In the military sense, this means to lock your sights on the target and have your ammunition ready to fire.

In other words, create a link with what you want to achieve and be clear about what you need to do to achieve it.

You and I create links or connections all the time, with our phones, with our broadband, with the mail, and face to face.

To communicate with our ‘target’, the person or group with which we want to communicate, we need some form of connection.

And then we need to ‘lock on’ to that ‘target’ through the link; through our communication.

But you and I know only too well that sometimes that link breaks down or degrades.

We lose the phone signal or it becomes so bad that the connection keeps breaking up, becoming useless.

Our broadband goes down or for some reason starts to run very slowly, again impeding the quality of the communication.

Our mail gets ‘lost in the post’ and even when talking to someone in person, face to face, sometimes we find it difficult to communicate because we’re ‘not on the same wavelength’.

When we are communicating you and I need to be sure of two things:

We need to ensure that the ‘link’ is robust and you and I also need to ensure that we are communicating on the same ‘frequency’ as our co-respondent.

I was recently having a conversation about the sound system in a church. It wasn’t working properly.

It was ‘working’ but the quality of the sound wasn’t up to scratch and there were intermittent breakdowns in the system.

The wires were tested and found to be intact, so the connection was there. But it raised the question as to the ‘quality’ of the link. In the end, because the system was quite old, it was decided that the wiring would be replaced with new.

When you and I communicate with people we must ensure that the quality of the connection is high, that the link is robust and won’t break down.

But this doesn’t just apply to communicating with others.

It applies to communicating with oneself, and it also applies to everything we do.

To achieve our objectives, to hit out ‘targets’, you and I need to form a strong unbreakable connection with whatever we are thinking or doing.

You and I need to ‘lock on’.

To lock on to our ambition, our vision, our belief, our objective – to create a robust connection with whatever it is we want.

This is not the same as ‘focus’.

This is where the ‘load’ comes in to play.

You and I have the target in our sights, we can see it on the radar, we know ‘where’ it is and we’ve ‘connected’.

But can we see it clearly? Is the vision of what you and I want to achieve clear? Can we see the detail, exactly what we want our ammunition to hit?

Is the target, vision, ambition, objective, in focus?

And, if you and I are communicating with someone, there are two aspects to consider.

Besides being focused on what we want to achieve you and I also need to be on the same ‘frequency, the same ‘wavelength’ as the person we’re communicating with.

We have to understand clearly what we are talking about. It’s no good having a conversation, or trying to, when you and I see one side of the coin and the other person only sees the other side.

It’s just not going to work – we must ‘tune in’ with each other first. Or maybe we have to make the effort to tune in to their wavelength by seeing things from their point of view and not ours.

You and I are often exhorted to ‘focus’ on what we are doing and told that by doing this we’ll achieve the result we want.

This makes sense, and we do it.

And then we wonder why it ‘doesn’t work’.

We can fire our guns or launch our missiles in the general direction of our target, but even if we know exactly what we are trying to hit, in every detail and even if we know exactly where it is, we aren’t going to get the results we want.

We might, but it will probably cost more and take longer than we planned.

It doesn’t matter how good our focus is on our goal; if we don’t connect first making sure it’s a strong connection then we won’t achieve our goal in the way we wanted.

First, connect, lock on.

Only then can you and I get our ‘target’ in focus and deploy our resources.

But before you and I can ‘lock and load’ on an external target, or vision, or ambition, or goal, or objective, we fist need to ‘lock on’ to ourselves.

Make that connection between our inner self and the universe, make sure we are properly ‘wired up’ – ‘connected’ – and then you and I can ‘load up’ and focus on those things we want to achieve.

I’m locked and loaded.

How about you?

Those of us in the coaching and consulting industry sometimes get just a little frustrated.

And the same applies to project managers, information consultants, IT experts, HR experts, management consultants and everyone else who has professional skills, even sometimes accountants and sales professionals!

You and I know that we can help people by using our ‘special powers’ gained through our knowledge and years of experience in our particular field.

We know exactly what to do to help people and organisations, and we know exactly how to do it.

So, when an individual or organisation is looking for help it should be a ‘no brainer’ – yes?

But it isn’t.

