The Engaging Brand

5 ways to encourage positivity

Positivity is contagious both within your mind and the minds of others. Here are 5 ways to encourage a more positive approach

1. Listen to your words - think and say positive words. We do, what we think.
2. Remove 'can't, 'won't', 'never', 'it's no use' from your vocabulary. Remember when we believe, we can achieve anything we want to...
3. Encourage more positive thinking by using - When I?, Why not?, What if?, What do we need to do differently?, What we can do is...Don't see problems, search for creative solutions. After all problems are depressing, creative solutions are exciting..
4. If you are learning something new (every day!) talk positively to yourself. Trick your brain into believing that you are on the way to understanding and mastering it. Instead of "I will never understand this" try " I haven't quite mastered this yet however when I have mastered it then....."
5. Think constantly about what you want to achieve, your dreams, your passions, your goals....the more you think about them, talk about them, the more they become achievable, the more they become reality.

A Roz between two Oars!

Roz savage is now well under way rowing the pacific ocean. I am reading the Roz Savage blog and listening to the weekly podcast to keep up to date with this historic challenge. You can check out the Roz tracker which at the time of writing shows 8.5 days at sea, 229 miles traveled and 96, 987 oar strokes..yikes! Here is her progress so far...



Listening to her today I jotted down some random thoughts

• It is not the challenge that we face but how we face that challenge.
• We look at so many people skin deep - inside all those people are talents even they are not aware of....
• Dreams conquer 'living' and achievement conquers dreams.
• In any personal journey there are often two rows forward and one strong tide back!
• The joy in the basic needs of life...water, food, sleep...that we all take for granted.
• We learn more about ourselves in times of trouble than we can ever know in the good times.

We all have our dreams, we all have choppy waters, we all have times when the winds are helping......we all have the inner ability to row our own pacific...if we believe like Roz does!

Remember you can listen to the Face the Fear podcast I recorded with her here  and Part 2 which have incredible business lessons and life lessons for us all.

An Engaging, Savage!

At Christmas I interviewed Roz Savage who is rowing the pacific ocean - yes, the pacific ocean! - on how to Face the Fear and Do it Anyway ( and Roz Savage Part 2).

Roz has now set off and I wish her every luck  - Roz is making a world beating attempt and if you want to follow her progress check out the Roz Savage blog, website or twitter

The thing that struck me was that with social media you can be part of an historic event, you can be part of the story as it unfolds. We can so easily take it for granted...

Good luck Roz!

Connecting your dreams to today's business reality

There is a wonderful quote from Mother Teresa that says

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has yet to come. We have only today. Let us begin"

Brands are built over time. Businesses are built over time. Teams and talent are developed over time. However all of these things are built starting today....so the more we put off, the more we allow little distractions to stand in the way of large dreams, the more we keep thinking what we WILL do when we have the time....then the further into the distance our dreams become.

It is not what we are going to do tomorrow that will determine our success it is what we do each day that will define our future.

What CAN you do? The Art of Possibility

I remember Dad teaching me an important business lesson when I was younger. I had been hitting my head against a brick wall trying to solve a homework problem. He sat me down and said

"So tell me what you can do?"

I replied with what seemed like a thousand reasons why I couldn't complete the task.

He looked and smiled and said "That's great information however what I am interested in, is what you CAN do?"

I started slowly and offered some ideas. After a while and a little prompting I had built from a small idea to something that would work. At that point Dad said

"Anna, anybody can come up with a thousand reasons why not...the world craves the people who can think of a thousand reasons of how you can achieve your dreams.
Think of how you can - not how you cannot, think of what is possible - not what is impossible, think of the power of doing rather than never even trying.

When you find something that is not possible embrace it because you then have a chance of providing a solution for others....and that will always demand a premium"

10 Lessons For Life

I recorded an Engaging Brand podcast with Stuart Avery Gold this week, which will hopefully be published next week. Ahead of the show I thought I would publish 10 important lessons I took from reading his books - 10 Lessons for Life

1. Persistence is the difference between a strong will and a strong won't
2. Live by choice not by chance
3. You will always be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the things that you did.
4. There are 2 paths to think about - what it is and what it could be.
5. Too often we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
6. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
7. Intention transforms reality.
8. To direct our energy is to direct our destiny.
9. The things we accomplish have no permanence only peaks which we must go beyond.
10. The greatest journey is the one you believe in.

Why I believe the Bonus Culture Should be Stopped Altogether

I know many people love bonuses but  I never have, as I believe far from building value into the business they destroy value and engagement.

As a long term Director, I have always believed they potentially bring out the worst in people. I used to work on a board who were purely motivated by their own personal bonus payments. That can't be right and when I look at the devastation that mindset has created on a good company, I feel really sad especially when the founder would never have lived to those values. But that company is not an exception these days, it is more like the norm which we need to fix and fix quickly...

I always argued that if you want to ensure people earn the bonus then why not just build the amount into the salary? At the end of the day if you are doing everything in your power to let them earn it, then it could never be termed a bonus could it?? We could then give much better focused objectives for the good of the company as a whole, rather than for each individual.

During the banking crisis we talk about realigning the bonus schemes from short term to long term. I would propose something quite different - scrap bonus payments altogether. I can hear people screaming but I cannot think of one value a bonus scheme brings to a business? I can think of how bonus schemes harm a business which would be based around the 7 deadly sins!

For me, pay really, really well, great people who want to achieve the corporate objectives through the values the company has been built upon. Recognition for great work can be promotion, promotion up the pay scales, projects etc

Or maybe I am just getting old and cynical :)

10 Reasons Why Your Relationship with You Matters

Social media if used correctly can enhance relationships, can build relationships, can find new relationships. But social media rarely talks about the most important relationship in your life...the one with yourself.

1. Ensure that you think about what you want your legacy to be, then spend each moment creating that legacy you can be proud of...
2. Live by the values that are important to you. Never work for people who don't share them...trust me it just sends you crazy!
3. Remember to learn to listen to your inner thoughts and create time to listen to you.
4. Your life is in your hands. You never have to do anything....it is your choice. Choices may have consequences but remember it is still your choice.
5. You are effective when you are healthy and well rested - remember to look after yourself because no one else can!
6. Be true to yourself, as you will know when you are lying!
7. Invest time in you. Be it rest, a hobby, your development.
8. Allow yourself to be human. You will get things wrong at times, spend the time on putting it right not wallowing in the past.
9. Don't regret. That time has gone, just live each moment like your last.
10. Remember time is limited. Your life is about quality not quantity in everything you do.

The Importance of Being True to Yourself

My wise old Nana taught me something that is so important in life, in business, in social media she said

"Be true to yourself Anna because no one likes living with a liar.....not even when it is yourself. When you are true to yourself, people may not like you but at least you will!"

When was the last time.....

We live in a world of haste, a world of fast forward, a world that saw me today witness a man so desperate to get a seat on a bus he bowled over a blind lady. Wow! Has perpetual fast forward living invaded our lives so much we are incapable of pressing our own pause button?
Now I am the worlds worst for trying to do two things at once, ...I live on a constant fast forward setting. However, there are times when you have to hit pause because that pause button not only creates space for better thinking but allows you to be a better person who can engage more with the world

I wrote down a list to live by once I got home as a double check to myself and thought I would share with you all

• When was the last time you sat down and just thought....not about things but about what to think?
• When was the last time you had a conversation in which you listened 100% with no other agenda's, thoughts or beliefs?
• When was the last time that you created time just for you?
• When was the last time you created special one on one time for someone you love?
• When was the last time you reflected on your decisions?
• When was the last time you paused to think whether you were not just busy but busy achieving a worthwhile legacy?