Somewhere in the space between that which exists and that which has yet to be imagined, sparks of Brilliance fly.
Happy end of the month (or is it beginning of the new month?)! Here are the Brilliant! posts from November.
BRILLIANT! A BLOG, A ONLINE MAG AND A MOOK: THREE BRILLIANT PUBLICATIONS
Brilliant ideas are all around us. The challenge today seems to be identifying those that can actually provide some insight into the questions or issues that we are facing.
To sort through the chaff, I find I will listen to the recommendations by colleagues, clients, family, friends and trusted interweb sources. They’ll often mention magazines, books, blogs, websites, events or simply ideas that are inspiring them.
Three of these little gems have really impressed me this year. … read more…
BRILLIANT! WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM
Finding innovative solutions to problems is a common challenge in work and in life.
In most circumstances the way to proceed is often clear or doesn’t take long to become clear through asking a few simple questions. But other times no matter how many lists of possibilities I roll through, the answer doesn’t appear.
A current situation for me is the naming of a new project. I am fairly clear in what I want the name to communicate but do you think I can find ‘the name’? The frustrating thing is that I know it exists, it’s just not existing in my view yet.
With this in mind, I watched the TED talk, above, by Steven Johnson (a different Steven Johnson from last month) entitled “Where good ideas come from” to see if I could crack my own good idea… read more …
AND, IN THE STUDIO THIS MONTH …
THE STUDIO: CLARITY AND DIRECTION WITH THE OMG! WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?! EBOOK
With the silly season fast approaching, I thought it might be timely to share with you my little all-in-one resource for those who may be scheduling some existential angst or career crisis over the coming months.
This 30-page ebook helps you work out what you want from life and how you can start making it happen.
To download your very own copy of OMG!WAIDWML (catchy, hey?)
THE STUDIO: CREATE A VIBRANT, COMPELLING VISION FOR YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR FUTURE LETTER : EXERCISE
WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?
This is one of the four basic questions I always ask someone who wants to change some part of their life or work. I find that we can be very good at detailing what’s wrong or what we don’t want or how things should be different, but very few people are clear about what they do want. So is it any surprise that we have difficulty making decisions when we have nothing to guide us? Today’s Studio treat is an exercise that is surprisingly simple and yet quite powerful… The Future Letter
Brilliant! Ideas For Work and Life is written and collated by Trish Weston. Everything in it is her opinion, with a smattering of facts to make it hold together. If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to email trish AT worklifedesign DOT com DOT au
This is one of the four basic questions I always ask someone who wants to change some part of their life or work.
I find that we can be very good at detailing what’s wrong or what we don’t want or how things should be different, but very few people are clear about what they do want. Even if they are clear about aspects of it, there’s no overall vision for how it is integrated with the rest of their life.
So is it any surprise that we have difficulty making decisions when we have nothing to guide us?
Today’s Studio treat is an exercise that is surprisingly simple and yet quite powerful. The Future Letter asks you to write a letter, dated one year hence, to someone you care about. It asks you
What do you want your life to look like in twelve months?
How will you feel?
What will you be doing?
and other questions to help you get all those hopes and dreams and possibilities that have been swimming around in your head written down.
It also helps you to start bringing your values to life.
This exercise will be enhanced if you’ve already done your Wheel of Life, Sorting Out Your Values and your MyLand Visualisation but you can also just dive in to the Future Letter and explore your values and life domains more fully later.
This week I’m sharing one of my personal worksheets. This is what I use to stay focused and to minimise those 3.00am eyes-bolt-open, oh-my-god-what-am-I-doing moments.
Over the years I’ve found people who are very clear about what they are doing (ie their vision) have some sort of physical, visual reminder that they see daily.
Some people have Vision Boards.
Others have Treasure Maps.
I have my Ducks.
Or more specifically, my Ducks In a Row.
My Ducks came out of having a moment of terror where I thought I’d made a terrible life choice. Then the phrase, “No, it’s okay, I have my ducks in a row” came into my head and I felt much calmer, focused and okay with my situation. In fact, when I considered my “ducks” (ie all the things I had setup and were going to generate lots of love and income over the next 12 months) then things actually looked pretty good.
So I decided that I had to get my Ducks out of my head and onto paper. And the Ducks In a Row Worksheet was born.
As you can see, it brings together my priority projects – with the values, strengths, passion, vision, goals and next action steps – onto one page in an easy reference style. I have a copy at my desk. I have a copy in my Dump Book.
It’s a working document which means it changes weekly as I get new information, move to the next stage of a project, or decide to back/front burner projects.
You obviously need to do a little bit of work to complete it. It’s probably a two-coffee activity. I’ve included the Master Lists as a second page where you can brainstorm/list your values, strengths, passions, and crazy dreams. (And then you draw on these Master Lists to complete the Ducks).