It isn’t, because people in general and organisations in general don’t really understand what we do or how we do it.

(They don’t need to, but that’s beside the point)

The thing is that most of the skills I’ve listed are a ’mystery’ to most people.

Sadly, most peoples’ concept of a ‘coach’ is a single decker bus or a train carriage, or that vehicle the Queen rides in.

Or it’s specifically someone who has something to do with sport or sometimes business.

But most people don’t understand what coaches actually ‘do’, and the same applies to ‘consultants’.

There’s a popular joke about consultants being someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time.

Unfortunately for those of us in the ‘helping industry’ most people just think we don’t ‘do’ anything, but charge a lot of money for the privilege.

It’s up to us, you and I, to get over that hurdle and make sure that the people and organisations we believe we can work with and help, do understand the benefits they achieve from working with a coach or consultant.

But then there’s another obstacle in our way.

Another message to get across to those people and organisations in need.

You see, there’s another common belief which is actually a very big problem for the economy and for the way the country works, and for individuals who find themselves ‘in difficulties’.

It’s the belief that if someone doesn’t have the same background, doesn’t work in the same industry or niche, doesn’t have direct experience of the same problem, doesn’t have education in the right ‘subject’, doesn’t live in the same area, – and so on – then they cannot possibly help with the particular issue that organisation or person is wanting to deal with.

There was a period in the first few years of the century when the NHS were putting out a lot of advertisements for consultants in various fields to help them tackle some serious problems with the organisation.

Unfortunately, those problems are still there. Because at the bottom of each and every ad there was the phrase: “Do not apply if you have had no previous experience of working with the NHS” (or words to that effect).

So although they had, and still have, significant problems, they were only prepared to take on those who had tried to solve the problems before – and presumably been unsuccessful.

This may be changing now but at the time they clearly believed that only people with direct experience of the organisation and its issues could help.

The same applies to a number of other (usually public sector) organisations.

And it applies to many individuals as well – “You won’t understand if you’ve not experienced my problem yourself”.

They forget that it’s impossible to see the whole picture when you are actually in the picture yourself.

Remember that you and I have never seen ourselves from the outside.

Yes, we’ve seen ourselves in the mirror but that picture is all the ‘wrong’ way around, and we may have seen images and thought “Oh that’s what I really look like”.

But you and I have never – in reality – seen ourselves from the outside.

And that’s what we need to explain to people about coaching and consulting.

It takes a fresh view, a view from the outside.

And it usually works even better when we have no preconceived ideas about what is actually going on inside before we get there.

But how do we see ourselves, you and I, from the outside in?

In truth, we all need a coach, but many people have found the answer to this though forming ‘mastermind’ groups with other coaches and consultants; not necessarily to ‘work’ together, but to enable a ‘reality check’ on what each of us is doing.

But it’s also a good idea to ask ‘other’ people what they think, clients for example. How to they see you from the outside, and how do your ‘friends and family’ see you?

Just holding up the mirror doesn’t work.

Time for a ‘reality check’ from the outside in.

Go on then.

“Do, or do not, there is no try” said Yoda to Luke Skywalker when Luke answered “I’ll try” on being told to levitate his X-wing fighter out of the swamp.

People often use this answer, “I’ll try” when asked to do something they don’t really want to do or aren’t sure about . . .

“I’ll try to get back to you this week”

“I’ll try and do what you ask”

“I’ll try and do those things I need to do”

“I’ll try and remember”

Although this is correct usage of the word try in the sense of intending to make an attempt, usually the person involved has no intention of doing any such thing!

You and I often recognise this pretty quickly when we are given answers like these to a request or suggestion, even when we provide advice.

But, albeit hidden away in most dictionaries, ‘try’ has other meanings.

It’s a specific point scoring move in a game of rugby that qualifies the team to make an attempt at ‘converting’ it and scoring a goal.

When lawyers ‘try’ a case, the proceedings are all about presenting and testing evidence on either side through questioning and cross examination.

Similarly, in science, a hypothesis is tested by ‘trying’ different experiments to prove or disprove its validity.

Edison ‘tried’ thousands of different ways of developing a robust incandescent light bulb and eventually succeeded.

