5 day Procurement Mindset challenge

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

In the procurement mindset 5 day challenge starting on 9^th September we’ll be looking at ways of making a supportive mindset a habit.

Targets of perfection

At 88, my dad worries about his mental capacity, and uses the Telegraph's cryptic crossword as a means of checking this. On our weekly call he will often say "I didn't do very well this week" and the niggle at the back of my mind would wonder whether decline was imminent.

Until that is I asked " how many did you struggle with dad".

His answer was "oh about 3 this week".

"3 whole crosswords?" I asked.

"No 3 clues". Let's put this into perspective, there's approximately 25 clues a day, and 7 crosswords a week, and my dad was worried that he was failing to answer less than 2% of the clues. Interestingly, I'm happy if I manage one clue, and therefore have a much lower success target of about 4% to my dads 100%. It just shows how easy it can be to set such high standards, and start to catastrophise a little too quickly.

Would your team win gold at Chelsea?

I love watching the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – it’s the time of year when I yearn for greener fingers – or perhaps it’s just more time to use them.

The pride, passion and enthusiasm for all things horticulture is conveyed in the many TV programmes as they interview the winners, runners up, and anyone involved in this wonderful show. 

Tears, laughter and relief mix as they finally receive the feedback on all their efforts.

Yesterday it was announced that the M&G Garden designed by James Basson won the prestigious Best Show Garden 2017. (The above video is the making of the garden based on a quarry in Malta - here's a tour of the finished garden). 

Every year hearing their stories has me considering what is needed in order to even get to Chelsea never mind win gold or even best show garden. For me it includes:

• Commitment & passion for what they do
• Effective Team work
• Great design, planning & creativity – often having taken a year or more to do
• Attention to detail
• Timely implementation – they have 3 weeks on site to get the gardens ready for judging on the Sunday (brought forward a day this year), followed by a week of visitors
• Spot on plant selection & quality – with weather significantly impacting what’s at its best for that one short week
• Careful and loving planting
• Meticulous plant care and maintenance

The project success has much to do with all the things I've listed - failure on any one of these and they might have failed. As head gardener and designer for the project James Basson will have been responsible for ensuring it all worked perfectly.

For whatever you're head gardener of - could you say the same?

Would your effort on tending to those in your team enable them to win you a best in class? Do you have the passion? How much planning have you done? Are you attending to every detail? Are you giving it, and them the care they need? and would you delight in their success?

What seeds do you need to sow today for your team to win best in show later in the year?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach

Unlocking potential using unconventional tools

Another Chelsea inspired post this week was entitled Benefiting from the fruits of your labours, I also wrote a LinkedIn post about learning from Chelsea in order to bust some moulds, shift perceptions and expand comfort zones whether in Procurement or more broadly.

Have you taken your eye off the ball on coaching

Have you taken your eye of the ball on coaching in business?
It goes without saying that sports gold medallists have a coach, so too championship and grand final winners. Yet when it comes to business we often feel as if it's of no merit to have a coach! Is it just easier to keep an eye on the ball when there's a real ball involved I wonder? In this post for Future Purchasing, for whom I'm an associate, I invite you to consider the benefits to be obtained if you do have a coach, even if it is for the more mental activities we do when in the office.

For more on the coaching I personally offer do see here.

Another post for FP that aligns with this post, is about the similarities between parenting and procurement.

The sky is not the limit

 

It would seem you can't take the trainer out of the girl.

"What was your biggest learning" I asked my friend's 13 years old son who had accompanied me to Edinburgh last night to hear Colonel Chris Hadfield, astronaut and previous commander of the International Space Station, speak. 

"To go after what I want to do in life" he replied. 

I certainly couldn't ask for more from a very early birthday present.

On the other hand, having written only the day before on taking humanity into business, or more precisely on not leaving humanity at the door, Auntie Alison had other learning from the talk. Others there I'm sure will have taken other insights from hearing him speak. 

Space exploration has for many reasons asked us to consider our humanity.

