Our Lead your Best Life BLOG is to share inspired topics as we continue on this path of personal growth.
Secrets of Success in Life
Personality has the power to open many doors, but character keeps them open.
Don’t find fault, find a remedy.
Attitude is everything. It can make you a failure or a success.
Overlook others faults, but look over your own carefully.
Be yourself; an original is always better than a copy.
Six important words: I admit I made a mistake.
The only people in this world who fail are those who never try.
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way and not starting.
21 To Be’s for 2021 – a Lead your Best Life blog
Well what can I say! 2020 has been a year to move forward. Just let it go and bring in 2021 with excitement and passion. Time to let the “holding pattern” of 2020 to be gone. Yahoo.
Start 2021 with new perspectives, new intentions and new opportunities for growth.
1. Be Grateful
2. Be Passionate
3. Be Mindful
4. Be your Best Daily
5. Be Playful
6. Be Present
7. Be Timely
8. Be caring
9. Be Heart centered
10. Be Active
11. Be Growing
12. Be Fun
13. Be Intentional
14. Be Knowledgeable
15. Be Creative
16. Be Goal oriented
17. Be Open
18. Be Happy now!
19. Be Mission driven
20. Be Inspired
21. Be You
Have an amazing 2021! Bryan
Lead your Best Life Blog – The Edge
Are you preparing yourself for the normalcy post COVID? This crisis has put a toll on so many businesses and people. Some industries have been decimated. Others have been in a 15 month “holding pattern”. Our way of life has been so disrupted that it is difficult to see what the new reality will be. Life has been put of a weird kind of “freeze”. However, I have decided to unfreeze and reach the “Edge”.
Not in a negative way. In a positive move forward kind of way. My industry, corporate events and especially team building has been reduced to virtual activities that allow some companies to pay some bills and keep the lights on. In our opinion, we decided not to pursue this type of approach and switched gears in the short term until we can connect with people and groups in person. We felt it put a strain with some of our core values of personal connections and the inability to really engage and inspire. We believe in our core values and know they are fundamental to creating employee engagement that we strive for.
The reduced personal connections and casual conversations by the ‘water cooler” has had an effect on company culture. This lack of communication within an organization needs to include the energy from direct human interaction that you are unable to receive with online sources. The company social events, both planned and unplanned, that have not happened are an important growth factor to any business. They create culture. The lack of ability to interact in a fun way has made us less friendly, less social and in some cases less physical active. Many have been hiding in the covid bubble and waiting. In many ways myself included.
This week I decided it was time to rid any pity party that I was experiencing and move forward to the “edge”. The place that would ready me for the change that is about occur. Look I am all for all of us doing our part to reduce the impact of this crisis. It is just the inconsistencies that make it hard to know what truth is and how to plan as a society, a community, a business moving forward. I can go to a large retail store with hundreds of people inside however doing a fun interactive team building event outside with 20 people is not permitted. I can go on airplane with 120 people sitting inches apart however not allowed to visit my kids 5 hours away in another city.
At Inspired by Play, we are busy preparing programs and activities, creating a plan to be ready for the engagement of people. From community events to corporate team building to personal growth activities, individuals, groups of people and corporate organizations are ready to be connected again. The need for purposeful play to build and connect your teams is critically important to the needs of human interaction.
Are you able to reach your edge? Are you tired of the serious lack of energy that surrounds us every day. We are ready for more laughter, more fun, and more in-person conversations. Some serious playtime!
That is why our 5 step approach to reaching the edge is so relevant and worth sharing:
1. Intentional Mornings – get up earlier than normal and give yourself the first 45 minutes or an hour of each day. My Intentional morning is 15 minutes of exercise, 15 minutes of goal, mantras, personal pledge review, 15 minutes of growth – reading or watching inspiring videos. It starts at 6am to 7am Monday to Friday and change it up on the weekends. Weekends are longer and more intense.
2. Mental Health – Find the ways to reduce any stress build up. I walk/run the dog twice a day. I take a little “downtime” in quiet for myself to reflect, to review, to plan, to grow.
3. Exercise – now is the time to eat better, drink more water and do some exercise. If you can only do 1 crunch and 1 push-up that is okay. If walking once around the block is enough – Just do it and do it daily. Make it a routine. As you build up your commitment and consistency, your abilities will increase and before you know it you will have new goals to accomplish. Start slow, build and succeed.
4. Personal Growth – what are you doing to work on yourself? Sitting watching TV is not going to get you there. Are you living your best life? If they is room for improvement? Read a book.
5. Have a Plan – Start now. Do you have goals? Vision Board? Do you know your WHY? Get focussed and most important TAKE ACTION!
Looking forward to the fall and making an impact again with individuals and organizations. Bryan Burns – Managing Director – www.inspiredbyplay.com
Lead your Best Life Blog – The concept of Bend and Flex
Over the years, I thankfully was able to learn and grow from these learning experiences. Not letting a lack of communication be an issue. I utilized the Bend and Flex Concept.
