I’m starting a new project and I’ll be working with loads of new people in a field that I have no expertise in.
I’m excited for this as it means I will learn a huge amount. There is nothing like working in a field of expertise that you don’t know anything about to steepen the learning curve!
Currently I’m building my team – it’s a team of tradespeople, all highly skilled and immensely experienced in their chosen skillset.
I know a few of my team personally and a few of them I’ve never met yet they all come highly recommended which is good enough for me.
One of the most important people on my team and the one I have hired first is my connector.
The term connector comes from Malcolm Gladwell’s brilliant book The Tipping Point.
Gladwell refers to connectors as those who know everybody; the networkers with large social circles; the social glue.
I love this quote I found online re connectors ‘they always know how to help or if they can’t help they know someone that can and will quickly put you in touch with them’.
Connectors have been defined as ‘confident, persuasive, and relationship-focused. You can always catch a connector mingling and introducing one friend to another. They know how to make those instant connections with others and are often helping others make those connections themselves.’
By being part of so many different worlds and by being a real people person, connectors have the gift of bringing the people in these different worlds all together – what an amazing gift.
My connector has advised me who he works with, who he trusts and respects and who he thinks would be the best team for me to work with.
These are all good enough reasons for me to hire the people he recommends.
My connector is central to the success of my project and I have no doubt that I will have as much trust and faith in those I hire next as I do in him.
Who is the connector in your life?
Who is the connector in your business?
Who is the connector on your project?
Are you the connector?
Connectors are very special people – they make the world a better place to live in and they have immense gifts to share with us all ❤️
The A-Z of Effective Change ebook contains 26 ways you can start creating (and embracing) effective change in your life today.
Positive change is my passion and, when I had one, it was my day job!
Change fascinates me and the more I learn, the more I love it.
I have learned through time & experience that there is only one thing you control in this life and that is YOURSELF.
Everything else is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
Every person, every event, every situation, every single thing outside of yourself is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
Because of this, wouldn’t it make sense to only give our time and energy to what WE CAN CONTROL?
In an ideal world the answer would be YES.
But we don’t live in an ideal world – we live in a messy, unpredictable, busy world where most of what we encounter during our daily lives is outside of us.
So if we don’t control what is outside of us, how do we change it?
The answer is WE DON’T, all we can control is our REACTION TO IT!
We absolutely, 100% can control our REACTION to EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HAPPENS.
Read that again.
Easier said than done for sure.
The next time something happens that you want to change, think about the following,
1. How can I accept this?
Eckhart Tolle in his profound and my favourite book ever ‘The Power of Now’ suggests to accept everything as if you had chosen it. Following this acceptance, Eckhart then suggests to ask what the situation is trying to teach us. This is a concept that takes a bit of getting used to but absolutely brings much peace of mind.
Acceptance of any situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.
2. Can I change this?
YES, then change it.
NO, how can I change how I view it?
Wayne Dyer in his masterpiece book ‘Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life’ introduces the concept of changing how we view things which doesn’t change what they are but changes our perception of them. Wayne’s beautiful quote sums up this thinking ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Again, a concept that takes a bit of getting usd to but also brings much peace of mind.
How we view and think about any situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.
3. Do I need to make a plan for this long term?
If you can’t accept something and can’t change it then the only other option is to remove yourself from the situation.
This is not always straight forward or easy and might take some planning on your part. While you plan to remove yourself from the situation, acceptance and changing how you view the situation will go a long way to protecting you and your mental health.
The situations we allow ourselves to be in is totally IN OUR CONTROL.
4. Reflect on your reaction
The more I reflect, the more I learn about how I react in situations that I want to change and how I make decisions, big and small.
Reflection is one of the most powerful things you can do to learn more about yourself. Do you reflect on decisions you make and how you react to situations you want to change?
Reflection on and learning from every situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.
The next time you are faced with a situation you want to change whether it is a small situation or life changing situation, I hope the above will support you with acceptance, changing how you view the situation, planning to remove yourself from it and reflection on all of the above.
As mentioned above, here are 2 life changing books that I love and that you might love also..
By far my favourite book of all time, if you only ever read one book in your lifetime, let it be this one! Eckhart’s follow on book ‘A New Earth’ is equally as good.
An incredible book on how to change situations by changing how we think about them which is turn totally transforms our lives. Anything by Dr. Wayne Dyer is a transformational read.
Want to read more about Positive Change?
Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image
No matter what type of change you are going through or implementing you will need strength.