Back in the 60's when I was born Russia and America's goal was the moon, and yet what it seems space exploration gave us first was a view of the Earth. 

Here's a film called the overview effect which shares the insight about humanity from those who have seen the earth from way out there in space.

And whilst not mentioned specifically during last night's talk here's Chris talking about how the overview effect gave him perspective. If you have time do please listen to him talk about "seeing the world over and over again until it seeped into me permanently."

On that day in November 1962 when I was born "the goal to go to the moon was not just hard, it was impossible". In fact, on the morning of July 20 1969, as Chris reminded us "you still couldn't land on the moon." 

Then at 20:18 UTC this happened:

The impossible became possible, and the sky was no longer the limit

The first words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he stepped onto the lunar surface say it all

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Fast forward to 2017 and you have an International space station that was "built by 15 countries who don't get along". Built because they had a "shared vision of the impossible".

In questions at the end Chris was asked about his aspirations for his future. He spoke of the need to inspire the young and "let them see things that don't exist yet."

Space exploration, those first steps on the moon, the journey there and since certainly invite us to think about what it means to be human.  Invite us to have a vision of the impossible so that those things that don't exist yet at some point will exist.

I realised when I wrote my post on Thursday "It's just the way business is" that many believe that it's impossible to turn the tanker that is business around and away from its current course. I wrote then about not giving the belief, that it's impossible to take humanity into business, any room to take hold.

Last night reminded me - If humanity can do the impossible and go to the moon, humanity can certainly do the impossible and go into the board room! 

I'll leave you with a video of Chris singing space oddity from space

"Can you hear me Major Tom"

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach

Inspiring Change - inside and out

To explore taking humanity into business, and into purchasing too, do please get in touch - in comments below, by email alison@alisonsmith.eu or call me +44 (0)7770 538159. 

Humanity by way of our soft skills gets a look in in the Purchasing Coach Soft Skills Toolkit that brings together a series of postcards from your soft skills - it's entitled Dear Procurement, with love from your soft skills. More here.

Should we change Meeting's name?

Did you hear about Pavlov? He was researching salivation in dogs (as you do), and realised that, when he entered the room to feed them, and then later when he just rang a bell, the dogs salivated. That is they had an unconditioned response that meant seeing him (or hearing the ring of the bell) meant they automatically salivated without food being anywhere in sight (stimulus - response).

We do this all the time - it's what any phobia is based upon - there may be no logical reason to fear most household spiders in the UK but the person with a spider phobia over team has learnt an unconditioned response to feel fear when they see a spider, or perhaps the stimulus has to be the spider moving in order to illicit the response of fear.

Many of our bad habits continue as a result of such unconscious stimulus/responses:

• We feel a particular emotion, and automatically, and every time we feel it, we start eating chocolates
• We sit down to eat our tea, and automatically, and every time, turn the TV on
• We go to the cinema, and automatically, and every time order an extra large bag of popcorn too 
• We go to the gym, and automatically, and every time, go the pub straight after

It's the automatic, unconscious aspect to the response that points to it being unconditioned behaviour.

We also have unconditioned responses to people and places - we only have to hear their name or see their picture and will respond either positively or negatively. We didn't have to replay an event or think about the person consciously. Our stimulus response meant that unconsciously our body reacted to the image in a particular way - as it would every time it saw a picture of them.

In NLP terminology this process of stimulus/response is called anchoring, because we've anchored a particular response to a particular stimulus.

I wonder is that what we're now doing when we hear the word 'Meeting'.  

Over time what response have we built up unconsciously and automatically to the word 'meeting'. or perhaps it's the response we have to the sight of meeting room, or the response we have to certain people's meetings?

As with anything, if you're happy with your or others response to the meetings you hold, then there's no need to change anything.

The challenge comes when you know your meetings are not meeting expectations.

I read a post from Bernard Marr entitled Stop going to Bad meetings which provided some tips on how to improve the meetings you do attend. Subsequent comments have provided other suggestions - including my own to have a walking meeting.

