Will any unemployed members wishing to attend please contact us directly.

See http://www.managers.org.uk/forum/management-courses/two-free-places-unemployed-cmi-members for comments and updates on this story.

Red Tape in Room 101

D for Distractions is all about removing the things from our lives that drain us and stop us moving forward.

Sometimes though there are things you can’t really remove completely but you can have a go!

Just by doing so often makes us feel much better about things and more in control – hence why we play the Room 101 game!

On a recent course a manager in the NHS brought this in as her Room 101 item – need we say any more?

Course details and book on line

Wed 28th Mar – The Media Centre, Huddersfield – £120 – 9.15 / 4.30

Course details and book on line

For those booked on a course these are the pre-course exercises to be completed in advance.

When did you last do something you were uncomfortable with voluntarily?

One recreational goal I set myself this year was to be able to dance – not to a high standard maybe, but to one that would be both enjoyable and not embarrassing.

So how uncomfortable did I feel last night when I attended my first CEROC dance class?

Yes, very nervous -  I was out of my immediate comfort zone!

But encouraged by a really great friend as my support network, I went – learnt my first three moves, had a wonderful evening and danced! Okay, not outstanding but enough to retain my dignity and realise I could do it and enjoy it too.

Will I be going again – definitely!

So what have you been putting off because you are frightened to challenge and stretch your comfort zones? Are you going to do something about that?

Download the course details:  Ridfear Flyer – 30 Jan 2012.

Book online at:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/tickets-external?eid=2750698413&ref=etckt

Let’s recap on what we’ve achieved so far. We’ve attempted to evaluate our life and satisfaction with it in different areas, begun to realise who we are by just exploring aspects of our personality, started to dream again about what our ideal life might look like, considered what holds us back or distracts us from moving forward before  starting to pull it all together and establishing focus on what aspect of our life we need and want to change. We’ve then moved on to set some goals or ends and then determined what actions we can undertake to achieve them.

Day 7  is therefore about  Reflecting  or in other words ‘Taking pride in your success, learning from it and rewarding yourself’.

All too often in life we never take the time to review what we have achieved, learn from the outcomes and reward ourselves for our achievements! Now is the time to start – and then keep doing it…..

1. Everytime you complete an action, acknowledge to yourself what you have achieved.
2. Reflect on how you did it, what comfort zones did you confront, how have you surprised yourself?
3. What will you do differently next time?
4. What can you do differently now?

For every goal (or even action if you want!) decide how you are going to reward yourself   – remember you’ve deserved it! It doesn’t have to be an expensive treat either but choose something meaningful and out of the ordinary. Get relatives or friends to support you if it helps.

Finally, and this is a huge question – are you still heading in the right direction? Often we set off in a direction only to find that as the journey progresses we find alternative destinations based on what we’ve discovered along the way. Life and circumstances change - don’t cling on to a dream that’s no longer appropriate or achievable. After all, you have just begun to understand how to live the life you really want, so just use RIDFEAR® again – you’ll get better at it with practise!

What we’ve covered here is just a taster of what we cover on our facilitated courses – but we hope it’s helped and you’ve found it thought-provoking and useful.

By all means contact us if you’d like more information or to discuss how we can help you or your organisation further.

Our next one day course is on Monday 30th Jan price £125 and a few places are still available.

For each of the goals you have set think about;

1. What’s the craziest thing you could do to achieve that goal?
2. The most expensive/cheapest thing you could do?
3. The quickest thing you could do? etc, etc

How enthusiastic and committed are you to these actions?

Put the actions in time order and determine what resources you need to achieve them.

Don’t procrastinate now – just get on and do something remembering you can’t fail – you just haven’t succeeded yet!

Tomorrow we’ll look at Reflecting – where we’ll review what we’ve achieved and reward ourselves…..

Day 5  is therefore about  Ends  or in other words ‘Setting some goals and establishing what results you want to achieve’ against that aspect of our life we are going to improve.

First of all let’s get back to dreaming again.  Have you a vision of what your life will look like when satisfied. If struggling with this, think of the Olympic athlete dreaming of being stood on the top step of the podium proudly wearing a gold medal – everything they do is geared to achieving this – or should be!

1. Find or draw a picture of what is your dream and put it somewhere where you are constantly reminded of it.
2. Set three goals, or milestones, that will practically move you towards achieving this dream. Make them practical, positive, short-term (<6 months) and under your control. It’s no good saying you are going to win the lottery as a goal, but saying you are going to buy a ticket every week is…..
3. It’s often said they should SMART, we are not totally convinced as often radical ideas can be very effective.  Some would argue Steve Jobs was an expert at it.
4. Finally just make sure you are prepared and committed to achieving them – if not replace them.  Make sure they support your ideal, distractions won’t impede you and that you have realised you can deliver them.

Tomorrow we’ll look at Actions – where we’ll plan how you are going to achieve these goals.

By now your printed out wheel of life from the introduction should have plenty of ideas and observations scribbled around the different areas of your life and the satisfaction you have with them. If not, take some time to review your thinking from the previous RID stages and relate your responses back to the wheel. As you reflect on the page, what area of your life instinctively feels right to change now and what needs to change later?

For the aspect chosen;

1. How important is it that you change it?
2. How committed are you to changing it?
3. How able are you to change it now?

Repeat this process for all the aspects you’ve identified then compare the results. Do the results support your instinct?

This may seem a difficult exercise to contemplate for the first time without facilitation or a partner to discuss options with, but usually for most participants we find the right answer comes easily and naturally – hopefully it has for you too!

Tomorrow we’ll look at E – Ends – where we can set some goals and establish what results you want to achieve.

The third element of RIDFEAR® is Distractions which is about ‘Understanding and changing what is holding you back’.

Let’s try to help making positive changes easier. Imagine a Helium filled party balloon tied to the back of a chair. How would you get it to rise to the ceiling? Would you physically lift it, complete with chair, up to the ceiling – only to see it fall back down the moment you let go?  Of course not as it’s a totally absurd suggestion – hopefully you’d cut the string and let it float naturally upwards!

So lets see if we can apply this to our lives. Rather than put energy and effort into forcing changes, let’s remove those obstacles that hold us back and prevent us moving forward with relative ease. Spare yourself some time to think about;

1. How many friends, colleagues or relatives sap your energy rather than add vitality? Why do you let them?  Do you dread them calling you or popping in as you know you are about to lose an hour of your life for no benefit?  When did you last ‘unfriend’ someone that doesn’t deserve your friendship? What effect do credit card bills, unanswered e-mails and general clutter have on you?
2. Although RIDFEAR is an acronym and not focussed on fear, you do need to ask what are you frightened of? The dark? Failure or success? Being found out maybe?  There are lots of fears we all hold, mostly unfounded – identify them and think about how you might tackle them. How much have those fears held you back in the past and added a cost to your life?

Again plenty to think about there and just a sample of the exercises we cover in this section of RIDFEAR®, but the message is simple – let’s use less accelerator pedal and just take the handbrake off.

When you’ve got some answers and can see a theme emerging, go back to your printed out wheel of life from our introduction. Would anything you’ve discovered improve your satisfaction scores here if you acted upon them?

Tomorrow we’ll look at F – Focus – determine which area of your life you can and want to change.