Author Archives: denise

Increasing Your Resilience and Wellbeing – Part One – How Moody Are You?

The following article is the first in a series of four articles on resilience and wellbeing. This article outlines theory relating to mood and wellbeing. Article 1 also includes action focused on your emotional barometer. Article two focuses on an individuals as holistic human beings and the demands of this. Article 3 is largely focused on tips and techniques to increase wellbeing. Article 4 focuses on moods and emotions in teams and its impact.

How aware are you of your mood on any given day?

We aren’t always conscious of our mood. We may become “mood aware” when we reflect on our day or week, the activities we have been engaged in, our responses to others and our behaviours. Our moods have a massive impact on our motivation and wellbeing. Perhaps we should give our moods more conscious thought.

Moods may be described as temporary emotional states which determine how we feel at any given time. Moods are not as intense as emotions and feelings and are less likely to be targeted or provoked by stimuli. Moods may be ongoing, emotions tend to be more fleeting. They are generally described in both positive and negative terms.

Positive moods also known as positive effect and include states such as: happiness and excitement. Negative moods or negative effect include states such as irritation and anxiety.

If we are in a positive mood, we are much more optimistic. We are more likely to put in more effort as we have a higher level of belief in our success. We feel that our effort will result in a desired reward and we are likely to persist for much longer. When we think about our challenges, we do so in a positive light. We recall previous occasions when we were successful at a challenge that we evaluate as being similar in nature. Good moods lead us to evaluate events much more positively resulting in positive judgments and evaluations.

When we are in a negative mood the reverse occurs, we are more likely to feel anxious or depressed.

Moods also have an impact on our physiological state through our bodies production of cortisol, known as the stress hormone. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the body to cope with stressors or demands. It gives us a boost, increases our adrenalin and is useful in small quantities. However low moods and associated states such as anxiety may lead to an increased production of cortisol for prolonged periods which may have a detrimental effect on our physiological state. This may lead to: weight gain, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar and depression. By contrast a positive mood leads to an increase in heartbeat, this reduces our level of cortisol.

It’s also worth noting that our personality may also determine our mood state. Extroversion which is related to being sociable, gregarious and friendly leads to optimism and good moods. By contrast individuals with low extroversion and neuroticism are more likely to be pessimistic and suffer from stress. People scoring highly on neuroticism are more likely to be moody and experience anxiety, worry, sadness and depression.

If we can increase our level of positive affect, this can support us to gain mastery over our moods and increase our resilience and wellbeing.

Try the following tips as part one of the process of increasing your resilience and wellbeing:

Keep a mood diary – evaluate and record your mood during the following time of each day for a period of 2 weeks – On rising – at 9.00 – 13.00- 17.00 – 21.00
At the close or start of each day, review your mood state and identify reasons for variation of mood.
Identify people, processes, events or activities that alter your mood state either positively or negatively and record

This is the process of understanding your emotional barometer.

Part 2 – Our Personal Strive for Success and its Impact www.dmttraining.co.uk

Denise McCausland – DMT Training – www@dmttraining.co.uk

Email: denise@dmttraining. co.uk

20 Great Strategies To Build Self Esteem – Use It Or Lose It

Self esteem is a measure of our self worth, self value and self identity. It can be assessed on a personal level and by others; its value is priceless. It may be developed where it does exist and its loss has huge ramifications in respect of our perception of self.

Self esteem is related to our inner being and enthuses or depletes our spirit; this impacts on the simplest of day to day activities and subconsciously influences our day to day interactions with others. It can make us feel powerful or powerless.

Self esteem is detectable to others by how we present ourselves and the value that we place on ourselves as individuals. This is in no way associated with arrogance and superiority but is based on a strong self identity and giving and expecting to receive mutual respect.

A number of factors have a positive or negative impact on our self esteem: the effectiveness of our relationships with others, our work/non work environments and our life structure. These factors influence our behaviour, our language, our actions and our results.

