GIFT SHOP There is no lock. The door of the gift shop is always open. We are invited in and we are able to take what we wish. This is fantastic! Free gifts galore. Let’s take more of these. And then we realise, that if we continue, soon the shop will be empty. So we stop taking. Instead, we begin to bring and to share our own gifts. For we see now, that together, we can create the best gift shop in the world. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What gift can you bring to the best gift shop in the world? 2. What do you enjoy most about the gift shop? ACHIEVEMENTS My voice recognition software thinks I’m talking about cheese mints. It looks like I’ve just created a new product by accident! Imagine if this turned out to be one of my greatest achievements. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What has happened recently that has caused you to smile and see things a bit differently? 2. What new product or service would you like to create or offer ? LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT I am always looking ahead thinking, what next? Today’s plan? Next week’s activities? Trying to schedule everything in. But what I don’t do is to look at the year ahead, think about the next three years, or indeed the next ten years. I need to lift my thinking to be more strategic and not just task focused. For life isn’t just about weeding. The future is there to be imagined And then created. Seeds need to be planted for the flowers I want to grow. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What's your personal strategy for the next year, the next three years, and the next ten years? 2. Write each of these down. CONTAINER BUSINESS The original Business model was straightforward. It was about profit and building a business. The Mill owners of the Industrial Revolution had a simple focus. Over the years other elements have impacted upon that business model - employee rights, consumer protection, international laws, environmental concerns, government interventions of all sorts, corporate social responsibility, exchange rates, global outsourcing, internet marketing, health and safety, and much more. The local business entity of the industrial revolution has now become much more complex in a global interconnected world. Interestingly though, our concept of what business is and how it should work is still defined by that original model. In short, we keep adding on more ‘hi-tech’ features to the vehicle without really looking at the 250-year-old chassis. This cumulative approach needs disassembling. Henry Ford used to make all his cars in black but those days have long gone. Likewise, the ‘one size fits all’ approach to business is no longer relevant. Perhaps we should be exploring many models, driven not by history but by needs, situations and opportunities – however defined. The Internet evolution should be our starting point and not the Industrial revolution. Business is now personal. It’s time for each of us not only to think outside of the box, but to get out of the business box and build new containers. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Business is now personal. What business are you in? 2. How do you define your model of business - making money and looking after all that you care about? HIDDEN AGENDA There are things we should do but we don’t do them. There are people we should see but we don’t see them. There is work we should do but we don’t do it. There are words we should say but we don't say them. There are places we should go but we don’t go there. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your hidden agenda - the people and activities that you are avoiding? 2. How can you begin to address this? SUCCESS It may not work. It may not happen. It may not unfold as we think or had hoped for. But this is not failure. Failure is when we don’t have the dream, when we don’t act or when we don’t try to make it happen. Success is when we do our best, do what we can, and recognise that this is what is intended. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your dream? 2. How will you try to make this real today? RELIGIOUS BELIEF Talking about God is not easy in our world. It's a conversation that gets closed down quickly. It singles us out and we get placed in a camp. It’s them and me. It becomes about exclusion. But their view of God and mine are worlds apart. They talk of religion or belief. I talk of love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does the word 'love' mean to you? HOURLY RATE Don’t just work for money. Work for the asset you can create from that time. Think of the conversation, the experience, the new knowledge and the case study and the learning you have just received. What can you pull out or ‘harvest’ from this time at work? What have you learned? Who have you met? What were the points of interest? What is new or different that you can share with others? We work to be better equipped to advise, train or help others. We work to develop and build upon our expertise or key message. We work to collect new information for our next book, or service or product. So, don’t sell your time just for money. Explore the potential in every situation at work and play, and harvest from this. After your work has finished write down all that you have been given, for this is where the real value is. Your hourly rate is measured not just in money. Your hourly rate is measured by all that your work contains, how much you harvest and then what you share. This is the gift you must not leave unused. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What can you harvest from your work and play yesterday? 2. Where was the real value? 3. Remember to harvest every day - and capture all that you have been given. RE-PURPOSE Perhaps it is time to clear out the attic? Perhaps all that has been gathered up over the years needs to be thrown away, or used in a different way? Perhaps we need to get back to the house of years ago? Free of clutter, freshly painted and full of possibilities. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is holding you back from being all you should be? 2. How can you discover the possibilities that will enable you to fulfil your purpose? INDUCTION TRAINING Whatever age you are it doesn’t really matter. The reality is that you haven’t even started yet. Don’t let memory or routine or disappointment hold you back. Get ready now, for you haven’t even started yet. There are no expectations. The world is there for you. It is yours to embrace. You haven’t even started yet Your life is in front of you. All potential and possibilities are here. You haven’t even started yet. For this is the moment beyond all moments, when you finally realise that you haven’t even started yet. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Everything up to now has been a preparation for what is to come. How would you sum up your induction training? 2. Everything starts from today. What are you going to do with all of this potential and possibilities? |
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June 2021
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