Upon returning from holiday recently, I started to prepare for a one hour slot at Mums The Boss' International Women's Day Conference: I had been asked to speak on behalf of Minerva's Mind about "Boosting Your Inner Confidence".
Although Kate & I have delivered workshops on this topic before, I felt that I should try a different approach with this particular audience. As the week progressed, I allowed my creativity to take over; by Sunday night I was trying to work out how many different techniques I could meaningfully explore in my allotted time.
The session went well. It's a vibrant, positive group and the room filled with energy as they immersed themselves in the interactive elements of my session. (In part, I believe this is because Helen and Sam, who are Mums the Boss (MTB) have fostered a lovely, supportive environment that is now integral to the MTBoss Brand.) I left the event, feeling full of energy and alive with ideas.
As a thank you gift, the MTB team gave me a beautiful purple orchid. I've always wanted an orchid and it now sits proudly in my kitchen. Whenever I take a break during the day from my work, I go downstairs to make a cup of coffee. I see my beautiful purple orchid and it reminds me of the positive emotions that I felt on International Womens Day. This gives me the boost I require to go back to work, envigorated and often with a surge of creative inspiration.
What I'm experiencing with my Purple Orchid is what NLP practitioners would call "anchoring". I'm sorry if I upset anybody when I say this, but I'm not a fan of NLP, and don't really believe that "achoring" works. With NLP, individuals are asked to recall a past event or moment and use that as their "anchor". In the past, this technique has not worked for me. Partly as I forget what I've chosen as my "anchor" or the emotions that I recall for my "anchor" are not strong enough to have an impact. But not this time. For me, the "anchoring" occured at the point that I recieved the gift and I have consciously fostered the postive emotions attached to it. My purple orchid is powerful.
We're all different and "anchoring" may work for you, or it may not. From my perspective, my purple orchid brings so much positive engery into my life and I would like to thanks the MTB team again for giving me such a wonderful flower.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Happy Mother's Day
Today, in the UK, we are celebrating Mother's Day, and we celebrated International Women's Day earlier in the week. Perhaps it is apt that this week I was recommended a book called "The Female Brain". I was so compelled by the recommendation that I subsequently bought the book; I have been unable to put it down and I have almost finished it three days later (not easy with two small children).
Why is the book so good? It details the chemical reactions in a woman's brain from the age of an eight week foetus through to post-menopause. In essence, it's a high-brow "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus". But through case studies and explanation of women's behaviour, the book is both funny and credible. It has really reasonated with me.
So, what has this to do with Mother's Day? Well today, when my OH woke up this morning, he decided that he wanted to clear the loft. To cut a long story short, we cleared our bedroom Wednesday night, as our wardrobes were being fitted Thursday. By the end of the day on Friday, they were only a third completed, with no completion date in sight. I was mightly impressed when my OH took the view that "This is an opportunity"; I am always happy to share my optomistic approach to life where my glass is always more than half full.
My OH made clear his expectations from the start: we were going to "rationalise" what we stored up in the loft. In reality, the majority of stuff that I store up there are the kids toys that are "on rotation" or old kiddies clothes that I just haven't got around to sorting out and putting on e-bay yet. And then there's loads of other stuff that's been up in the loft forever. Naturally, I didn't want to get rid of my of bits, and we both knew that we would be having a heated discussion over said items.
But an interesting thing happened. We made an initial sift of what was going to be thrown away. We calmly debated our difference of opinions on certain items. And that's when the watershed moment happened: I agreed that if the OH wanted to throw out this particular suitcase that I was attached to, then he would have to sacrifice the vanity mirror that he had bought for me and I had never used. After having made this deal, I felt librated. Suddenly I was able to let go of items that I had been holding onto for years, without fuss, regret or tears.
Now, before I had read "The Female Brain", I think I would have thought that the fact that I was still suffering from a cold was the reason for this act of insanity. However, I now realise that by making this deal, my brain had a chemical reaction: prior to making the deal, my brain was flooded with the chemicals that make mothers anxious, nuturing and protective (part of our flight / fight response). It was these set of chemicals that made me want to keep everything that I had squirreled away. But post decision, I believe I was filled with testosterone which meant that I could be brave and reckless. We were able to substantially reduced amount of items that we store in the loft. Overall, a job well done for Mother's Day.
So that was my Mother's Day. How was yours?
Why is the book so good? It details the chemical reactions in a woman's brain from the age of an eight week foetus through to post-menopause. In essence, it's a high-brow "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus". But through case studies and explanation of women's behaviour, the book is both funny and credible. It has really reasonated with me.
So, what has this to do with Mother's Day? Well today, when my OH woke up this morning, he decided that he wanted to clear the loft. To cut a long story short, we cleared our bedroom Wednesday night, as our wardrobes were being fitted Thursday. By the end of the day on Friday, they were only a third completed, with no completion date in sight. I was mightly impressed when my OH took the view that "This is an opportunity"; I am always happy to share my optomistic approach to life where my glass is always more than half full.
My OH made clear his expectations from the start: we were going to "rationalise" what we stored up in the loft. In reality, the majority of stuff that I store up there are the kids toys that are "on rotation" or old kiddies clothes that I just haven't got around to sorting out and putting on e-bay yet. And then there's loads of other stuff that's been up in the loft forever. Naturally, I didn't want to get rid of my of bits, and we both knew that we would be having a heated discussion over said items.
But an interesting thing happened. We made an initial sift of what was going to be thrown away. We calmly debated our difference of opinions on certain items. And that's when the watershed moment happened: I agreed that if the OH wanted to throw out this particular suitcase that I was attached to, then he would have to sacrifice the vanity mirror that he had bought for me and I had never used. After having made this deal, I felt librated. Suddenly I was able to let go of items that I had been holding onto for years, without fuss, regret or tears.
Now, before I had read "The Female Brain", I think I would have thought that the fact that I was still suffering from a cold was the reason for this act of insanity. However, I now realise that by making this deal, my brain had a chemical reaction: prior to making the deal, my brain was flooded with the chemicals that make mothers anxious, nuturing and protective (part of our flight / fight response). It was these set of chemicals that made me want to keep everything that I had squirreled away. But post decision, I believe I was filled with testosterone which meant that I could be brave and reckless. We were able to substantially reduced amount of items that we store in the loft. Overall, a job well done for Mother's Day.
So that was my Mother's Day. How was yours?
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