Levels of self esteem may vary in our work and non work environments; a person who is happy, secure and confident at work may not feel the same in their non work environment or vice versa. This means that the concept of ones self esteem is affected by how successful that we feel that we are in each sphere of our lives. Though this concept is subjective for many, success may be related to feelings of well being as a result of positive feelings of self or self esteem.

Our perception of success may also be affected by making social comparisons with others either consciously or subconsciously. This may have either a positive or negative impact on our self esteem.

Our self esteem is our source of personal power and must be constantly kept in check. It is possible for any shifts in its level to become habitual and lie undetected until a key learning event takes place. In order to prevent this, individuals need to review and reflect their actions, language and behaviour in order to identify causes of work and non work shifts in our self esteem levels. Self honesty is essential for this strategy to work effectively. It is easy to place the blame on issues of life dissatisfaction on external causes, when often internal causes such as ineffective choices, language and behaviour as a result of a lack of self esteem negatively affect our lives.

Our levels of self esteem are like the fuel tank of a car:

A full tank and you can go anywhere

Half full and you know that you still have some mileage to go

A quarter full you should really be planning to refuel before it gets too late

On the red, you’re dredging all the dirt from the engine and are risking long term damage.

If you can identify with this view read on for strategies to refuel your tank.

1. If you have lost self esteem, reflect on why, be honest with yourself. Was it as a result of a pattern of behaviour?

2. Adults learn by having an experience, if you have lost your self esteem consider what you can learn from this to take forward to the future.

3. If you feel that you have made mistakes, forgive yourself, don’t beat yourself up and put the past behind you.

4. View each day as an opportunity to be reborn and move on.

5. Make a list of the positive people in your life and aim to develop your relationship with them.

6. Make a list of the negative people in your life and aim to distance yourself from them or develop strategies to manage their negative impact.

7. Forgive those who have drained your energy, write down the name of those individuals who you need to forgive and why 10 times, read it out loud daily until you can read it and mean it.

8. Have a clear vision in respect of career, relationships and self; write down this vision as a statement.

9. Get organised, keep a task list and do at least 1 thing a day that gives you a sense of achievement, cross this off so you can mark your progress.

10. Set achievable goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to accompany your long term vision.

11. Draft a list of 10 things that you would do to leave your mark on the world if you had no limitations, prioritise these from 1-10.

12. Aim to make at least one of your dreams a reality, set small action steps to achieve this.

13. Draft a list of 10 mini treats to keep you sane. Prioritise these from 1-10 and give yourself at least 1 treat a week.

14. Get some exercise, a 20 minute walk; 3 times a week will do wonders.

15. Write a list of your 50 key personal achievements in both work and non work environments.( If you are instantly querying the number what does this say about where you are on the self esteem chart)

16. Have a pleasant conversation with at least 1 person a day who you wouldn’t normally make time for.

17. Write a list of your 10 best qualities, repeat these daily 10 times whilst looking in the mirror. These are your positive mantras.

18. Retrain your thought process to think positively at all times.

19. Learn to love yourself and don’t be afraid to let others see it.

20. Let comparisons with others inspire you, not drain your confidence.

Denise McCausland is a freelance training consultant who is passionate about Developing, Motivating and Transforming individuals and organizations. Her portfolio of work includes: leadership and management development, cultural change, equalities and diversity, personal effectiveness and workforce development. All programmes designed and developed by Denise are tailor made to the needs of individuals and teams.

If you would like Denise to support you or your organization in reaching their goals, please email: denise@dmttraining.co.uk

Does Conflict Unveil Our Unconscious Bias?

Like many others, soap operas are a background noise to my evening routine when pottering around after dinner when the evenings draw in. Recently whilst half listening to a popular soap, I heard my daughter draw a sharp gasp of air. I instantly asked her what had happened.

Apparently a heterosexual character X had unwittingly become entangled in a love triangle with a heterosexual female Y and a “gay” male Z and a fight had ensued. Following the fight, the now angry heterosexual character spieled out a torrent of homophobic abuse to the gay character which spilled out onto the street. It appears that this is what my daughter had been gasping at.

