Living for Today

A great weekend spent visiting friends in Jersey reminded me of how important it is to live in the present...... That might sound a strange thing to say as surely it's impossible to do anything but live in the present. That said it's amazing how often people focus all their energy on living in the past or only living for the future. Those of us with a disposition to living in the past will tell stories of what we did and 'how great it was back then' where as those of us with a disposition towards the future will say things like when I achieve 'X Y Z' I'll be happy.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't enjoy a little reminiscing about good times in the past or think about things we want to work for in the future! What I'm talking about is seeking to engage fully with what we do and the people we meet each day in order to get a greater sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. It took a walk along a cold and windy beach with my friends their kids and 8 month old black Labrador to remind me of something that I'd forgotten.

I learnt the importance of living in the present from a Dale Carnegie Master trainer back in 2003 he was explaining the importance of being 100% present as he described it when interacting with the people around us and to get the group to understand he wrote up on a flip chart the days of the week and asked us to think of each day of the week as representing 12 years of our lives (This assumes we live on average to 84). He asked the group to identify which day of the week they were physically living on; as I write this now it's pretty late on Wednesday night for me. The question he asked was did we focus our energy on where we physically were or was our mind filled with thoughts of past or present...... Where are you? & Where do you focus your Energy?

Whether we're spending time with friends and family, at work in a meeting, on the phone to a client, working on a project, playing sport or just relaxing. The way to get the best of that moment is to commit yourself 100% to where you are now, who you're with and what you're doing.

I consider myself lucky that I love what I do for a living and have a great team around me and friends and family I want to spend time with yet I know I have a tendency to live in the future and not in the NOW! A black Labrador reminded me of the importance of living for Today....... I hope this has encouraged you to do the same.

What's happening right now is LIFE ...... Make Sure You Give It Everything Today!

David Anderson
Managing Director
Dale Carnegie London

Engaging Employees during Times of Uncertainty

As a manager, turbulent times can be unsettling. Employees want to be upbeat, positive and encouraged about the future, but news about the economy, conversations with some customers and input from others in the organisation can often leave them feeling uncomfortable and unsure. So how do you balance these conflicting ideas, maintain a positive environment and keep employees focused on a positive future?

• Focus on Vision and Mission
  
  
• Develop Connections



• Create Ongoing Dialogue



• Encourage Empowerment
  

While there is rarely an easy answer to the unique issues that arise during times of turbulence, managers cannot retreat to the office and hope the situation will simply cure itself. Difficult times call for consistent leadership. Helping your team stay focused on the organisation's direction, their individual role in achieving that direction and encouraging them to develop new approaches for helping the organisation succeed are just a couple of ways that managers can help create an environment that continues to engage employees in uncertain times.

Join us for a complimentary session of the Engage & Inspire Your People seminar on 27th July from 8.45am - 10.45am! Click here to register

Corina Balaneanu
Sales Consultant

http://www.london.dalecarnegie.com/