An artist might ‘try’ different ways of achieving a certain effect, a musician might ‘try’ different variations of notes until they get what they want, a writer might ‘try’ different forms of words to express their intention, and an engineer might ‘try’ different ways of completing a project.

I was often advised by my shoolteachers “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again”.

‘Trying’ is not really about just making one attempt, which is what most dictionary definitions imply.

‘Trying’ is about not giving up.

‘Trying’ is about making as many attempts as necessary, deploying as many different methods as necessary, practicing over and over again until we ‘get it right’, testing, testing and testing again, until we achieve the definitive or best possible result.

To try is a good thing to do

Provided that you and I keep trying until we get what we want.

Once is not enough, one attempt usually doesn’t work out the way we want it to.

(Admittedly, sometimes it does, sometimes we do get an immediate breakthrough, but it’s very rare)

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again”.

And when you and I have tried and tried and tried, tested and tested and tested, practiced and practiced and practiced – then we can and will ‘do’.

I hate to say it, but Yoda was wrong – although in a way he was right

There is ‘do’ and ‘not do’ but there is also ‘try’.

Because in order to ‘do’, the vast majority of times, you and I have to ‘try’ first.

We have to try or test or practice, so we can finally generate the ability to ‘do’.

But, and here’s where Yoda was right in a way, if we don’t ‘try’ we will probably never ‘do’.

But what’s the answer when people tell you and I that they’ll ‘try’?

Here’s the thing, we know what ‘try’ means so, if we think it might be worthwhile and we’re not just being fobbed off we can offer help.

We can enquire as to what difficulties they envisage in achieving whatever is being discussed and then perhaps negotiate ways of making it easier for them to do whatever needs to be done.

You and I know when “I’ll try” is being used as a get-out, but we also know when it isn’t; and then we can offer help to make things easier.

Look out for when “I’ll try” is being used to cover up a problem or perhaps misunderstanding of what is being asked.

Explain more what is involved and perhaps agree some clear interim targets when necessary.

“I’ll try” can be as much a call for help as it is anything else.

I’m going to keep on trying, testing and practicing to achieve each of my goals, and helping others do the same.

How about you?

I’m hearing this more frequently now, but instead of coming from people older than me when I was young, it now comes more often from people who are younger than me.

What does it mean?

And what is my ‘age’ anyway?

Apparently, you and I are supposed to ‘behave’ according to some sort of ‘template’ laying out how people ‘of a certain age’ and indeed of any age should behave.

It would seem that at younger ages one is ‘supposed’ to do things and behave in certain ways, we’re supposed to ‘grow up’ and act our age.

And at later ages it’s much the same. We’re not ‘supposed’ to dress like younger people, think like younger people or behave like younger people.

Once you and I get to that ‘certain age’ it seems we’re supposed to ‘retire gracefully’, not cause any ‘trouble’ and wait for the men in black coats carrying a big box.

But from my point of view I feel that I’m still the same individual that I was when I was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and so on.

I have more knowledge and I’ve become wiser having gained a lot of experience in various things over those years.

But I’m not ‘older’.

For sure, the bodies that you and I live in do age and change shape over the years.

There was a recent news article that the human body can live for 115 to 125 years if it is well looked after

But what about the spirit, the soul, the ‘you’ or whatever you wish to call it, that occupies your body?

There are stories in many religious texts about people living for hundreds of years, nearly a thousand years in a few cases.

But what if that’s been misinterpreted, or mistranslated?

Perhaps those ‘people’, those ‘souls’, those ‘spirts’ actually occupied a series of human ‘earth suits’ rather than just one.

Who you and I are has nothing to do with our physical corporeal ‘age’.

You and I are independent of our ‘bodies’ – although we do need to look after it, to maintain it, to keep it going – for as long as we need it.

Until we are ready to ‘move on’

As a sideline, or perhaps an illustration, if this is the case then it should not be necessary for the spirit to be required to assume the gender of the body it finds itself in.

Or maybe the sprit has a gender and just gets put into the ‘wrong suit’?

But back to age.

I know many people who are physically younger then me but who ‘act’ older, and vice-versa.

They think that they should behave in a certain way.

Based on how their parents or other people behaved at ‘that age’

They dress like their parents or grandparents and do what their parents and grandparents did when they reached that ‘age’.

