As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my car beside a very stormy, cold Irish sea in Wicklow Harbour.
The sun is rising, even though you wouldn’t know it with all of the heavy grey cloud…
Waves are crashing over the normally accessible pier and landing heavily onto the stoney beach
But in the midst of it all, there are many seagulls flying through the strong wind to sit on the topsy turvy ocean close to shore. Clearly there is something of interest to them – perhaps some form of food.
A couple of weeks ago I shared a concept in my Strive webinar which resonated with quite a few people.
The concept I talked about was ‘Inner Pollution’.
Most people have a concern over the level of climate pollution but they rarely think about inner pollution – which I believe is a much bigger issue because of the damage it causes.
January can be a funny month for people, and that’s in normal times.
Throw in what’s going on in the world in 2021 and… well… I don’t need to say any more do I?
January seems to be the month of riots. Not only did Washington have unbelievable scenes recently but last Monday, we had a riot in our home.
Our two kids, Jane (13) and Sam (11) decided that they were not happy about the police home-school state that was being implemented and proceeded to let their feelings be known…by having a few tantrums.
At one point I thought I saw my son putting on face paint and a hat with horns… but I think it was just my imagination.
Last week I wrote about hopefulness. How it’s vital to progress, resilience and indeed high performance.
I remember back when I was going through a very dark time in my mid-20s, I had no hope whatsoever. I’m sure you’ve also had your moments.
But an important point in my journey of recovery was when I was introduced to a counsellor who seemed to have some answers.
My first question to him was this:
“Can you make the pain stop?”
He replied “No, but I’ll help you make the pain stop.”
That didn’t make complete sense at the time but all I heard was that it was possible to make the pain go away. And that brought hope back into my life. And that changed everything because then I was committed to putting the work in, and taking action.
This is a phrase you hear often in the business world and I don’t agree with it completely.
If strategy was everything people think it’s cracked up to be less organisations would fail. There’s no doubt it’s important but so too is hope – or at least feeling hopeful.
In my experience, feeling hopeful is vital to progress.
“Thank you to all the players and coaches that helped me reach this amazing number, thank you to all my loyal opponents that made me work harder and harder everyday.”
– Ronaldo, Star Soccer Player for Juventus & Portugal
Hi Victoria,
This quote from the soccer super-star caught my eye recently as he celebrated scoring his 750th goal in his career. An incredible achievement from one of the greatest players ever and it gives an insight into the mindset behind his incredible success.
It was with surprise and sadness that I learned yesterday of the passing of Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of Zappos, after a house fire in late November in Connecticut in the US. He was only 46.
Zappos revolutionised online shopping and was one of the pioneers in the model of allowing free returns for any shoes bought through their website. They were also revolutionary in the premium they placed on excellent customer service.
This is a phrase I heard earlier this year from a smart business owner (and it comes up with most people at some point).
It was an answer in relation to me asking what they thought was impossible but if they could do it, it would be amazing.
As it turned out, it wasn’t impossible – because they’re particular goal has been achieved by many other people. It’s just that it was impossible to them because they couldn’t see how to do it based on their circumstances.
It’s a very subtle mindset that can creep in on the best of the best.