Strength to ensure you follow through on what is required for change, strength to be able to support yourself through change, strength to support others through change and strength to ensure you keep going no matter what external factors and obstacles may come your way.
If you put extra effort into building your Physical, Mental and Emotional strength, nothing will get in your way of change. Keeping your mind, body and emotions strong and healthy will make everything along the path of change is that little bit easier.
How do you put xtra effort into your physical, mental and emotional strength?
Are you putting in xtra effort towards the change you want?
‘No matter what kind of challenges or difficulties or painful situations you go through in your life, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and find the inner strength to get through them.’ Alana Stewart
How do you build your physical, mental and emotional strength?
Want to read more?
Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image
In order to bring Positive Change into your personal life, professional life or business you will need a VISION.
As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, a vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom, a mental image of what the future will or could be like, a vivid mental image, especially a fanciful one of the future.
A favourite quote of mine from is
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Norman Vincent Peale
Shooting for the moon is indeed a grand vision but why would you shoot for anything less?
The above quote is so true and something to keep in mind when you are creating your own grand vision.
A grand vision will stretch you personally and professionally to work towards it.
A grand vision will ensure you either reach the moon or do indeed fall among the stars.
A grand vision will keep you on track, keep you centered, keep you focused on your goals and will bring clarity and comfort when times get tough.
In the world of Lean we use the term True North to describe where we are aspire to be and what we are working towards.
True North like a vision becomes the compass that continuously shows you where you are going and if you are on or off track.
When you are clear what your vision is you can take the action required to bring your vision to life.
What is your personal vision?
What is your professional vision/vision for your company?
Are you working towards this vision every day?
‘Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others’ Jonathan Swift
Want to read more?
Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
Confidence. When you have decided to create change in your life you will need high levels of self confidence in yourself and in your ability to change.
Change often brings feelings of uncertainty, fear and anxiety.
Every time we make bring something new into our lives or learn something new, it requires a new and higher level of confidence to deal with those feelings of uncertainty, fear and anxiety. Continuously building your inner confidence will diminish and alleviate these feelings of uncertainty, fear and anxiety.
These are normal feelings towards change, however if we do not deal with and alleviate these feelings they will hold us back. We can procrastinate and in some instances we can convince ourselves that we no longer need or want to change.
The best way to deal with feelings of uncertainty, fear & anxiety and the obstacles they create is to develop confidence – inner, unshakable self confidence.
As you build your inner confidence, you will inspire others to have confidence in themselves as they navigate the ever evolving path of change. As humans, we are capable of anything we put our minds to. The first step of achieving our dreams is having the inner confidence to believe we can.
[tweetthis]‘Through my education, I didn’t just develop skills, I didn’t just develop the ability to learn, but I developed confidence.’ Michelle Obama [/tweetthis]
Pinky’s image below is inspired by 80s band Journey’s hugely successful song ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. Playing, singing and dancing to this excellent song at high volume will do wonders for your self-confidence!
If you want to learn more about creating effective change in your life and/or business, download my free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
In the Lean/Continuous Improvement world we carry out ‘Hansei’ which is Japanese for ‘Self-Reflection’. Hansei allows us to review & reflect on our goals (personal and professional) to evaluate what worked so we can build on the successes and evaluate what didn’t work so we can adjust and change direction.
I have been carrying out an ‘Annual Hansei/Review’ for many years and find it hard to believe this is the 7th year I have published this review online. See Annual Reviews from past years at the end of this blog post.
A large part of me didn’t want to do this year’s Annual Review as I would prefer to look forward to 2020 than to look back at 2019. Parts of 2019 were amazing, and parts were beyond sad. My uncle and one of my best friends passed away in Oct/Nov and everything else that happened in 2019 paled into insignificance.
Losing people you love is hard for many reasons and even if someone has been ill it is still so unexpected and completely unwelcome. It is an inevitable destination for us all but still yet so incomprehensible.
And so, with trepidation, here is my Annual Review for 2019. As always, Mike, my family and my friends are my reason for everything. and the source of most of my happiness.
Lean is a business philosophy that I follow at work & in my personal life and that I write about here on my blog.
I had 3 ‘Lean’ highlights this year,
1. I travelled to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on two trips to teach (and learn) Lean Principles & Leadership to the 2018 & 2019 classes of Riyadh Airport Future Leaders. These groups of young and inspirational Future Leaders taught me more than I could ever teach them. I am grateful to all at daa International for this opportunity esp. my friends Debbie Kearns for looking after me so well and all of the Riyadh Airports Future Leaders for welcoming me to their beautiful country and sharing their knowledge with me.
