Seven Deadly sins - they originated with the "Desert Fathers" (a collection of Christian hermits , aesthetics and monks who lived in Egypt in the 3rd century AD). The sins as we know them were described as evil thoughts by Evagrius Ponticus. Originally there were eight - the extra one being "dejection"
It is a pleasure at times to look back as well as forwards. My most recent past has been pretty grim, so it was reassuring and uplifting for me to revisit this post, which was crafted in December 2014. I am very grateful to its author. What a lot has happened in the past four years. It has been a timely reminder of the fact that things change, dark times do not last forever and that there are always good experiences and learning to look forward to.
Today's post was written by my dear friend Michael Carty. Michael is often described, especially by those who know him, as the glue that binds the HR community on Twitter together. He is alert, interested and very well connected. However, he is much more than just glue - Michael is a cherished contact for many and always there to provide support and advice. His Twitter handle is @MJCarty. He writes a delightful blog, http://mjcarty.com, that illustrates how well read and far reaching his thoughts are. I love the powerful message of hope and anticipation behind his apparently simple words...
You were there then. You are here now. You will be there then.
The path you perceive isn’t the only one that exists.
Path beside a lake, Croatia
The path you are on isn’t the only one available to you. No matter how long you have been on that path, or how far it’s taken you.
There are other paths... Ewoks fleeing an All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walker on a forest path Original story board visual by Ralph Mac Querrie for Return of the Jedi, Star Wars film
You always have a choice. You are always free to decide if you can live with the consequences of making that choice.
You can’t be anybody else but yourself. You can’t have any other values than your own. Trust in them.
I think it’s time, as it always is, to let your values guide you through. Being you has got you this far. Being you has got you much further than you would ever have thought.
You can travel further than you think possible Dr Who's Tardis
Being you will take you to places of which you have just plain no inkling right now. That is nothing of which to be frightened. That is the most exciting adventure of all.
There will always be setbacks. There will always be reasons for tears. There will always be joy.
9th September 2016 (the date is the 68th anniversary of
the founding of North Korea). The other 4 were 6th January 2016,
12th Feb 2013, 25th May 2009 and 9th October 2006.
I was both amazed and delighted when this post dropped into my inbox. I have known Michael Moran for years, but had no idea that he was a follower or fan of the Advent Blogs series. Michael is the Chief Executive and Founder of 10Eighty - the specialist organisation that works with organisations to ensure that they achieve the best outcomes in relation to their people (80% of people in companies are the "bedrock" and results can be achieved by increasing their engagement, the remaining 20% can be split into two groups of 10 - the first are the talented star performers that any business needs to identify, attract, and retain the final 10% are in the process of leaving (for a multitude of reasons) - Michael and his team can help with each group, hence the corporate name). Michael cut his teeth in the National Health, working with unions and in "personnel" (as it was then) within the Health Service, before moving into The City in time for Big Bang. Michael developed his career within leading brokers and commodity specialists, focusing on organisational effectiveness and strategy. He ceased being an operations manager to establish and lead Penna's Financial Services arm. Michael believes in self-development and continuous learning. Whilst at Penna he found time to study, achieving an MBA from Warwick - when chatting with him it is hard not to be inspired by his quick wit and perceptive questioning). In the early Noughties Michael left to have greater autonomy in running a business, joining Fairplace. Throughout his career he has specialised in working with and supporting people. Michael is active on social Media, you can follow him on Twitter, his handle is @mdmoran10eighty. As the title of his post perhaps suggests, his piece is full of hope and inspiration - simple, sage advice (just what Michael has provided for me at times, over the years, when we've met up for a chat).
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Follow your heart This piece was inspired by the news that after years of
giving careers advice to readers of the Financial Times, the award-winning
columnist Lucy Kellaway is changing career.
Kellaway believes that changing careers leads to richer
lives, and that at the age of 57 she is excited by the challenge. Kellaway
admits that it won’t be an option for those who can’t afford the smaller pay
packet of a teacher’s starting salary but thinks there is a “demographic sweet
spot” of those whose children have left home and who avoided the worst of the
housing market.
Most of us are likely to be working into our sixties and
seventies and career change may be a welcome option for many. Take a gap year,
retrain, do an MBA, change direction.
You can reinvent yourself or start
afresh. Do you want to be a gallery owner, a landscape gardener, a football
coach, a hypnotherapist?