I considered this scene, in that this behaviour was in conflict with X’s usual character. He was generally considered to be a lovely young man with “no side to him”. His character also has a gay brother and a gay best friend. Indeed through these connections X, Y and Z had previously been very good friends.

I wondered, as social commentators what was in the script writer’s minds when they wrote that scene?

I realised that the scene demonstrated that during conflict and times of high emotional pressure individuals will refer to negative stereotypes to hurt and offend others and to justify a root cause for the perceived negative behaviour of their partner in conflict. This occurs even when this course of action does not form part of an individual’s usual behaviour.

This is based on the theory that we do not have to believe in a stereotype to be affected by it we just have to have knowledge of the stereotype.

It is also based on the theory that, during times of immense stress, pressure and emotional overload our rational brain takes a back seat to our emotional brain which becomes flooded with emotions, like a burst flood defence. When this occurs our usual resolve and emotional constraint can go out of the window, resulting in a negative impact.

If we are honest with ourselves, we may acknowledge that we have caught ourselves expressing biases in situations of pressure which focus on difference and perhaps even surprise us. Where did that come from we wonder? If this is not true of our usual behaviour; the answer is our unconscious mind.

How many of us can say that they have never expressed a bias either silently, or loudly or to someone who we expect to understand and share our views?

If we are to role model positive equality behaviours and eliminate prejudice, this surely starts with ourselves and requires both the control of our emotions as well as the control of our minds.

Contact: Denise @ http://www.dmttraining.co.uk or email: info@dmttraining.co.uk Follow my blog for articles on: leadership, communication, personal development coaching, equalities, change and careers, or follow me on twitter

Book Review – Spiritual Intelligence – The Ultimate Intelligence – Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall

Spiritual intelligence is sadly often overlooked in coaching and development. It is related to that part of the brain which allows us to hope and dream and visualise and to connect us to our purpose in life. It is the trigger in our intelligence which entices us to seek meaning and a greater good by differentiating between good and evil.

The book highlights the quest for spiritual intelligence in addressing issues of meaning and value in our life along with our ability to dream and to inspire. It outlines a much richer context for our existence and for some, life’s purpose.

The book has something for everyone: those with a religious persuasion, those without, theorists and those fascinated with how the brain works. There is detailed information on the brain’s 3rd neural system and the “God spot” which appears to have been placed in all human beings to allow our own spiritual development and search for meaning.

It makes some interesting comparisons about the beginning of the earth making comparisons with how it is described by the following groups: Judeo- Christian/Esoteric, science and Ancient Greek, Taoist, Hindu and Buddhists.

Comparisons are also made in respect of personality between Holland’s occupational tests, Eastern religions and Greek mythology- fascinating stuff.

The close of the book outlines how you can develop your spiritual intelligence, grow as a person and prevent yourself from becoming spiritually stunted; described in the book as a cause of many illnesses and addictions.

I’d recommend this book for those who seek to understand what else makes us tick as human beings.

Marshall I.,Zohar,D, (200) Spiritual Intelligence- The Ultimate Intelligence

Review by: Denise McCausland – DMT Training
- 07956 896322
Email: denise@dmttraining.co.uk

http://www.dmttraining.co.uk
Denise McCausland – DMT Training © 2010

15 Strategies to Re-energise Your Career Without Leaving Your Company

How happy are you in your work on a scale of 1-10, using 10 as ecstatically happy? If your response is less than 7 your career may need reenergising. If this is the case it is likely to affect your morale and your performance. Eventually it may have an impact on your overall well being. The impact on your company is huge; it can result in lost profits, reduced customer service and negative publicity. It will really affect your bottom line.

The ethos of re energising your career is that individuals are responsible for developing their own careers and the paternal relationship that companies once had with their employees, no longer exists. This view does not presume that organizations are not committed to the development of staff; however development is carefully aligned with organizational objectives.

If you are interested in re energising your career you must have a motivation for doing so. You need to feel there is a purpose in expending your energy and you must believe that there is some value in your reward. This strategy involves changing habits and changing behaviour. It may also involve changing the way that you think about yourself and changing the way that others see you.