2. I wrote an e-book on ‘Positive Change’ All going well I will be launching it early in 2020. The e-book is a compilation of blog posts from a blog series I wrote in 2019/2019, you can view the blog posts here ‘The A-Z Of Effective Change’
3. I am fascinated by Japan and all things Japanese and in 2020 I am finally getting to tick Japan off my ‘to visit’ list. I have booked a place on Katie Anderson’s ‘Lean Study Trip’ in May 2020 and will be sharing the journey with you here on my blog and through social media
Similar to 2018, in 2019 I became more aware of the power and necessity of a Lean Culture in business. Respect for & development of people is truly the only way to grow and sustain businesses. Lacking these people focused elements and treating people poorly will ensure your company is one that people cannot wait to leave and are in no hurry to join, leaving your company moral on a downward spiral with your profits following closely behind.
In terms of Travel and Photography, my friend’s Karin and Paula enjoyed a few days skiing in the Italian Alps in February. I’m not the best skier but the fresh air and the excellent company on the slopes was food for the soul!
I visited Riyadh with work twice in 2019. My blog post on ‘The Top 5 Reasons To Visit Saudi Arabia’ was my most viewed blog post of 2019. I cannot recommend Saudi Arabia highly enough as somewhere to visit and now that it has opened to tourism, there has never been a better time.
My Mom and I spent 2 fabulous weeks on the islands of Malta and Gozo in September. I would highly recommend both islands as places to visit, you can read more about them on my blog posts,
I enjoyed working with my gorgeous family and friends on photo shoots this year, it is always a joy to work with those you love.
Like most things in life, the more I learn about social media the more I realise I don’t know. Social media changes every day and so there is always much to keep up to date with.
In 2019 I continued to post about Travel and Photography and Positive Change on my blogs,
Throughout 2019 I continued to post daily positive quotes to various social media platforms which helped me learn more about posting, scheduling and outsourcing on social media. I created ‘The Quotes Store’ on Flickr where you can download albums of these positive quotes for your own use.
I continued to work with the brilliant cartoonist Andy Kefford who created the cartoons of ‘Pinky the Positive Pig’, the star of my 26 part blog post series ‘The Complete A-Z Of Effective Change’ of which my new e-book is based. I look forward to sharing our new writing project with you later in 2020!
I love writing on my blogs and I learned over the past couple of years is that not only do you need to build skills to write content, but you also need to find the time to think about, write, edit, publish and market this content. I struggled to find enough time for writing last year (as I did in 2018) and so this is a real focus area for me for 2020.
I have always been aware of the importance of physical and mental health. 2019, for many reasons, brought this awareness to another level.
Keeping our physical and mental health in peak shape is required for everything else in our lives to function. Working to look after our physical and mental health should be the top priority in our lives and a daily practice to ensure same.
I wish you and your loved ones excellent physical and mental health in 2020.
In 2019 I continued to improve my financial habits by learning from Tony Robbins book ‘Money Master the Game – 7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom’. Tony is a master when it comes to finance and in this book he not only shares his own wisdom but also leverages the wisdom of many of the world’s finest financial advisors to share their advice, insights and experience. Tony’s book is written in an easy to understand format for all levels of financial understanding which is why I like it so much.
Like all habits, my financial habits are a work in progress.
It’s nice to give back. I have been supporting various charities for many years. Year on year I try to give more to each charity whether this is monetary support or volunteering my time. This is something I will continue with and build on in 2020.
That’s it, 2019 in review, albeit a little less detailed than previous years.
Here’s to 2020, may the New Year (and the new decade) bring you and your loved ones health, happiness and prosperity,
Thanks for reading,
Siobhain
x x x
Note: The system I use for my Annual Review is a work in progress and evolves year on year. When I first carried out my Annual Review I started with a template used by Chris Guillebeau. If you are interested in starting your own Annual Review, here is Chris’s guidelines on How To Conduct your own Annual Review and his Annual Review Template.
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant.
Dr Deming’s philosophy below (thanks Wikipedia) will give you an insight into his profound wisdom and deep understanding of systems and operations and how they work efficiently, effectively and optimally.
‘Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organisations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty). The key is to practice continual improvement and think of manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces.”
The above sentence sums up why all businesses would benefit from Lean and how Lean requires to be implemented through a series of systems that support the work and not as a stand alone philosophy.
See ‘Wikipedia’ for more information on Dr Deming and his great work.