Silvana de Soissons left a role in The City to become initially a food writer and cookery
teacher, before focusing on artisan food (she started her first food blog, The Foodie Bugle,
which, the following year, went on to win the Guild of Food Writers Media Award). In addition to The Foodie Bugle,
she now has a shop in Bath selling fresh local produce and beautiful but strictly useful objects for the house
Live your values Many people fall into a career that suits but doesn’t
inspire them. You don’t have to stay there forever, though. Don’t be
constrained by goals you set in the past - there are so many ways to find a
perfect career! Your story is unique and the possibilities are endless.
I advocate that over the holiday you spend some time on a
rigorous self-evaluation and don’t compromise your values or stifle your
ambition. Apply some mindfulness to your career plan and follow your intuition.
You need to live by your values and convictions and if you can work with others
who share your passion that helps. You have to be the change you want, trust
yourself and do whatever it takes to make a difference and put your ideas about
a fulfilling and sustainable career into practice.
It sounds simple but we live and work in a complex world and
sometimes we have to negotiate and compromise but nobody is perfect and you
don’t have all the answers but keep asking questions and chasing your dream.
Career activism
Becoming a successful career activist is about opening your
mind to the possibilities around you. My advice:
It's not a privilege to have a job you love, it is what you deserve.
Making changes may be hard but you have the power to plan your life and change it.
Use your network, connect with those who inspire you.
Cultivate a focus on your career that will allow you to develop and thrive.
Make a commitment to continuous self-improvement.
Be ready and be flexible and courageous in considering your options, you have a wealth of experience, knowledge and perspectives, be creative about how you apply them.
If you think you need to make changes, next year, go for it!
30 equals the total number of major and minor keys in Western tonal music. It is also the number of uprights that formed the Sarcen Circle at Stonehenge. Recent research suggests that the inner Bluestones ring probably had acoustic properties, which might explain their being transported 320 km by Stonehenge's makers.
Today's piece is by Phil Willcox, the impassioned founder and Managing Director of e3ctc, a consultancy based in Lincoln, UK, which specialises in training and coaching to enable individuals and organisations to learn and develop. He is interested in authenticity and science-based emotional intelligence and the impact that they have on good leadership and the motivation of teams. Phil is a regular voice on Twitter (his handle is @PhilWillcox) and he is a good fellow to spend an evening with, putting the world to rights. A devoted husband and father, Phil enjoys helping and supporting others (both in and out of work) to thrive and grow.
Why? It's the only TED talk that I've come across that gets a standing ovation at the start and at the end. More so though, it is about the meaning I find in it. It speaks to me because I have daughters, I like poetry, in the journey that Sarah has been through I find similarity to my own. I could go on and will choose to stop for now, as the importance will come back later.
One of the things I hold incredibly dear and share as much as possible is my view on the value of reflective practice. Over this year I have developed that to be 'reflective purposeful practice' as it is something that I think needs to be done both on and for a purpose. Let me be clear, thinking about or reflecting on stuff is massively useful and important. Even more though, doing this:
On purpose - which means you choose to do so and to do so regularly
For a purpose - which means you are doing it to learn, change, replicate, repeat or for a reason that you will act upon in the future.
Purposeful reflection! Car wing mirror with in-built LED indicator
I often meet people that say 'I don't know' and that reminds me of a line from one of my favourite film series 'The Matrix' where a character called 'The Oracle' is talking with 'Neo' (played by Keanu Reeves), here's the transcript:
Oracle:You have the sight now, Neo. You are looking at the world without time.
Neo:Then why can't I see what happens to her?
Oracle:We can never see past the choices we don't understand.
Neo:Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?
Oracle:No. You've already made the choice, now you have to understand it.
Neo:No, I can't do that. I won't.
Oracle:You have to.
Neo:Why?
Oracle:Because you're The One.
Neo:What if I can't? What happens if I fail?
Oracle:Then Zion will fall.
I realise that I am running the risk of losing you in film quotes and stick with me, it works out.
As humans we find meaning everywhere. It is the reason we misunderstand each other, why two people can see, hear, smell, taste the same thing(s) and get wholly different meanings, impressions, experiences and conclusions. It is something called 'relevance theory' and means that we will experience something through the senses and find the meaning or explanation that best fits what we know, want, think or feel about it.
Do you see a human face or a girl hurrying across the cobbles? What you see may be influenced by your current mood and past experiences
Let's play with that for a moment. Do I (or you) believe in fate or are we in control of our destiny?
For me, I prefer yellow bananas to black bananas.
Right now you are or already have searched to find what that means. Am I likening fate to yellow or black bananas? Or am I saying that I don't believe either and I'd prefer the idea of control over fate? In reality, it's a statement of seven words that I stole from someone and put into this blog. That's it.
And.....
You will have looked for or more likely found meaning in those seven words.