And they succumb to the ‘instructions’ given to them by the media, both in the ‘news’ and in advertising, as well as in popular drama programmes.

Societal and peer group pressure causes many people, probably most people, to ignore their internal ‘spiritual’ feelings and dreams and instead ‘act their age’, their corporeal age.

And it is an act that often causes stress, age related illnesses, and general deterioration.

The spirit is subsumed by the body. It allows the body to take over. It ‘gives up’.

‘Life’ is usually represented by a timeline – from birth to death – a linear progression.

I’ve talked about this before but I saw an interesting explanation recently of space-time; part of which explained that in the 4-dimensional space-time continuum our ‘life’ is not a progression through time. It’s the whole thing, the whole ‘timeline’ in one instance.

This idea takes a bit of getting hold of, but basically, according to respected space-time theory, time is not ‘linear’.

What this means for you and I is that as we exist as spiritual beings within a corporeal body, we can cast our minds back quite easily to something that happened when we were 10 and visualise it in great detail.

But we can’t take our body back to age 10!

And you and I can do the same in the opposite direction, it’s ‘harder’, but we can cast our mind ‘forward’ and visualise something in our future in great detail as well.

But for those things to come about you and I have to cast aside our paradigms and beliefs about how time and age ‘work’ and replace them with different constructs.

Now sometimes, well, usually, that requires some help. You and I need support, coaching, and others who believe similarly in what we are and what we are doing.

Associate with others who know and believe these concepts realities and don’t be tricked, cajoled, pressured or persuaded to ‘act your age’.

Be who you are, everything you have been and will be.

(Your body will ‘work’ as long as you need it.)

The other day I was driving along the motorway wearing my sunglasses. I became aware that I was not fully conscious of vehicles alongside me.

Forward and back were OK but that bit where a vehicle alongside is out of range of the mirrors and not quite in front, I was losing.

My sunglasses have thick side-arms which blocked out that sideways peripheral vision – a problem I don’t have with my normal glasses.

I was driving along in a ‘tunnel’ – aware of where I was going and where I’d been, but not aware of what else was going on.

But this isn’t the only form of ‘tunnel vision’ – and it’s not just about ‘sight’.

Most people have several ‘tunnels’: a work tunnel, a family tunnel, a sports tunnel, and so on.

And when they are in one of their tunnels, they often don’t relate to what’s going on in the others.

If you were on the Northern Line on the London Underground, you wouldn’t know what was happening on the Metropolitan, or the Victoria lines – until you reached an interchange station where you could ‘change tunnels’.

And that’s what happens – most people only travel in one tunnel at a time.

And like the ‘tube’ in London they are ‘dark’ tunnels – you can’t see out.

But what if you travelled in a ‘glass tunnel’?

What if you travelled in a tunnel where you could see what was happening alongside you in your adjacent tunnels?

And what if, like on the motorway, you could switch safely from one lane (or tunnel) to another when you needed to?

The thing is that you and I need, all the time, to be aware of all our tunnels or pathways – and of the impact that what we do in one tunnel will have on our other tunnels.

Spending too much time or resources in one tunnel, one domain of our life, will usually have a negative effect on one or more of the other domains.

You and I have to keep things in balance.

So that we can progress effectively along all our pathways at the same time.

Switching from one lane to another when necessary.

Now that’s great, but . . .

But you and I also need to be aware of all the other ‘traffic’

Other peoples’ tunnels and pathways going in the same or different directions.

Because if we’re not (and to continue the driving analogy) being unaware of what else is going on outside our tunnels, could lead to disaster.

The thing is though, outside the discipline of the roads, most people are generally unaware of, or don’t understand, anything that isn’t part of their personal life domains, their personal tunnels and paths.

Other than of course, the inputs that come to their domains from outside.

Things like messages, e-mails, written communications, advertisements, phone calls, requests, and so on.

All generated from ‘outside’.

People do some really weird things.

They ignore them – a bit like ignoring the traffic lights turning red, or green.

They postpone looking at them – a bit like the emergency services deciding to ‘save up’ all their 999 calls until Mondays and deal with them then.

They filter them out for spurious reasons – “I’m not going to be interested in what he might have to say because he’s not wearing a tie”, or he is wearing a tie!

