Shifts Work

I'd really love you to be part of our symposium in Toronto on October 17. But even if you can't, this introduction will get you thinking differently about how our monkey minds resist the clarity of language, and how we sometimes achieve the miracle of communication anyway. Leading Words is going to be a day that transforms the way people think about time, energy, words and a life well-lived. You'll meet interesting people, share stories of courage and creativity, and engage in conversations that mean something. October 17, Toronto, Ontario, http://bit.ly/leadingwords

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you know the right thing when you hear it or do you just know it?  Understanding your personality might be less helpful than understanding how all human brain/mind/body systems are wired. 

It's complicated. On the one hand, humans are pack animals who have highly sophisticated, complex internal systems for reading each other's expressions, getting into sync, and collaborating. On the other, each human being has a distinct sense of themselves as individual. The voice in your head tells you that what you want matters because you are the only "you" on the planet. The wiring in your brain wants to sync with the wants of the people around you.  It's noisy in there.

Welcome back after a summer break. Today's episode is about how to get more control: control of yourself, control of your situation, control of what other people will do or notice.

The person with the best choices has the most control. Learn how to change your thinking so you have better choices available to you.

You're not really the centre of the world. But you are the centre of your world, the centre that perceives and experiences and connects.

If you're tired, for the moment, of good advice and choices to make and to-do lists to accomplish, then stop for a few minutes and breathe with me.

It's a well-known saying in NLP: "difference is the difference that makes a difference." Learn how connecting with a diverse group of people can help you to see the new information that will make a difference in solving your problem. You need a safe space, a shared interest and a group of people committed to holding their own perspectives and integrity. 

We often talk as though our voice always sings solo. Most of the time, voice is at its best when you make conversation the way musicians make music together. Listen to this, then take another 5 or 6 minutes to listen to a group or quartet playing music you like. Listen as if you were playing one of the parts. Let what you learn guide the way you enter your next conversation.

In this episode, Linda introduces the reasons it is so hard to hear your own voice. Language is always carried by a voice, in writing or in speaking. To find the voice that works best for you, you need to separate your own voice from the voices around you and the voices you carry in your head. When you make space in your life for silence, you can begin to focus on separating out your voice from the contagious voices around you and the voices of influencers that you carry within you.

This exercise takes a little more than 5 minutes to move your attention from wanting a strength to noticing that strength to expecting to find that strength in yourself and others. When you focus on how you experience a strength you would like to grow, you discover many different signs that strength exists in you and others. You also shift your focus from wanting to discovering, which builds the optimism that builds success.

In this short podcast, Linda Ferguson shares a favourite place to start a coaching session. Many people arrive with something they want to change. If you find yourself saying "I wish I didn't. . . ." you can turn it around by changing the frame. Instead, just say "I wonder why I . . . " And then really wonder, exploring benefits and relationships and contexts. You'll find that you are on the path to change before you know it.

We call our sales course I Hate to Sell. People who love to sell, who find joy and connection and satisfaction in selling don't need a course. They need to sell. 

Everyone else can benefit from conditioning themselves to follow five steps that engage their best selves in the process of selling to others. Take five minutes and feel energized, motivated and ready for your next sales call.