Bright Life

How to harness the power of incremental change

Remember that old joke that goes ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time’? There’s an important nugget contained within it about the power of incremental change.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed when we are facing a complex task, a challenge, or a daunting change that we want to make. Sometimes we treat the elements of our lives like elephants – nothing but a sea of grey. I know that when I do this it is a sure fire way to make little or no progress towards my goals.

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Comms Skills #2: What NOT to do when you’re presenting!

Usually, when I write these tips, I’m in favour of advising what to do, rather than what not to do. However, on occasion, I spot a spectacular example of what not to do that perfectly illustrates why it’s not a good idea to do it. And so – ta da – today’s tip is…don’t write your speech notes on your hand. Please. Just don’t. It doesn’t make you look smart.

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We Are Who We Choose To Be

I was recently sent a link to this fabulous clip of Will Smith being interviewed by Tavis Smiley.   Here are my 5 favourite things about what Will Smith has to say, and you can watch the video clip below.

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Communication Skills Tip #1: Meet the Needs of Your Audience

Have you ever been to a presentation that was disappointing?  In what way did it disappoint you?

Most of us, when we think about presentations, put performance pressure on ourselves.  Actually, giving the right talk for the audience is more important.

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My dad’s wisdom – part 1

My Dad is one of life’s great diplomats.  His colleagues have consistently valued his calm, principled approach to the drama of working with other people.  I’ve learned a lot from his sensible, common sense approach to work – so much the opposite of my own tendency to extremes of thought, effort, and emotion.

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In praise of looking

Tomorrow I’m going to be doing one of my favourite activities – taking a day off and spending it wandering around the National Gallery in London with a like-minded friend.  As some of you know, for many years I worked as an art historian with the National Trust.  I was very fortunate to do the work that I did, not least because I worked closely with beautiful things all day long.

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Is life trying to tell me something?

This morning, I went out for my usual walk with my 3 dogs. Picture the scene: a dark, wet, miserable English morning in January. (As an aside, here’s one of my Dad’s jokes: What’s worse than England in January? England in February!!). Anyway, a drizzly rain was falling, and no matter what direction I walked in, somehow I was still walking straight into the rain. As I headed up the path, face into the rain, I thought to myself ‘in a minute, when I turn into the woods, the rain won’t be hitting me in the face anymore’. Hah! Into the woods, rain in the face. Same with into the field, and the entire walk back. How is it that the rain is coming from everywhere at once?

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What moves you to action?

‘Nothing is more important than feeling good’. Abraham – Hicks

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about motivation. It’s interesting to muse on what moves me to action, and what doesn’t. Research scientists and psychologists suggest that we take action for two reasons: for pleasure, and to avoid pain. Although pleasure and pain are emphatic words, it’s easy to think of examples of both of these. I get up at a certain time in the morning because if I don’t, I’ll be late, and I won’t like that (pain). I arrange a social activity, take time out or treat myself because I want to feel good (pleasure).

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