Re energising your career at work will lead to success in what ever way that it is perceived by you. Successful individuals are more satisfied with their lives; this improves their moods and can help motivation.

Here are good reasons to re energise your career:

□ You’ll identify a purpose which will help to keep you happy, focused and motivated.

□ You’ll be in a good mood; this is good for your own well being and is contagious so it will spread to your colleagues and your customers as well as other areas of your life.

□ You’ll be more likely to go that extra mile in terms of the service that you provide. This will improve the service that we give to our customers and colleagues.

□ We’ll present a positive impression of ourselves to others, increasing our marketability.

□ If we are happy at work, it improves our relationships with others. We are less likely to encounter conflict.

□ Self development will increase your chances of increasing your earnings capacity.

□ It’ll help you to develop a better work life balance.

□ It’ll increase your self esteem and feelings of self worth.

□ You’ll identify strengths as well as development areas

□ You’ll develop new skills

The reasons listed above are personal to an individual. They will also be of benefit to your company. The good news is that the majority of companies don’t really want to lose their staff; they recognise that a company’s key resource is the human capital that exists within it.

How Do We Re energise?

1. Decide Where You Are Now

Consider what you like and dislike about your role and your company. Is there anything that you would like to do more of and anything that you would like to do less of? Consider how much control you have over how the tasks and activities are undertaken. There may be scope for redesigning how you perform your work to improve effectiveness and to stimulate effort.

2. Decide Where You Want To Be

Your review of your role may reveal that you yearn for a change in your career. This may be achieved by a side ways move within your organization or an element of work redesign driven by your new requirements.
It is essential to share your personal objectives with your supervisor at your performance appraisal. If you can demonstrate that these are in alignment with organizational objectives your objectives are likely to be supported because your supervisor must balance your objectives with organizational requirements. Before you make your presentation ensure that you have clearly identified the benefits that your objectives will bring to the organization. At this stage it is necessary to be able to identify pre planned action points, this will help to influence your employer and accrue the benefits that you desire.

3. Decide How You Are Going To Get There

This strategy will mean that you need to do something differently. This may be in relation to acquiring additional knowledge and skills or undertaking work projects that will enable you to demonstrate a proven competence in the area that motivates you. It is necessary to undertake a skills audit to identify what you will need to do to meet your objectives. The benefit of this audit is that it will identify your strengths and development areas. Try demonstrating your skills against a person specification for your ideal role, this will help you to identify where your action points lie. This action requires you to be committed to the concept of life long learning. It is essential to undertake continuous professional development by undertaking learning and development activities which may include formal training or work projects.

4 Become a Corporate Player

Employees are informally assessed on discretionary behaviours such as: being flexible with working hours, making constructive suggestions for improvements to work processes and procedures, mentoring others and promoting the organization both internally and externally. Corporate players ensure that there actions are clearly targeted towards organizational functioning. Consider how you would be assessed as a corporate player? Are there any steps that you could take in order to develop this quality? Becoming a corporate player is an essential requirement for individual success.

5. Keep Updated with Trends and Developments

It’s essential to keep updated with trends and developments in relation to your profession and the company itself. One simple strategy is to ensure that you read organizational emails and other literature, this may sound obvious but it’s amazing how many are ignored due to information overload. Dedicate 2 x 2 hour slots a week to read documentation and try to read a quality newspaper; if you can’t manage this every day, do this at least 3 times a week. Join a professional body; this may be by undertaking a course of study or seeking membership through professional competence. Traditionally these bodies meet once a month and often include presentations from key note speakers; an added benefit of this approach is that it will also give you an opportunity to network.
Use the information that you gleam to your advantage by considering how it impacts on your company and making constructive suggestions for continuous improvement.

6. Get a Coach

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have highlighted coaching as a key trend in learning and development which affords excellent rates of return. Coaching is the key development strategy of senior managers and directors who may not have the capacity to attend external programmes of study. Coaching achieves results, often in a shorter time span than individual efforts. This saves time and money and increases focus and eliminates stress and procrastination.