You and I need to be aware of the world outside our particular domains of interest, which means that we need to ‘open’ the messages that arrive, when they arrive, in whatever form, and then quickly make one of three decisions.

First, respond, if the message is relevant and calls for one a response that can be provided quickly.

Second, ignore, (and forget) but only if the message is clearly not, or no longer, relevant, to us and only if we cannot respond to stop similar messages.

This is the ‘usual’ response to the vast majority of advertising messages we receive.

Third you and I need to process the information.

This could take the form of a considered response relevant to the message, it may be to act on the information, it may be to process the information where the message doesn’t need a specific response, or it may be to simply ‘file’ the information for future reference of later response.

Of course, you and I don’t need to do all this personally.

Some information can be automatically filtered out – provided our filter doesn’t throw away things we might actually want

And we can engage a trusted associate to review the information that comes in, especially direct communications, and perhaps carry out some of the processing.

But it is important that you and I should not isolate ourselves from everything else that’s going on.

You and I need to be aware of what other people are doing so that we can help them or learn from them.

‘Opening’ our ‘messages’ and dealing with them will give us a greater understanding of who and where we are in relation to everyone else.

You and I need to take an objective view of the world as a whole, rather than just a subjective view of the tunnels we live in.

P.S. You and I also need to explore other ‘external’ information and consider opportunities that catch our attention, but that’s another story.

There’s plenty of ‘knowledge’ around.

After all, most of the effort deployed by the education system up to and including the first degree level of ‘higher’ education is all about acquiring knowledge.

There are millions of books out there (maybe billions) all containing information and ‘knowledge’.

But what is ‘knowledge’?

Wikipedia defines it like this:

“Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or something, such as information, facts, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning”.

There are some interesting words in there, about what knowledge is and how it is acquired, but essentially it defines knowledge as a ‘feeling’ more than anything, using words like awareness, familiarity and understanding – which are all themselves ‘feelings’.

Now I could perhaps spend a whole day, or a week, or a month, or longer, researching and attempting to define what knowledge actually is, and I shouldn’t be surprised if more than one person has already written a PhD thesis on the subject.

But that’s not the point of this insight.

You see, I believe that far too much importance is placed by society on acquiring ‘knowledge’ in the belief that this will be ‘the answer’ to improving life for everyone.

People have a thirst for knowledge- they need to know – everything!

And some have been convinced that they have a ‘right’ to know everything – about everything – and everyone.

Why?

Because that’s what you and I and everyone else has been ‘educated’ to think. We think we need to know, we think we need more knowledge, we think we need to keep ‘learning’

And we do.

But here’s the thing –

The acquisition of knowledge for its own sake is a complete waste of time.

Just in the same way as the acquisition of money for its own sake is a complete waste of time.

Because, with knowledge and money alone (or even together) nothing happens, nothing changes, nothing is made, nothing moves, nothing and no-one grows.

Nothing

Until you and I apply that knowledge or that money.

Until you and I apply it to a problem that needs to be solved, to a situation that needs to be improved, or to a vision that needs to be made real.

Knowledge is not ‘King’, knowledge is useless.

Until we do something with it!

Until we use these feelings of what we ‘know’, ‘understand’, are aware of, are familiar with, and apply them to whatever we want (another feeling) to do in or with our lives; or to situations we are presented with.

But of course, things are happening, things are being made, things are changing, things are moving and people are growing.

Because in most cases they have learnt how to apply a small part of their accumulated knowledge to whatever they do.

By trial and error, out of necessity, by being shown how by someone else, such as a coach, trainer or work colleague. Rarely by the established educational ‘system’.

The best ‘education’ I ever had was when I was being trained and coached to operate as a scuba diving instructor – a process of learn, apply, demonstrate and pass on. Each piece of knowledge was turned efficiently into a practical skill that I was able to pass on to others.

Isn’t it interesting that many people who had a ‘poor’ educational experience or were thought to be ‘unteachable’ went on to great achievements; great artists, great businessmen, great scientists, and great leaders.

How did that happen?

Not through the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, not through accumulating as much knowledge as possible before making a start, not through indiscriminate ‘learning’.