Have you ever been in a situation where your viewpoint has no bend or flex in it? It is rigid and set in its ways? Well this style tends to lead to many miscommunications in personal relationships and with co-workers. It may give other people preconceived thoughts about you.
No, Bend and Flex is not an exercise program. It is a method to alter your thought process quickly to ensure better and more open communication. It provides a framework for both parties getting to where they want to go faster with no lasting negative issues.
To become someone who can bend and flex there are a couple of questions you need to ask:
* Do I have control on what the other person is going to say? Answer NO * Do I have control on what I am going to say? Yes? * What do I need to do to let it go, to bend, to flex and be ok with the outcome of the conversation?
Too many people stress about the little things instead of using your listening abilities to come up with mutually accepted solutions. This reminds me of a process I went through years ago to be a better leader. I was a driver; a fiery red, a get on the bus or off. My way or the highway type of leader. I did not care. I had a drive forward and don’t look back method allowing input only when it matched my strategy. Did it work? Well maybe, only for a short period of time and even that could be considered questionable.
With the internal desire to learn and grow, I set a goal to completely adjust my “style” which at the time was also a reflection of the company. The need was to grow our young management team with the best skills and culture that would allow the entire company to move forward.
My ability to bend and flex was horrible at this time. It went against my drive forward fast with little empathy. As an emerging marketing agency, our growth was a huge upward line graph however as we matured as a company with additional layers of management it was imperative to create a different approach. An approach that emphasized a positive team style where ideas could be shared, discussed and put into action.
By listening more, reflecting and letting the team decide, it actually worked! The management team was more engaged, happy and results flourished. The entire company grew faster and with a hgher level of service for our clients. A main reason was I let my EGO go, not needing to have all the answers and utilizing the bending and flexing method.
Bent and Flex is about simplyfing the process with less confrontation and having an atmosphere where constructive idea sharing and creating a plan to implement would prevail in a HUGE way. When we “un-complicate” the process, the MAGIC occurs. Team engagement flourishes, people excel and they seek out growth opportunities. The company suggestion box was overflowing with ideas for improvement, from revenue generation to expense elimination. All from a little bending and flexing, being open to opinions and creating the necessary action/follow through to continue the growth success.
Your culture needs that ability to change, to adjust quickly to ensure greater success. From a personal relationship approach, if you have more bend and flex look at how you will improve your interactions and connections with others. Let it go, communicate always, allow bend/flex in and enjoy the achievements.
Lead your Best Life Blog – CHANGING SEASONS
by Bryan Burns
“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Socrates
Today, as fall or autumn is in full spirit, I just finished a trail run in the beautiful Highlands area of Victoria. In near perfect weather conditions, we were out for a couple of hours in an area new to me. The trail was slick with fresh rain that had fallen the night before. The morning was crisp with the sun poking through the dense forest. The peacefulness, colours, vibrant ferns and the dew on the trees, brought up the importance of change.
As I watched my footing absorbed in the natural beauty of the day, I was mesmerized by the beauty of autumn. No less incredible than the energy of summer or soon the reflecting time during the winter months. I thought about how another year goes by so quickly and it made me feel inspired on how I am living my best life by embracing change!
change
That word can be empowering to some and scary to others! Some of us embrace change while others stay clear of it. It made me think about the definition of change:
to make different in some particular situation, to give a different position, course, or direction to,
to replace with another, to make a shift from one to another,
to put a fresh facelift or covering on, to pass from one phase to another, to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution.
I love change!
Each year I get asked many times, “Hey Bryan what’s new?” Each year I don’t need to think about it too long as I am a big believer in change. Not for change sake but to re-energize, to get creative, to try new routines. Change is exciting, refreshing, positive, ENERGY! I spend a lot of time in the “thinking time” planning and strategizing on how I can lead my best life. It is very easy to continue to do the same things, stay in our comfort zones, not really create new experiences. Just living!
We all change. Our personal future depends on it!
I try not to do the exact same routine every day. My commute is a walk outside to my downstairs separate office. I have three routes to take – out the front door around to right the office door, out the sliding door across the deck and around the back to the gate to the office and out the back door and either go around to the front and door or follow the second option. It may be small however I mix it up. Disrupt a minor routine to bring change in the fold. I try something new. I go down different aisles in the grocery store. I change my routine in the morning – shave, shower, gel, teeth, and deodorant. Try and mix it up. It revitalizes us. It allows us to grow. I look forward to tomorrow. It is going to be different.
Do small “alternatives”, Tweaks! Tweaks are great substitute for Change. It’s less scary. Less in your face. It is more subtle and perceived less negatively. Tweak it!