7. Get a Mentor

A mentor is a key requirement for organizational progression. Mentors are learned individuals within companies who have “been there and done it” and can help to guide an individual through career transitions. Often mentors are senior managers within companies and can suggest or increase access to development activities, trends and opportunities.

8. Have a Role Model

Identity a role model, they may be known to you or unknown to you. Decide what qualities you admire in the role model and try to model their behaviour or personal qualities in what you do. Research your role models if they are known to you try and arrange a meeting and structure some questions that you would like to raise. If they are unknown to you and in the public eye, read books, attend seminars where they are speaking and watch biographies of them on tv.

9. Develop Presentation Skills

Offer to make presentations in work and out of work to develop your confidence and skills at multi media, voice projection, tone, pace and volume and overall body language. Consider likely questions that may be asked and practice responses to these and strategies for handling resistance to your ideas. Plan effectively and consider how you will engage the audience and add interest to your presentation.

10. Develop a Work Life Balance

An effective corporate player is a fully rounded individual; they have a balance between the organizational good and their own needs. This means that it is essential to develop interests outside of work in order to ensure well being and motivation. Becoming a corporate player ensures that you give the maximum to your company whilst ” working to live, not living to work “. Focus on family and friends and interests and activities outside of work. If you overkill and work becomes a source of stress it will lead to absence and ill health and nobody wins.

11. Create Opportunities for Key Achievements

Key achievements are essential to getting noticed in a company. Establish a proven track record of achievement; a good way of doing this is to become involved in projects, new procedures and event co ordination or to represent your company on external forums. This will get you noticed by the people that matter and often leads to becoming head hunted by managers elsewhere in the company. Arrange publicity to ensure that the people that matter are aware of your achievements.

12. Tune into Company Culture and Folklore

Listen to stories of how successful and unsuccessful individuals are discussed within your organization. What did others do to achieve success? What were the qualities, activities or methods involved? Pay consideration to unsuccessful individuals too, it is likely that their actions or behaviour were not inline with accepted company culture. Any deviations from company culture must be carefully considered and clearly focused towards organizational objectives. Be aware that if you put your head above the parapet there is always the possibility that it will be shot down.

13. Let Key Players Know Your Intentions

Once you have decided on your career goals, let key players know your intentions. This may be done informally through general discussion and also formally via supervision meetings and performance appraisals. Undertake networking with key players by attending company functions and developing relationships with those individuals who can help you to achieve your goals. If you are seen to be a good team player and develop a reputation for giving to others, your profile will rise which will increase access to increased responsibility, departmental moves or project work.

14. Dress for Success

Dress for success in a manner appropriate to your role, company and profession. Consider what you wish your clothes to say about you. Individuals will receive communication from a visual medium and appearance influences this. Grooming is particularly important here, resolve to look as if you have made an effort every day of your life; this increases your self esteem and lets others know that you care about yourself. This is in respect of hair, skin, and clothes, make up, hands and body. Margaret Thatcher was considered to have very masculine personality traits however she was never seen without make up and immaculately styled hair. The world is a stage and you are always on it. Studies undertaken by psychologists have demonstrated that attractive people are often more successful in life and are more likely to be leaders. Don’t confuse attraction with sexuality because this may detract and have the opposite effect and needs to be played down if you wish to be taken seriously in a corporate environment. Undertake an image overhaul find out what suits you and stick to it taking into consideration your age, figure and role.

15. Give Added Value

The reality of modern companies is that employers want employees to give more than their job description dictates; along with undertaking discretionary behaviours they also require individuals to give added value. Added value is a similar concept to ” buy one get one free” . It requires an individual to have a skill or ability in abundance or addition to what’s required for the job role. Examples of this are a manager that can also deliver training or is skilled in occupational assessments, coaching or mentoring or an individual who is fluent in many languages. Discover what skill gives you added value and promote this as your unique selling point.