I wonder however, what happens if we consider Pavlovian conditioning and apply it to meetings. What could we be doing that means we're generating an unconscious and automatic negative response from our attendees?

• Calling it a 'meeting' may be enough to generate a negative response - the association over time between the word and death by powerpoint and boredom etc. In which case could you call it something else?
• Similarly using the word 'agenda' may be enough to generate negative response in others.
• Starting on the hour, and lasting an hour links it to other meetings people have attended - it's not highlighting it as a meeting with a difference, it's telling everyone's unconscious what to expect - a meeting that's just like every other meeting you've attended. Which, depending on the culture and success of meetings at your organisation, is either a good thing or not!
• Starting the meeting with the most boring, lengthy and least interactive topic. "It can only get better" isn't a great thought you want your attendees thinking at the start of a meeting.

The aim for those leading meetings is not to allow the anchor to previous useless / time wasting meetings to fire up for attendees, and for it to then generate a response of expectant boredom. We must take responsibility for flagging that this meeting is different, purposeful, will be full of energy and run efficiently and effectively. I for example often invite people to consider what quality they are bringing to the meeting/training - but if I did that every time it would soon melt into the background noise of pointlessness.

What can you do to ensure your next meeting meets and even exceeds expectations, and starts to build a positive anchor for when you invite people to a meeting?

Words have power, that's why I love exploring the negative and positive impact the language we're using might be having on us achieving our goals. However odd it might seem using 'problem', 'solutions' or 'answers' could just be the difference between success and failure!

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

More on the procurement consultancy, training and coaching services I'm offering in 2017 here - a clue - it includes soft skills, unconventional tools, creativity, language and inspiring change in procurement!

Are they answers or solutions?

This post has now moved to my new website 

Is your language stopping you from finding the solution?

Yesterday I suggested that the solution to a problem might be found in the very words we're using. That is, the solution to going around in circles may be to metaphorically explore the circles, or that trees would provide the solution when you metaphorically can't see the wood for the trees, or that procurement not having a seat at the table in organisations would be resolved by exploring how to get a seat at other types of table.

In this post I'm suggesting that the words we use can also stop us from finding a solution. As Caroline Myss says "words have power". They have power because words create internal representations in our mind. If the image that comes to mind when you use a word is this

rather than this

There's no surprise that you think and feel differently about the situation, and the likelihood of finding solutions might be very different too.

We're all different, and so a few of you may be more inspired by the brick wall, however the majority reading this will think of solutions more easily when imagining the 2nd picture or a similar image that conveys for them movement and ease.

I'm not just talking about words like can't, impossible and never which certainly tell the mind that a solution is out of reach but other words.

In the past I've written about using 'no pain, no gain' as a particularly unhelpful saying. Today I'd like to explore the use of 'problem.'

I'm sure we've all caught ourselves saying we've got a 'problem' and then correcting ourselves to say 'challenge' or even that the 'solution is currently eluding us'. We instinctively understand that labelling something as a problem means we're saying to other people, and our own mind, that it's all the things listed below.

We're telling ourselves at the onset, as soon as we use the word problem to describe a situation, that it's complicated, difficult, muddled and messy! Any wonder then that solutions are hard to find?

I saw the following job advert on LinkedIn a few weeks ago, and initially responded to say I loved the job title.

How fantastic does being a Head of Problem Management sound.

Until I considered what it actually meant, and could potentially mean within the organisation.

Does a problem manager just manage the problems - make lists of them, define them, sort them into piles and see success as well managed problems? Do those in the organisation go to the problem manager to gossip and moan about the problems. Perhaps there's a notice board where problems can be viewed for all to admire - ranking problems out of 10, and being particularly pleased when they've identified a 10/10!

It may sound silly, trivial or down right rude to you - and it might be. The proof is in whether problems in the organisation are lower or are now resolved quicker as a result of having a Head of Problem Management or not.

I'd love to explore whether a Head of Solution Management might reduce problems encountered in the organisation - you never know perhaps the Head of Problem Management hands their problems over to the Head of Solution Management for them to be resolved?      

