I attempted a run this morning - first in two weeks as I've had a cold. (Excuse #1)

The weather is mild; perfect for an early run, even my running clothes were at then end of my bed - but I just had to check my social media, emails etc. (Excuse #2)

So, I eventually got out at 6am, ran about a km and it started to rain! (Excuse #3)

Thinking I'd keep close to home I then realised I had to get the household out earlier than usual - and home I went. (Excuse #4)

How many excuses do you have in a day? I hesitate to guess. Whether it's to avoid giving someone feedback to a colleague, making that call to sell your great idea to a stranger or even saying "No" to that coffee - we all make excuses to avoid the feeling of anxiety or loss and the affect on our ego!

Resilience, courage and discipline all come to mind when I consider the development of a character required to avoid these excuses.

Be up front with yourself - build your list of tasks/goals/challenges and all the excuses to avoid tackling these. Then, remind yourself why you need to complete these tasks/goals/challenges, how you're going to achieve these and how you might reward yourself!

No excuses this week!

ARE YOU TOO SOFT?

I was working with a group earlier this week and several people decided and announced that they were too soft!

To give context, we were discussing the ability to give feedback. Too many times they fluffed around the subject, avoided the matter and skirted the issue! A waste of time - both for the giver and the intended receiver.

Next time you need to give feedback - whether it's for positive & reinforcing behaviour or more importantly, it's to change and correct the situation, don't sugar coat it, just highlight the situation, the behaviour in question and how it affects you/others.

This doesn't come easy for some (many!) but with practise, it does work. There's more to the technique and the approach, however this is the crux of how to give feedback.

Give it a go today and toughen up!