Just as there were only certain ‘bits’ of knowledge required for me to become an instructor able to teach people to dive safely, only certain ‘bits’ of knowledge are required in any circumstance for you and I to achieve great results.

And for ‘great’ people to achieve ‘great’ things.

Henry Ford once, when questioned about his knowledge of his industry, replied with words to the effect that “I don’t know the answer to your question, but I know someone who does”.

And there’s another thing.

You and I don’t have to possess all the knowledge about anything we are involved in, provided we know who has it and that they can transfer it or apply it on our behalf.

You see –

The ‘secret’ of success is not to chase after knowledge, it is to understand clearly what we want and then seek out people who have the ability to apply their knowledge to our project.

Or, if we have the knowledge but aren’t sure how to apply it, work with a coach who can help us turn theory into action.

‘Success’ is not about knowledge.

When it boils down to it it’s really about people.

So, once you and I have a clear vision of what we want the first question to ask is

“Who do I know who . . .?”

Or maybe “Who do I know who knows who . . .?

And so on . . .

I’m constantly meeting people who are very ‘mixed up’ about what they’re supposed to be doing.

From their point of view, to achieve the things that they want.

You see, they have a few things ‘mixed up’.

They’re motivated but not inspired.

They have too many goals, some of which are in conflict with each other, or their mindset.

None of it seems to ‘add up’.

In other words, although they ‘carry on regardless’ doing the things they think they need to do, they never ‘get anywhere’.

They never seem to achieve what they want to achieve, and when they do it always seems that it’s happened ‘by default’.

In one of my earlier insights I talked about goals, targets and plans, and I said that your goals are elements that make up your higher vision or ‘dream’.

You can of course have more than one dream or vision but none of these can be achieved without fist reaching at least one goal, usually a set of goals.

What are the things you need to have in place before your vision can be achieved?

(And you can look at this in a personal or business sense.)

These ‘steps on the way’ are your goals.

The thing is . . .

They don’t have to be, and indeed they should not be, ‘smart’

Unless of course, your vison is ‘specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable and timely’ – but if it were then it wouldn’t be a dream or vision!

Because dreams and visions are not ‘reasonable’, not ‘achievable’ in the sense that you know how to achieve them, and not necessarily measurable in terms of time or money, and far from rigid in terms of timeliness or specificity.

To whoever thought up this idea of setting smart goals it probably seemed like a good idea at the time, a good ‘discipline’ or ‘tool’ to get people, particularly in a business environment, setting goals.

But in my extensive experience these so-called ‘smart’ goals are very rarely achieved.

Sometime people miss the goal and go further, do better, or get there quicker, sometimes the opposite.

The best use for ‘smart goals’ if you must set them is really as guidelines, although there may be one or perhaps two items within the measurability that have a fixed target date or budget – but quite often what you gain on one you lose on the other.

How do you and I set goals then?

Start with the end result – what is it that we want, what is the dream, the vision?

Does it matter when it happens? Does it matter how much it costs? Does it matter how it is achieved?

Oh, and by the way, here’s something to consider: If we knew exactly how to achieve our vision, and we had the resources, then, if we haven’t achieved it already it isn’t a dream or vision – we’re not committed to it and we’ll never do it.

Next, to achieve the vision, think about the steps on the way, what has to be achieved first before it can all come about?

You may have come across this idea before – basic project planning!

But this time again consider again if the timescale or the finances actually matter in the overall scheme of things leading up to achieving your dream.

Don’t restrict the goals you set by making them too ‘smart’! You can be too smart for your own good!

These goals need testing:

Are they consistent with one another, are they ‘in order’ and importantly, do they fit your mindset?

Are you ‘comfortable with each goal? If not, you may need to adjust the way you think about it or break the goal down further.

One quick point – a goal doesn’t have a set budget or timescale; these elements are targets.

Having a certain amount of money is not a goal, it’s the money that facilitates the goal.

Getting to a certain level in an organisation is not a goal, just a means to an end.

Winning an Olympic medal or World Championship is not a goal – it’s a vision or dream.

Now, most of the time, you and I are ‘motivated’ people, but sometimes, sometimes, we lack inspiration.

We know what we want to do, be, have and give – we’re ‘motivated’ to achieve our dreams. But we do have ‘off days’, when the inspiration drops and we ‘don’t feel like doing much’.