If you would like Denise to support you or your organization in reaching their goals, please email: denise@dmttraining.co.uk

Visioning – A Solution to the Recession – 15 Strategies to Achieving an Inspiring Vision

Visioning – A Solution to the Recession – 15 Strategies to Achieving an Inspiring Vision

The following article highlights the importance of visioning in goal setting and explains how its related concepts can contribute to personal/team and organizational achievement, in particular during the recession.

Vision setting

Vision setting is a key strategy in the achievement of your goals. A goal is a dream with a deadline, people with goals move ahead, people without goals work with people with goals, Brian Tracey.

A vision is a statement of intention, the manifestation and desired end result or outcome of our desires.

A vision is also a motivational tool. Management theorists describe two theories of motivation: content theories and process theories. Content theories describe what motivates us and process theories describe how we are motivated. Visioning sits with process theories, it’s a strategy to motivate us.

Visioning also has links to religious, faith and cultural beliefs. In Christianity heaven could be described as a vision of the ideal outcome after death. For believers it’s about their own personal vision of heaven or its anti thesis hell. In theory for a believer the desire to achieve the manifestation of their vision in heaven acts as a motivator for their behaviour on earth.

Individuals who believe in cosmic ordering also believe that your vision is your statement of your desires and in order to achieve your vision you have to articulate it and tell “the universe” what you really want. The principle behind it is that individuals believe that they can use their desires to connect with the “cosmos” and make their desires a reality. The Right Reverend Carl Cooper rejects cosmic ordering as nonsense, though interestingly he describes it as goal setting using spiritual language.

Visioning is our first strategy, the foundation on which the journey towards our goal takes place. It is also a key performance indicator (KPI) in relation to the achievement of our goal. A vision is also a measuring tool.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says that we should start with the end in mind. We should begin with the vision.

Leadership theorists such as Follett and Peters have emphasised the importance of visioning in leadership performance. Coaching gurus such as David Rock highlight the importance of visioning for individuals in the goal setting process of coaching.

Visioning is a strategy by which we can communicate our dreams and desires both internally to ourselves and also to others.

Take a few moments to describe your vision in an area of your life that matters to you, eg. Relationships, finances, career

How effective were you at describing this vision?

Was your vision clear?

If we were to question what we do when we don’t have a vision, many of us would agree that we go through the motions, we undertake activities habitually and often waste: time, energy and resources with no clear purpose.

I’ve done this on occasions at the weekend, I’ve had a vague vision about taking a break, getting some fresh air, going shopping or taking a wander and not known clearly where or what I want to do to achieve this. It’s quite disconcerting, not having a route map, how do you plan your journey? Which way do you turn at the junction, right, left or do you go straight on? When will you know that you have reached your desired destination?

The benefits of creating a clear vision mean that: you have a tool to motivate and inspire you on your journey, the end point is clear; you can measure your achievement and articulate your vision to others when required.

Can you easily articulate your vision to others?

A clear vision is one which you can easily articulate. Men and women of great historical importance have influenced others by clearly articulating their vision. Martin Luther King expressed his vision for equality and civil rights in America with his “I have a dream speech”. He used the term dream and as such our visions are our dreams until we put strategies in place to make them a reality.

If a vision were to be described as a plant it would be the root and also the flower. A vision could be described as a foundation, the outcome, the manifestation of growth, nurture, hardiness and nourishment. In the plant world, weeds grow in most places irrespective of the conditions. Other blooms, such as lilies take more nurture, effort and care to yield results.
In the same way an inspiring vision requires: nurture, care, effort and nourishment over a period of time to come into full bloom. An inspiring vision will rarely thrive if it is left to it’s own devices.

10 steps to creating a vision and releasing the inner child

1. Allow yourself to be childlike

Our brains are divided into three areas, leading to three types of intelligence: our rational brain (IQ), our emotional brain or emotional intelligence and our spiritual brain or spiritual intelligence.