What do you think? Would it make a difference to you? Do you notice the impact words have on you, and make a conscious decision to use words that support the outcome you want?

If you're getting the results you want there's no need to pay attention to the words you're using. If success is eluding you, or there's an increasing sense of stuckness then why not explore the language you're using to describe the situation. You never know, your language may just be what's keeping the solution at arms length.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change inside and out 

Available to help you and your team explore how the language and metaphors you're using might be helping or hindering you in finding solutions, and stopping you achieving your 2016 2017 goals. Support available with other soft skills development too.

To find out more do get in touch either via alison@alisonsmith.eu or +44(0)7770 538159

Are you on automatic pilot?

I've written many times in the past about not getting stuck on autopilot, the need to step out of our comfort zone or even comfort universe, and breaking out of the mould.

I'm not sure I'd truly understood what that meant, or perhaps the benefit of sustaining these new behaviours until now.

As part of my 4 new habits in 28 day challenge I decided to do one thing differently every day. I've updated the blog I wrote at the time to show a list of what I did differently over those 28 days.

In this post I'd like to share the insights I got from undertaking this seemingly simple habit.

There's certainly something counter intuitive about setting a goal of doing something different everyday - as if trying to make the spontaneous less so. That said it's been truly transformative.

the rest of this post has moved to my new website.

In conclusion doing something different every day enabled me to face some habits that were long over due an upgrade.

What will you do differently today?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

More on the outcome of the 28 day challenge can be found here.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs on the subject

Day 28: 4 new habits in 28 days - the outcome

28 days ago, after watching the doctor who gave up drugs on TV, I decided there was much I could do personally to improve the flexibility, stamina and pain of my arthritic knees. Especially when the surgeon's only response had been "keep taking the pain killers until it gets so bad, and then we'll just give you two new knees."

I knew the biggest change would need to be sustaining the habits I knew supported my knees. These habits were:

• I will consistently eat gluten free every day - achieved 25 out of 28 days (and nightshade (potatoes and tomatoes) 25/28) - even if I really really really wished it wasn't an effective habit. 
• I will do my hip mobilisation exercises every day 24/28
• I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 24/28

Just for good measure I added a fourth habit:

• I will do at least one thing differently every day 25/28

Today I wanted to share the outcome of achieving these habits as regularly as I have:

• Walk up and down hill in local park - 8.45 mins to 7.09 mins - 18% reduction
• 1.35 mile walk at home - 29.30 mins to 25.06 mins - 15% reduction
• Movement of left knee - 35 cm to 27 cm - 23% increase in movement
• Movement of right knee - 31cm to 24 cm - 23% increase in movement
• Put sock on normally - yes (rather than pulling on leg of trousers to help pull the foot/leg upwards onto my knee)
• Walking down stairs front ways on - yes (during the night and first thing in the morning I'd started to go down sides ways as my knees didn't want to bend when not warmed up)  

How fantastic is that?

A great reminder that setting goals and doing something every day to support them makes success much more likely.

Bizarrely I never measured my pain level at the start of the 28 days. I think because its measured by the ability to bend my knee and walk quickly, ie I wasn't really taking much pain relief to start with (no more than a handful of times in the last 6 months). As has been proved recently the pain is also linked to eating gluten and nightshades (even if I'd like to hope otherwise) - so no gluten and no nightshades equals no pain!

I've written a blog sharing the insights from doing something different everyday because they've been huge. Other blogs I've written along the way have included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself. I've also explored the situation using another coaching tool, soul collage cards, too - one using the interpretation of cards when I developed them, and one looking at them with fresh eyes. 

If you do what you've always done you'll get the same result - change is where the magic happens - what will you do differently today?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

Day 23: 4 new habits in 28 days - if you keep doing what you've always done

As I reflected on the outcome of  'Doing something different' every for the last 23 days I was reminded of this landscaping your life vblog. You may want to turn your volume down before you have a listen.

Thinking about what to do differently everyday has brought into conscious awareness the habits I do - those habits where I may not even think about what to do I just do them as if by rote.