There are many ways of minimizing this but the key thing that you and I need to remember is that motivation comes from the inside and inspiration from the outside.

There’s no such thing as a ‘motivational speaker’ – no-one can ‘motivate’ anyone else, but they can inspire them.

But we don’t have to listen to a speaker or go to an ‘event’ to top up our inspiration, it can come from anywhere; being in the country or by the sea, looking at great art or architecture, listening to music, watching plays, movies or even (sometimes) TV!

You and I can boost our inspiration in many ways and it’s vital that we do so.

Inspiration is the fuel that allows us to take the actions to achieve the targets to achieve our goals and fulfil our vision.

Are you inspired? You know what to do.

You and I know many people who are ‘trapped’ in a daily ‘routine’. Every week is the same, every month, and every year.

Only briefly interrupted by ‘holidays’.

(Which should be called ‘vacations’ because ‘holidays’ means ‘holy days’ – for once the Americans get it right!)

But then I guess many people do think of their breaks from the hamster wheel ‘holy’.

You and I know only too well how difficult it is sometimes to make an appointment with someone or to set up a meeting, or to get someone to attend an event, even watch a broadcast of some sort.

The question is – why do people do this to themselves?

What’s the cause, and what’s in it for them?

When I discuss this with people they think that they ‘have to’ or ‘need to’ do all this stuff, using up their time often with things they’d really rather not be doing.

For sure, there are many people who have ‘contracted out’ a big chunk of their time to an employer; but even then –

When they’re ‘at work’ the same thing tends to happen, especially at ‘management’ level – the daily, weekly, monthly meetings that drag on and on and where most people only need to be there to make their contribution for a brief portion of the time allotted.

But hey, that’s the way it is . . .

And so, when they’re not ‘working’ they end up cramming things into the time available until there’s none left.

None left for what?

Here’s the thing –

There’s activities that you and I want to do and there’s activities that you and I have to do – really have to do.

The problem is that there are too many things that we think we have to do that, in reality, we really don’t.

They may be activities that we’ve chosen to do, in the past, but have now become a habit that we have difficulty breaking.

We get so used to doing things that we once wanted to do that they’ve now become ‘have-to’s.

We don’t really want to be tied up doing things that we used to do just because we ‘always’ do them!

And this applies at work as well as at home.

But what about ‘time management’?

What about all those great techniques taught on management courses?

I’m sorry, but you and I cannot manage our time – it passes and we have no control over that.

We can’t bring back a chunk of time that has passed because unlike money, there are no refunds.

But we can ‘manage’ what we do with our time.

People are taught on courses and at seminars to get their diary and ‘block out’ chunks of time for certain things; and I’ve seen some wonderful creations where the days of the week have all been divided up into different brightly coloured boxes.

Time for, this, time for that, sometimes ‘me time’, and so on.

This is a really good way of increasing stress and anxiety levels!

Because “I must do that today, it says so in my diary, if I don’t do what it says I’ll lose control”

And that would be chaos.

Great!

Nothing like a bit of impromptu chaos to liven things up, to make us think.

Most people are quite good and dealing with a little bit of chaos, it can be stimulating!

Now there’s nothing wrong with making a plan for the week, month, year ahead.

A list of those things that you have to do (in order of priority) and those things you really want to do (again in order).

But there has to be time for other things as well.

• Time to think
• Time to have fun
• Time for family and other people
• Time to learn something new
• Time to regenerate

But, please, don’t ‘block them out’ in your diary!

Because then they soon become ‘chores’ – things you think you have to do!

Things you think you have to ‘tick off’.

And don’t ever ‘fill up’ your time, because there’s something else you need to cater for.

It’s what I call ‘opportunity time’.

It’s when something occurs to interrupt your ‘perfectly ordered week’

It may be good or seemingly bad – but it’s always an opportunity.

It’s been given to you, and you need to act on it.

Before someone else does.

You don’t know when it will happen.

You won’t see it coming.

But you need to be ready, at all times, whatever else is going on, to recognise and act on the opportunities that come your way.

Or they’ll be lost.

Have you time available to take advantage of them or are you ‘too busy’?

You know what to do.