Our rational intelligence (IQ) is clearly under developed in childhood. Our emotional intelligence (EI) which is concerned with the management of our emotions and the emotions of others is also developing, though Danile Goldman in his book Emotional Intelligence, reported high degrees of emotional intelligence and empathy in toddlers.

It is possible that our spiritual intelligence is at its natural peak during childhood and declines as our rational intelligence develops. Spiritual intelligence is related to that part of the brain which allows us to hope and dream and visualise. For many children nothing is impossible in their vivid imaginations, it is easy to be transported to a dream world at the drop of a hat. In this dream world we can believe without evidence in concepts and people that exist within the power of our imagination.

2. Create a conducive environment

Time, space and focus are essential for creating a vision.
Ensure that you won’t be interrupted by any communication from anyone not involved in your visioning process. Take some time to take deep breathes both in and out before the process takes place. The act of breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon monoxide helps to clear and focus your brain and inject some energy to support the thinking and visualisation process.

3. Think about what you want, as opposed to what you don’t want

Visions should be set in a positive context as opposed to a negative. Visions should depict what you want to happen as opposed to what you don’t want to happen. This works by using positive visualisation as opposed to negative reinforcement. For example, if a woman wanted to lose weight so that she could fit into her dream wedding dress, it would be more motivating to create a vision of what she wanted to look like rather than what she didn’t want to look like. The former will encourage positive feelings of encouragement, while the latter uses negative reinforcement.

4. Reflect on success

Have a practice run, visualise happiness and success by reflecting back to an occasion when you were really happy, such as: a holiday, celebration, examination success or a new exciting job offer. Try and picture the occasion in your mind, run through the events scene by scene and try and remember and engage the positive feelings that you had. Transfer these good feelings to your current vision.

5. Dream in HD

Practice having HD quality dreams with a sharp picture quality and extensive detail. Replay this vision in blue ray DVD quality remembering to incorporate, sounds, feelings, smells and tastes if relevant.

6. Be your own film director

Your vision should be focused on what will happen when your dream becomes a reality. Detail is important and your dreams should reflect this. If your vision is in relation to a particular event, create every scene from preparation, content, other actors, colours, smells, feelings and conversations.

7. Don’t allow your dreams to be limited

Freud describes our rational mind as the ego. This limits our thinking and our behaviour, it doesn’t allow us to express our selves in the way in which our instinct may wish to; it suppresses our instincts through mind control. The ego will send a message to your brain saying that our dreams and desires are irrational, unreasonable, impossible, outrageous or just plain wrong. It is our rational adult voice and perhaps according to Bryne in his theory of Transactional Analysis, the voice of our critical parent. By contrast there are links between spiritual intelligence and Freud’s Super Id, the part of our personality which allows us to follow our desires.

8. Consider what you will have when you achieve your vision

It’s important to take time to consider the reality of your vision and what you will have when you achieve it. Is it something that you really want? There is an old saying that states “be careful what you wish for, it may come true”. Considering what you will have when you achieve your vision is an opportunity to road test your vision to see if it’s what you would like in reality. You may have set your heart on a particular career, relationship or other life choice. The reality of this choice may mean that though you were inspired to achieve the goal, it may not be sustainable in the long term.

9. Have faith in your vision

Faith could be described as a belief in something that cannot be evidenced. This relates to your ability to maintain the belief in what may seem to be the intangible or the impossible. Individuals with a high level of positive believe and persistence or self effacy are more likely to achieve their goals. For some individuals a high level of self effacy is natural for others this may be learned. This is described by many theorists including Martin Siegman in his theory of learned optimism. Again this is also related to the theory of emotional intelligence. In his book on Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goldman describes how emotional intelligence can be a predictor of success over and above IQ. He reports that studies showed that emotionally intelligent individuals were often more successful than those with a higher IQ.

10. Write your vision down

A written statement of your vision in a visible place will help you to maintain focus on your goal, in particular if it’s somewhere where you’ll see it at least once a day. Again advocates of Cosmic Ordering believe that this action is putting your desires out to the universe. For those who are not fans of Cosmic Ordering or familiar with this theory, the action of focusing on your vision will ensure that your focus remains on your vision and you are more likely to achieve it.