This year as in all my past years I found some small things to “tweak”. Well actually some HUGE things to be honest. For example, we labelled our morning routines with something called the Intentional Mornings. We added more strategy, commitment and consistency to getting up earlier and giving the first part of the day to yourself. It involves various combinations of exercise, journaling, goal review, learning and mediation or reflection. A good tweak I must say. Game changer!
As I ventured from tweaking to change with some big items this year. I bought a house in an amazing village, close to everything. Reduced commuting, downsized, found a way to reduce our monthly costs and less overall stress! Wow – this was change! Scary – no at all! As a big believer of getting out of our own way, pushing past our comfort zone and manifesting our best life. Choices and direction becomes clearer, in a sense easier. “Change is inevitable; growth is optional. Change is going to occur. It happens! What are you going to do to continue to grow?
Small things can make the biggest change. Find those things. Change your organization at home, less clutter is so freeing, give away “stuff” to charity is awesome!Tweak! Do it often and consistently.
Get everyone in your circle involved in the change management process. Get buy in, support. Understand where you are at the moment. Understand where you want to be, when, why, and what the measures will be for having got there. Plan and develop the consistencies towards achieving those goals.
Communicate, involve, enable and facilitate involvement from your people, your circle, your family and friend. Speak and tell anyone about your change, as early and openly and as fully as is possible and celebrate your successes often!
To be truly successful, these changes or tweaks need to begin with a purpose, a vision as to why and where you are going. Developing a 3P Lifestyle is a good tweak. After all, you have only one life. What are you going to do to make it count? My life is based on the 3Ps of Life – PURPOSE, PASSION AND PLAY!
Purpose is all about strategies and plans. It is about writing down your thoughts, creating your goals. If you can change one thing try writing your goals down!!! It works! Find goals that inspire you, motivate, Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals. You have probably heard of “SMART goals” already. There are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this:
Smart goals
· Specific
· Measurable
· Attainable
· Relevant
· Time Bound
Set Specific Goals – Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don’t provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
Set Measurable Goals – Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success.
Set Attainable Goals- Make sure that it’s possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and decrease your confidence. However you need to stretch yourself!!!
Set Relevant Goals – Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you’ll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want.
Set Time-Bound Goals – Timelines are required. Your goals must have a deadline.
The biggest opportunity is to write your goals down or if you are a creative person a vision board is the way to go!
The famous interviews from the new graduated at the Harvard MBA Program asked this question, “Have you set clear and written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?’ Here is what they found:
84% had no specific goals at all
13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them
Ten years later, the interviewers again interviewed the graduates of that class. You can guess the results:
The 13% of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all.
Even more staggering – the three percent who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.
Your purpose, the goals need to have a PASSION surrounding them. Find your passions. Get excited about life. It is about being engaged in what you are doing. Energize every day. Increase your creativity.
Being inspired, excited and enthusiastic! The fire inside! Find it, work it, massage it daily. Find your innovative side. Passion enables us to overcome obstacles (both real and imagined) and to see the world as a place of infinite potential. The passionate spirit looks at every occurrence and discovers what it can be. Passion has its own energy. It is noticeable and transferable to others. Best of all, you can’t fake it. It’s authentic.
Find time to Play! This is my favourite and something that never needs my attention as I do it daily. Enjoy life, laugh, dance. Schedule in some serious fun every day!!! Take the time to be present with your kids or grandkids or friends. Make a difference in your community. Being present is so important. It allows all of us to focus on what’s really important. It’s the big boulders that count! Not the grains of sand!
Tweak! Life will be a better place when you create and live your best life! Check out our LEAD YOUR BEST LIFE PROGRAMS.
Bryan
Little action steps
Checking in today with my goals. Taking a moment to think about what I’m working on accomplishing this year, this month, this week. Breaking it down into small steps. Little action steps that are helping lead me toward the things I desire.
Ask yourself:
-what can I do today to live as if everything I’ve been working toward has come true?
-what actions does this levelled up version of myself do each day?
-what feelings do I feel knowing that everything I want is in my reality?
Replace your fear with confidence knowing you have the power to make your dreams come true by making small positive choices each day which reflect a different reality. This is how we Lead our Best Life!
What has FEAR or that inability to move forward already cost you?
Time? Maybe Freedom? Energy
Shift your focus, take the steps to your new direction and reality. Consistent daily action is the key to personal success.
Invest in you! It’s your life. No one else can make it better. Expand your learning, focus, make change, fear less. You personal success is all about you. Small movement forward is better than nothing. It is better than lying on the coach. Move your body. Create momentum.
You chose your direction. You decide on the fork. When you make the choice give it all you got and make the change. If it doesn’t make sense that is ok. Another fork will present itself.
Stop pressing PAUSE – Press Play. Do it more often. Everyday. Find those moments to PLAY, to smile to laugh
Smiles are contagious. Try it! Check out our personal growth programs