When it comes to the paths we follow or we choose or how we perceive the world, those around us or the choices we (may) make, relevance theory is a massive part of it.
One of my favourite discoveries this year has been the 'Street Wisdom' movement. (I do also notice the links here between 'street' and 'path' and that is good old relevance theory in action.) There are a few things about Street Wisdom that I really love:
How it uses resources that you always have available to you (yourself and the street)
The impact it has for people (I'll share mine soon and here's some blogs others have written about their experiences), namely Helen Amery's and Emma Browes'
If you want to know more about Street Wisdom, click here.
The reason I'm sharing though, is because, as an approach, it does a brilliant job of helping you see options and paths that you may not normally appreciate.
When I experienced my quest in Sheffield I was shifted. The path I was on remained but how I saw it shifted. It moved from a path that was overgrown, contained stinging nettles and brambles, was uneven underfoot and a path that I was nervous and unsure to tread.
My view on it shifted to be a path that became crystal clear, free from obstruction and one that I actively wanted to skip, run and sprint down.
What happened? I found an answer to a question that I had been grappling with for over two years. Yes, two years. I'd been carrying a question with me that I could not answer for over 700 days. Each time that question raised itself I'd be flooded with emotion(s), doubts, fears, frustrations, joy and couldn't reconcile them all away. Then, the answer came and it all went away.
I felt free.
It was amazing.
Insight found on the streets of Sheffield Church Street, Sheffield
I will be forever grateful to the streets of Sheffield and those people and objects that shared my path that day.
As humans we are what I call 'lazy thinkers', we make assumptions and take mental shortcuts. We want people or things to fit with what we have experienced or what we expect, because it is cognitively easier for us. We don't have to think as much, or as hard, to predict what will happen or occur. That is why (as I said earlier) we misunderstand each other. I think a reason we say 'I don't know' is I think there's a good chance you do know, you just haven't allowed yourself to see it as an option or possibility before.
Finding enlightenment. "First Light, Sunrise over Sheffield", Actylic, 2008 by Mark H Wilson
You may think I am trying to say you need to visit unfamiliar surroundings to create a shift and I don't think that is true. I've been to Sheffield many times before and that day, but Ilooked at it differently. So differently it changed my life.
I started this blog talking about poetry, reflection and those I meet that say 'I don't know'. Then I've linked that to the Matrix, as I wonder if you really do know and just aren't seeing past a choice you don't understand or want to face. Then I've talked about relevance theory and how I think this links with choices as, when we open up our minds to other possibilities and meanings, we see new things and paths which may allow us to understand or face a choice. Our challenge, as I see it, we don't allow ourselves (consciously or unconsciously) the chance to open up.
Open up, see the path, shift the perception, have more choice.
Vietnam War Memorial, by American artist and architect Maya Lin in 1989, when designing it she stated that she wanted to create something that a person could "relate to as on a journey or passage, that would bring each to his own conclusions"
Merry Christmas (we are still within The 12 Days) and Happy New Year.
Thank you to the wonderful Kate Griffiths-Lambeth for curating this series.
20 years since the first smart phone, the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, went on sale. It offered a touch screen, address book, calculator, calendar, fax, filer, email, note pad, sketch pad, time and to do features. Seen here compared to an iphone. picture credit Rob Stothard / Getty Images
Today's post is written by my dear friend Michael Carty. Michael is often described, especially by those who know him, as the glue that binds the HR community on Twitter together. He is alert, interested and very well connected. However, he is much more than just glue - Michael is a cherished contact for many and always there to provide support and advice. His Twitter handle is @MJCarty. He writes a delightful blog that illustrates how well read and far reaching his thoughts are. I love the powerful message of hope and anticipation behind his apparently simple words...
You were there then. You are
here now. You will be there then.
The path you perceive isn’t
the only one that exists.
Path beside a lake, Croatia
The path you are on isn’t
the only one available to you. No matter how long you have been on that path,
or how far it’s taken you.
There are other paths... Ewoks fleeing an All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walker on a forest path Original story board visual by Ralph Mac Querrie for Return of the Jedi, Star Wars film
You always have a choice.
You are always free to decide if you can live with the consequences of making
that choice.
You can’t be anybody else
but yourself. You can’t have any other values than your own. Trust in them.
I think it’s time, as it
always is, to let your values guide you through. Being you has got you this
far. Being you has got you much further than you would ever have thought.
You can travel further than you think possible Dr Who's Tardis
Being you will take you to
places of which you have just plain no inkling right now. That is nothing of
which to be frightened. That is the most exciting adventure of all.
There will always be
setbacks. There will always be reasons for tears. There will always be joy.
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