So, there are no excuses for flapping about in a tizz. Get quacking!
I don’t use the Wheel of Life much these days (as most of my work with client’s is work-focused) but when I do, I’m always blown away by how effective it is. After this simple 10 minute exercise, a client often has new insight into their lives, clarity about their life and work direction, and renewed energy. It’s pretty neat… which is why I share it with you now. Enjoy!
The Wheel of Life
The Wheel of Life (WOL) is one of the most commonly used coaching tools. Most coaches have one hidden in their toolbox. I didn’t use it for years because I wanted to be different. But I remembered how many of my clients found it very valuable. So recently I’ve come back to it with fresh eyes and a new respect. It’s a wonderful exercise that draws power from its simplicity.
What is it?
The WOL consists of a circle that’s divided into eight segments (like pieces of a pie or spokes in a wheel). Each segment represents an area of life. These often vary, depending on the coaching focus (or which version of the wheel is being used).
How do you use it?
The WOL is a great introductory ‘snapshot’ of your life. You rate each area of life on a scale from 0 to 10 and draw a little line across the relevant segment. Once completed you can quickly see which areas of your life need a bit of attention.
Where does it come from?
I have no idea who created the first wheel. (Do you know? Email me.) There are so many variations of it around that it’s hard to know what the original version is. The one I use is an adaptation of Whitworth, Kimsey-House & Sandahl’s (1998) version (found in Co-active Coaching). I love their Wheel because they give a little wheel example and refer to the ‘bumpy ride’ when your wheel is out of balance.
What’s so good about it?
It’s simple. It lets you define what’s important in each area of your life and rate how you’re going against your own subjective ideal. This is compared to some other ‘discovery’ tools that impose a value system of success or satisfaction on you).
It’s visual. For those of us who prefer to receive information in the form of pictures, the wheel sends an instant message of what’s going on.
It’s adaptable. You can take it to a deeper level and access core issues from it. You can use it to draw out a vision. And you can use it as a precursor to goal setting (as with one presented here). Oh, and it’s the perfect metaphor for balance and wholeness.
It’s quick. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete so you’re not wading through questions for 45 minutes.
See where you’re at in your life (and peer through the window of how you want things to be) with the WORKLIFEDESIGN Wheel of Life (pdf)
My favouritest radio show/podcast in the world, This American Life, did one of the most amazing introductions I’ve ever heard in this week’s (replayed) episode, Promised Land.
The host, Ira Glass, recounts how upon watching the 1937 Disney classic Snow White recently, he noticed how it has almost an operatic feeling with each of the main characters entering the story with a song. When he mentions this to his sister (who works for Disney) she informs him that what he’s seeing is the “I Wish” song in action. It’s a common storytelling technique that’s used in musicals where the character declares exactly what they want in that first song.
As Ira lists through all the musicals (classic and contemporary) that have I Wish Songs, I’m gobsmacked to hear how common it is. Think, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” starts off The Wizard of Oz, or, the Britney Spears’ film Crossroads which begins with her singing Madonna’s “Open Your Heart”. The Little Mermaid. Fiddler on the Roof. Funny Girl. All begin with the main character’s I Wish song.
What makes this intro so brilliant though is what happens next. If all these cascading aha’s weren’t enough, Ira then launches into his own I Wish song for the episode. It’s adorable and clever and unexpected (oops, maybe not for you now).
The triply brilliant thing about this is that it illustrates, in such a beautiful and creative way, what we know about successful change (and all the characters in these stories are about to go through pretty significant change). We need to set our intention, say what we want, or as Stephen Covey puts it, “Begin with the end in mind”.
And I wondered, seeing as this is my first Brilliant! post, what would my I Wish song be? What tune would carry the hopes and dreams of a little blog that could?
So here it is. Cue the orchestra. Put on your 3D glasses …
To the tune of the “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” (the ‘joy’ opener from Oklahoma), here is my Brilliant! I Wish song:
(Here’s the original music if you’d like to sing along!)
The Brilliant! I Wish Song
There are brilliant ideas all around us
There are brilliant ideas all around us
But they seem to be hidden from everyone’s eye
An’ if we could just see them then we would all fly
chorus:
Oh what a beautiful idea
Oh what a beautiful way
I’ve got a wonderful feeling
This will so brighten your day
All the people are following like sheep
All the people are following like sheep
They don’t allow their ideas to see light
But this time I think they may just, they might.
Repeat chorus
All the brilliant ideas will inspire you
All the brilliant ideas will inspire you
When you find your own it will set you free
And in no time at all you’ll be laughin’ with me
What’s your I Wish song? What film’s I Wish song do you particularly love??
