March 30, 2010
I saw an interesting title in the last couple of days. In fact, it’s for a new tv show called, “Who Do You Think You Are?”. I believe that the show is about celebrity geneology. Interesting. We’ll see if it does well.
For me what was interesting was not that there’s a new show coming out but the title itself. Normally, we think of it as being an imperative question we might ask a child who is misbehaving…. Who do you think you are Johnny?
Who Do You Think You Are?
But, for me, it conjured up a more introspective exploring question. Who do I think I am? As many of you know, that is something that I think is an important question for everyone to ask. Who am I? When I take inventory what things do I list off?
To perform and succeed, one needs to ask a few questions:
- Who am I?
- Where do I want to be going?
- Do I believe that I can get there?
Paraphrasing some work that two Harvard psychologists did, these are also the things that determine if you’re happy or not. Generally happy people know who they are, know where they want to go and believe that they are on the path to do just that.
So, have you asked yourself…. Who do I think I am?
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Observations, Strategy | Tagged: celebrity geneology, exploring, happiness, inventory, personal strategy, questioning, success, who do you think you are | 
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Posted by mindscape
March 25, 2010
As mentioned in a previous blog, my family and I just came back from an amazing skiing vacation where my 3 kids learned to ski for the very first time. Watching them grow up is like a Masters degree in understanding more about people, how we perform, lead, learn, and just generally provides a lot of insight into high performing individuals.
Each of my kids evolved quite differently over the week although they each transformed into a much better skier.
The Tortoise, The Hare & The Flower?
One son was like the proverfial Hare, who had a lot of natural talent who took to skiing immediately and with an almost eery ability. His growth slowed though after the initial leap forward.
Another son was more like the Tortoise. He didn’t have the natural talent or an innate understanding of it. He needed to concentrate on the skill and worked each moment to get better… and did, each day.
And, finally, our other son was really more of a flower… a late bloomer in fact. He participated. He went through the process with no real discernable, or certainly not rapid, growth. But, at the end, when put to a challenge on the finally day of “The Big Hill”, he rose to the occassion. He showed that he had picked up skills along the way and was doing remarkably well for his age and where he started.
So, the moral of the story… well, we don’t generally compare our kids but there is an illustrative lesson here. All three kids started with nothing. And, all three progressed to make their parents proud. But, they did it in their own way and on their own terms. And, this leads to something that everyone can learn. Not just that people have different learning styles, or that there are many ways to win one’s own race. Something that I believe is more important. You need to know and understand your own learning style. Are you a Hare, a Tortoise or a Flower, or perhaps something else… Aardvark? And, that you may have a different learning style for different things.
Knowing this about yourself will allow you to excel and to explore your boundaries more personally and more professionally. And, with this new take on an old story, we can now celebrate all the participants in the race.
Leave a Comment » | Observations | Tagged: evolution, explore, learning, learning ability, skiing, tortoise and hare | Permalink
Posted by mindscape
March 23, 2010
My family and I just finished a week’s vacation skiing which included amazing weather, lots of fun with friends, pretty good snow conditions for March and lessons for the kids. In fact, this was the first time that any of our kids had been on skis and they had a truly amazing experience with really good instructors.
Snow School... sometimes upright, sometimes not
The days would go something like this. Get up. Have breakfast. Go to the ski hill. Get equipment. Kids take lesson. Parents go skiing. Lessons finish. Lunch is had. Parents take kids skiing in the afternoon. Go to the resort. Relax. Have dinner. Hang out. Sleep. Repeat. Sounds like a pretty great recipe for a day.
One day, I was taking one of my kids skiing and he became really really upset. He couldn’t control his crying and was becoming beside himself. While trying to console him, I discovered that what made him so upset was that he was falling. In fact, in his mind, that’s basically all that he was doing. Being a bit of a perfectionist in that he always wants to do everything really well or he sees it as a failure, falling was the ultimate embarrassment.
So, trying to reframe how he was thinking, I tried to reinforce a belief that my wife and I have which is that skiing is all about falling down. If you are not pushing or exploring your limits, your likely always safely standing. I tried to explain that we were proud of him trying new things and that his falling meant that he was learning and becoming a better skier.
I’m not sure truly how much of that message he got. Probably doesn’t matter as he will learn it over time. What’s important though is that it is a very useful truth.
In fact, over the next couple of days, I reflected that I had not fallen once during the holiday. And, my skiing was the best that it likely had ever been. I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps I need to explore my limits a little more. Well, I continued to push myself — exploring my limits — and yes, going down a steep run right underneath a chair lift in full view of everyone, I fell. It wasn’t a spectacular crash but it did signify that I had left my comfort zone.
I left that week of skiing very content knowing that I did at least fall once. And, I look forward to seeing how I’m falling in other areas as well. How about you? Are You Falling enough?
Leave a Comment » | Mindset, Observations, Simply World Class | Tagged: learning, failure, belief, skiing, march break skiing, instructors, reframe thinking, perfectionist, embarrassment, falling down, exploring limits | Permalink
Posted by mindscape
March 1, 2010
The Olympics are over and hopefully you still “Believe”. In fact, I was thinking about how much believing is a part of something that I talk about called the Evolution of Mindset. Whether you’re an athlete, a businessperson, a volunteer, a parent, a bon vivant, or just the girl next door, everyone goes through the Evolution of Mindset. The more you understand the Evolution of Mindset, the better you can understand yourself. The better you understand you, the higher performing you will be. A part of that is understanding at what point in the process you actually believe in yourself.
So, take one area or situation of your life and decide where you are on the Evolution of Mindset.
Enjoy!
The Evolution of Mindset
- I can’t do that
- I don’t think I can do that
- I don’t know if I can do that
- I can probably do that
- I am going to do this
- I am doing this
- I am this…
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Posted by mindscape