Habits such as:

• Sitting down to eat my evening meal and turning on the TV, and it then being on for the rest of the evening.
• Having a bath in the morning rather than a shower - irrespetctive of how much time I have. Allowing the bath to eat into my day despite what else I could be doing.
• Saying "No I'm ok with water" when asked if I want a tea/coffee mid way through a coaching session, and missing time out of the room to stretch my legs, and perhaps even a more comfortable watercooler/kettle conversation.
• Saying "No" to new things before I've considered if I would like to say "Yes" or the reason for my "No".

I'm sure there are others. 

What can you say "Yes" to today that you've been saying "No" to for too long despite getting an outcome you don't want? 

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The 4 habits are:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free every day 21/23 (and nightshade (pots and toms) 20/23)
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 20/23
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 20/23
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 21/23

The blog posts of the journey to embed 4 new habits in 28 days have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself. I've also explored the situation using another coaching tool, soul collage cards, too - one using the interpretation of cards when I developed them, and one looking at them with fresh eyes.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

Day 18: 4 new habits in 28 days - new perspectives

At the weekend I used some collage cards I made some time ago, and shared the insights behind the making of those cards. As I reflected on the insight I got I realised that there may be further insight available if I reviewed the cards from a different perspective. That is, if I followed the process I invite clients to follow and connected with the cards today and asked "what advice do you have for me today?" rather than think about the advice the card had 1 or 2 years ago. 

Before reading my observations you might want to think of a challenge you'd like more insight on, and then view the collage cards and see what comes to mind. There's no right or wrong just let your unconscious (or should that be subconscious) determine what you notice and direction you thoughts go on from there to find a solution.

Here's what I discovered. 

Today I'm drawn to the turtle and the slow easy movements as they move through the sea using the flow and currents within the sea to make progress. The message from the card would be "Breathe".

I notice the white bird and get the same sense I did with the turtle - less flapping and more gliding using the air currents to get from a to b. The message of the card would be "Ease and flow".

The golden 'sun/star' on the right hand side is where my focus went to immediately. Not the spiral so much as the centre that is "calm and sure". The message would be "stay true".

Just a reminder this is no right or wrong in any 'message' you may interpret from the card - it's really only your subconscious communicating with you and making meaning from the images used in the collage.

It's not a part of the collage I often take note of any more but the sitting figure looking at the sun rise/set on the top left is where my focus went today. The message would be "less doing, more being".

Not sure they said much different to the weekend's blog although it feels less onerous and huge, and as a result much easier to achieve. Just be, breathe and go with the flow.

What insight did you get from these images that you can apply to your situation - and what action will you take and when? Do you need to tell anyone about this commitment?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The blog posts of the journey to embed 4 new habits in 28 days have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself.

The 4 habits are:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free every day 16/18 (and nightshade (pots and toms) 15/18)
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 16/18
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 16/18
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 17/18 - I turned off my email and phone whilst concentrating on a task to do. I had my second night in a row without TV, and am aiming to have a third and fourth too!

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

Day 15: 4 new habits in 28 days - Transformation

Today I want to apply another tool I use in coaching to help me to embed the 4 new habits to support my arthritic knees. The tool is soul collage cards. 

I used the collage cards on day 8 when I developed a card to represent what would happen if I kept doing what I was doing. It won't really need to make sense to anyone else so long as it does me :-)   

I said in the blog that what I was moving away from wasn't as much of a inspiration and motivation for me. Today I'm looking fowards.

When I first learnt about soul collage cards at the Findhorn foundation I made a number of collage cards that resonated with insights from the workshop we'd had earlier in the week, or from my experiences using the Transformation Game* for over 10 years. 

I thought it useful to remind myself of 4 of these insights today.

If you have an issue you'd like more clarity on then do please put it to the back of your mind as you review the cards, and just notice what you notice. 

If each card had some advice for you what would they say? 

It's not just about observing the cards logically from the mind - but letting the heart and soul into the action. And yes that can take practice to do. Especially as we're all so much more comfortable using our mind to explain everything! 

