning ladder looking from moving between unconscious and conscious competence and incompetence.  The version below takes into account mature reflection and practice throughout the process and is courtesy of Will Taylor, Chair, Department of Homeopathic Medicine, National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon, USA, March 2007

"We revisit conscious incompetence, making discoveries in the holes in our knowledge and skills, becoming discouraged, which fuels incentive to proceed (when it does not defeat). We perpetually learn, inviting ongoing tutelage, mentoring and self-study (ongoing conscious competence). We continually challenge our 'unconscious competence' in the face of complacency, areas of ignorance, unconscious errors, and the changing world and knowledge base: We challenge our unconscious competence when we recognize that a return to unconscious incompetence would be inevitable. We do this in part by self-study and use of peer review - such that mature practice encompasses the entire 'conscious competence' model, rather than supersedes it as the hierarchical model might suggest."




By understanding these models and how we learn we can raise our ability to be flexible in our thinking which means we can create and achieve our goals and outcomes.

Thursday 5 June 2014

Head Quotes

Happy Birthday to David Weir, wheelchair athlete legend. And so today's quotes are from the man himself!

"If you're having a dark day in training you imagine your rivals pushing you to the limit.  I scream at myself to get going then."

"I was meant to have retired by now.  But I've changed my mind.  I thought I wouldn't have the motivation to keep going.  But I'm doing the marathon again next year.  I'm going back to training in Richmond Park. It's going to be cold, dark and lonely but you know what? I just want more. I'm far from done." (Dec 2012)

"In your mind - desire to win."

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Head Quote




This was me at 37 miles into my 100 mile ultra run.  The only point in time I doubted I could do it.  By taking some extra time at this checkpoint it allowed me to remembered why I was doing this and the fact that I really wanted to do it!

Annie
Live Laugh, Enjoy

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Head Quote

"If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you always got"

Henry Ford

This is most undoubtedly true of my golf swing - which after today's lesson will hopefully now improve!

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy

Monday 2 June 2014

Head Quote

"To uncover your true potential you must first find our own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them."

Picabo Street, Skier

Today's quote is for all those who pushed past their limits over the months of training and then on the day.  This weekend saw some amazing performances by people on this page.  Representing GB at the European Aquathon Championships in Cologne and those taking part in the Outlaw Half Triathlon.

Congratulations to your all!!

Our roll call of honour is

Niki Rouse - European Aquathon Championships
Mark Fisher - Outlaw
Paresh Aaktar - Outlaw
Julie Prichett - Outlaw
Clive Barnes - Outlaw

Annie
Live, Laugh, Enjoy