The Plan, Do, Check, Act Cycle, or PDCA cycle, is a technique designed to facilitate continuous improvement in the workplace. It is also referred to as the Deming Cycle, as it was popularized under the instruction of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Deming was introduced to the concept by Walter Shewart, a statistical quality control expert. PDCA has also been referred to as PDSA (Plan, Do Study, Act), PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Adjust) and numerous variations in between.
Whichever version you decide to you the principles are the same.
Dr Deming’s PDCA cycle has completely changed how I work and how I live. Everything I do in relation to projects & work (personal and professional) now goes through this cycle or some variation of it. Let me give you an insight into how it works and the benefits it brings.
PLAN
(Develop a detailed plan )
This is the first step in the Deming cycle, and it is here you determine exactly what the opportunity for change is. In this first step, it is important to determine what problem you are solving, what is the goal, what will the measurements of success be and how will you implement this change.
It is here that you determine exactly what you need to achieve success and how you will know you are successful. The only way to know if something has improved is by measuring it and so it is critical to determine what metrics will give you this information and how you will collect these metrics.
When you are happy you have a detailed plan, know what metrics you will monitor (and how you will gather and monitor these), it’s time to move into the ‘Do’ phase.
The above sounds very simple but it’s not uncommon for people, departments and organisations to plough ahead with change without a detailed well thought out plan.
Spending most of your time in the Plan phase will set you up for success on the next stages of the PDCA cycle.
DO
(Implement the changes according to the plan)
Here it is time for action and time to use the plan developed above to put that action in place. The plan will serve as an excellent guide and reminder of exactly what it is you want to achieve. The metrics you will gather during the ‘Do’ phase will ensure you are continuously moving in the right direction towards success.
If you are leading a team, department or an organisation through change it should be very clear at all stages in the ‘Do’ phase where you are with the change and what the next steps are.
CHECK
(Reflect on and evaluate results)
This phase reduces rework and provides clarity.
This step is sometimes referred to as the study phase. Here we are reviewing and analysing the results of the improvements implemented in the Do phase.
In this phase you ‘Check’ if your initial goal from the ‘Plan’ phase has been reached and ‘Check’ if the metrics gathered support this goal achievement.
Did you reach your goal?
Do the metrics support this?
Are you happy that this initiative has been a success?
ACT
(What are the next steps?)
This step is our last in the where we ask 2 questions and act accordingly on the answers.
Did we reach our goal?
If the answer is Yes, we standardise, document and roll out the new process, training those who need to be trained. This is the new Standard Work on which we continuously improve.
If the answer is No, we may need to alter our methods of implementation, develop a new plan, or test our improvements on a larger scale.
As this is a cycle, the PDCA process never really ends.
It repeats itself providing the path to continuous improvement.
Do you use the PDCA cycle?
Could the PDCA cycle help you transform how you live and work?
Want to read more about change?
Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
Lately, the Not To Do List has become my favourite time management tool!
My recent post on the time management tool ‘The Priority Matrix’ highlights that there are many tasks that could be moved from your ‘to do list’ to your ‘NOT TO DO LIST’.
As our lives get busier and busier – creating, updating and getting through our ‘to do lists’ can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. The ‘so much to do, so little time’ syndrome has become widespread as we move through the digital age trying to juggle all that is part of our day to day lives.
The constant and exhausting need to take everything on and get everything done will eventually lead to burnout.
So how do we deal with our ever increasing ‘to do lists’ and the constant and consistent requests for our precious time?
Then place everything that does not need to be done on your ‘NOT TO DO LIST’.
If you update your ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ every day you will feel you are getting through tasks by the simple movement of tasks from one list to another.
Time is so precious and a ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ can make us think deeply about where we spend our precious time.
To say my ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ has totally transformed how I get things done is an understatement. For me, my ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ is just as important and gets as much attention as my ‘to do list’.
As a big fan of lists but also as someone who is susceptible to overwhelm, I use a ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ every single day. As I review my daily plan of what needs to get done I also review what doesn’t need to get done that day.
I am always astounded at the amount of tasks that end up on my ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ freeing up precious time!
Even physically moving something from your ‘to do list’ to your ‘NOT TO DO LIST’ will give you a sense of achievement!
Do you have a ‘NOT TO DO LIST’?
Could this help you free up time to focus on more important things in your life/business?
What would go on your ‘NOT TO DO LIST’?
Want to read more about Positive Change?
Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below
Thanks to the brilliant 
Image Credit: 