The above card represented swimming in a pool, and then having the walls pulled away and realising you're actually swimming in deep water. For some people a more daunting place to be, but for me there's no comparison between a chlorinated and busy pool, swimming up and down, to swimming in deep water.

A reminder perhaps to not make these 4 habits simply a daily tick list to do, but see them more as a new way of being? 

The trainer spoke of door A and door B - much the same way as the red and blue pills in the Matrix film. 

That is, we have the option of taking the safer option, of staying with the old habits and just doing what we've always done. 

Or we can choose to do something different, and take door B - even if it might involve going through the flames just like a phoenix (if I'm not mixing too many metaphors), it does allow us to be reborn anew into a new reality.

Blimey - these cards do seem to be making these 4 new habits into something much bigger than I first imagined!

There's a setback card in the Transformation Game*, a tool that originated in the Findhorn Foundation, and it says:

For forgot you were a Radiantly Beautiful Cosmic Miracle - you forgot everyone else was too. 

The above collage was my interpretation of those words.

It's always a reminder for me to be me - and to remember that I am more than enough. No need to listen to the shoulds, oughts and musts. To just listen to my heart and soul and act from there. Or perhaps it's about directing my will in that direction (that certainly feels right as I type it - even if my head hasn't quite caught up with the full meaning of 'directing my will towards the direction of my heart and soul!?!)

There's a 'transformation square' on the transformation game, and when you land on it there's a meditation that invites you to walk through a door into what Theory U might describe as the emerging future.

As I imagined walking through the door in one game I found myself at the top of a cliff and a favourite poem of mine came to mind.

“Come to the edge, he said.

We are afraid, they said.

Come to the edge, he said.

They came to the edge,

He pushed them and they flew.

Come to the edge, Life said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, Life said.

They came. It pushed them...

And they flew.”

It's most often cited as being written by Guillaume Apollinaire.

The above collage is my representation of that image.

Time to fly perhaps? 

Which also reminds me of a picture I sent to a friend this week:

Oh dear that does all feel quite BIG!

I realise the cards were all saying the same thing, just looking at it from a different perspective. Not too much of a surprise when I remember that the workshop was entitled the alchemy of transformation, and tools I often use in coaching are called The Transformation Game and The Frameworks for Change Coaching Process :-)

What insight did you get from these images that you can apply to your situation - and what action will you take and when? Do you need to tell anyone about this commitment?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The blog posts of the journey to embed 4 new habits in 28 days have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself.

The 4 habits feel a little mundane when taken in isolation. These cards have reminded me that these new habits are about supporting me having flexible and pain-free knees. Which would truly be transformative and life changing if it was achieved. A great reminder to persevere, especially when I didn't do even one of these habits one day this week!:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free every day 13/15 (and nightshade 12/15)
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 14/15
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 14/15
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 14/15 - Rather than wait till the end of the month I uploaded this week's receipts onto my invoice for a client. (I can't believe I've not done that before, I generally dread the end of the month because of this).

I did have one day this week where I didn't achieve even one of the above. Busy work, driving and late home, and therefore no focus nor attention on the task in hand. A sign perhaps that they have yet to become a habit that I do automatically without any thought - or just a busy day :-).

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

* The Transformation Game ©Innerlinks - www.innerlinks.com

Day 11: 4 new habits in 28 days - Frameworks for Change

The goal was 4 new habits in 28 days, and I've blogged my progress daily here on my blog. See the bottom of the post for more about the 4 habits.

11 days in, and it's not been without it's challenges therefore I thought I'd use the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process* I use in coaching 

The tool basically uses cards to ask questions and invites us to see situations from a different perspective as a result of discussing and debating the words on the cards.

Here's the cards I pulled: 

• Insight: You value and express the quality of Kindness in the present situation 
• Potential setback: You are setback by perfectionism in the present situation
• Insight: You take the responsibility of using your power wisely
• Mentor: Humour

Before reading further please consider how you might personally interpret the cards as a solution to a current situation in your life.