11. Reflect on your written vision at least four times a week.

If your vision is in a visual place, you can read it, measure yourself and assess your progress against it and remind yourself of what you will need to do to ensure that your vision becomes live. We have heard that focusing on your vision, gives you a much better chance of obtaining success. Replay the dvd that you have made of your vision at least twice a week, remembering to dream without limitations.

12. Plan for limiting beliefs

If negative imagines enter your mind during these dreams make a note of them after your dream session is over. This may be your subconscious highlighting you to a challenge in your vision which may need to be addressed. Don’t allow any negative emotions associated with the thought to disturb your vision. Assure yourself that you will consider the challenge in a solutions focused way when the dream is over

13. Develop a route map to your vision

You will need to determine the journey that you need to take to achieve your vision or final destination. If you visiting a major city anywhere in the world and you were taking a journey across the city using the underground and were unfamiliar with the underground system, it would make sense to obtain a journey planner and plan your route. Without a route map the journey would be likely to be considerably longer. The costs to you of taking the journey without a plan would be likely to be irritation, frustration, tiredness, demotivation and fatigue.

14. Get a coach

The right coach will support you in accelerating your progress towards your vision. Coaching is an investment as opposed to an expense. If your vision is inspiring and something that you really want, what is the cost of not investing in a coach to support you in realising your dreams?

A coach can cheer you on, inspire you and stretch you towards the achievement of your vision.

How much do you want to give your life/team/service/organization the X factor this year?

15. Celebrate your success

Create a plan to celebrate your success at the start of your goals setting progress. Ensure that you acknowledge and congratulate yourself for the journey that you’ve been on to achieve your vision.

Denise McCausland is an Organizational Development Consultant and Executive/Life Coach and Personal Empowerment speaker and writer. She is the founder and managing associate of DMT Training, London

Using Emotional Intelligence to Engage Others During Change

I recently delivered a programme on implementing change to a group of managers.

The programme was a facilitated programme with a combination of both input and group/individual activities.

A key learning point in the morning for approximately 60% of the delegates was that they didn’t consider change through the perspective of a number of stakeholders.

It emphasised the importance of Emotional Intelligence as a core skill in leadership development.

It was clear that for some, the emotional overload of change had resulted in: worry, anxiety, fear of security and profound individualism.

People who may have once been able to view issues from multiple perspectives, had begun to view issues from their own perspective or the perspective of their group.

This approach had affected the management of stakeholders in the change.

A culture of mis- trust had developed as a result.

For me this raised the issue of emotional contagion during the change process.

Individuals had unconsciously mirrored the anxious, behaviour, thoughts and feelings of others.

Clearly this had a profound impact on the implementation of the change, organisational performance and the well-being of both individuals and teams.

I wondered what the impact would be if individuals had received training or coaching at the start of the change programme.

Effective change leaders require the time, space and safety to consider the perspectives of all parties involved.

This strategy would alleviate emotional overload and promote cultural alignment.

It would support leaders in realising that change affects everyone in an organisation on a micro or macro level.

I believe that during change we should consider habit 5 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Stephen Covey states “Seek First to Understand then to be Understood”.

This habit involves listening with intent.

It is not merely concerned with asking: core, basic and killer questions, it includes active listening and emphatic listening.

If we find ourselves focusing on our plan of attack whilst listening to others we are not really listening.

We are not present for those we are communicating with.

If your key desire is to communicate your concerns this this will act as a barrier to effective two way communication.

You may miss out on hearing shared concerns, shared values and prevent the development of a shared vision.

Practice managing your own emotions.

Listen and pause before you respond.

Try empathetic listening for two weeks both at work and in your personal life.

This will support you in understanding the perspectives of others.

This will also enable you to keep your own emotions in check; understand the emotions of others and manage change more effectively.

Author: Denise McCausland @ DMT Training Contact: info@dmttraining.co.uk
Website: www.dmttraining.co.uk www.dmttraining.co.uk/blog