Insight: You value and express the quality of Kindness in the present situation 

This card invites me to see myself as others do and to be kind, and perhaps also to celebrate my commitment to achieving these new habits rather than beat myself up for not achieving them (or if it looks like I may fail just quickly doing something to rectify that at the end of the day).

If I'm not careful adherence to the habits might seen to be too harsh and certainly not kind. I'm working in Manchester this week, and out in the evenings. Perhaps I'm being invited to be more relaxed about how I achieve 'do something different every day' and not worry too much if the soup I've had was made from stock with gluten in. The blogging is also an additional habit that I'd added without knowing - and updating what I've done differently on day 3's blog. Being kind to myself is therefore about taking myself off the conveyor belt and taking the next few days off blogging and focus on what's important!

Potential setback: You are setback by perfectionism in the present situation

I think I said it all in the above paragraph. Embedding the 4 new habits isn't about being perfect. It's about doing them as any other human would, and will therefore include off days.  

A Landscaping Your Life blog on Perfection resonates for this setback too. 

Insight: You take the responsibility of using your power wisely

Wow! It's not often the cards all say the same thing just from different angles. My attention for the next 3 days is on coaching others, and my energy will therefore be directed towards them and not worrying about measuring what I'm doing and focusing time on whether I've had 1.8 litres of water or 2! I will focus on what's important, and if everything else happens then that's great. I know that flies in the face of yesterday's advice but it's about getting the balance right.

Mentors: Humour

Mentor cards invite you to think of someone who is a role model to you for the behaviour(s) stated. In this example asking you what a role model for humour would do.

Oh dear - I suspect they'd tell me it's a good idea I'm going out, and to enjoy Beth Orton and the company of my colleagues.

As you've read my interpretation you may have noticed other meanings behind the cards. The key is being able to look at a situation and see alternative solutions of how to solve the problem. Once there's a few different solutions then it's simply a case of trying them out and seeing which is most effective in moving from the current situation towards the desired situation.

What may you want to do differently as a result of applying these cards, or my own insights, to a current situation? 

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The 4 habits that I have undertaken for the last 11 days are:

1. I will consistently eat gluten (and nightshade) free every day 9/11
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 11/11
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 11/11
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day  11/11 - I drove via the A1 (rather than M74/M6) to Manchester and so was able to visit friends in Bradford, and call into Bamburgh beach on the way past :-)

Blog posts of the journey to embed these 4 new habits have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress and slaying the old habits and thoughts.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

* Frameworks for change coaching process copyright Innerlinks www.innerlinks.com

Day 10: 4 new habits in 28 days - What gets measured gets done

The very act of blogging to update on progress has certainly meant I'm still here 10 days later having achieved 95% consistency of doing the 4 new habits that I believe will support my knees. The new habits are:

1. I will consistently eat gluten (and nightshade) free everyday 8/10
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 10/10
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 10/10
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 10/10 - walked back a different way to what we walked to another new cafe!

Would I have been so vigilant if I'd just said I'd do them, and not measured and kept a track of them - perhaps not. In fact - certainly not.

Measuring that I've done what I said is of course only one way of keeping me motivated. Inspiration will also come from observing the positive outcome from doing these activities. That is, these habits have been chosen because I believe they will help improve the flexibility, stamina and pain in my knees. My personal trainer and I have therefore identified a number of ways of tracking progress - not just for the 28 days but beyond.

One means of measuring progress is the time it takes to walk around a 1.35 mile circuit here in Burntisland. Since the summer, when my knees were really bad, we've taken nearly 30% off the time! I'm hopeful that sustained application of the 4 new habits will deliver further improvement.

The other positive aspect off focusing on doing these activities to support my knees is that I'm much more aware of other negative habits that hinder me, and I am slowly letting go of those too. Or at least listing them as future habits to release and replace.

How can you measure what you need to do daily to move towards your goal, and how will you measure the outcome?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

Blog posts of the journey to embed the 4 new habits have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions and slaying the old habits and thoughts.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge