Let's explore increasing our safe operating zone, some would call this their safe zone so that we can reach new heights.By taking little daily steps that feel a littel scary we can get stronger and stronger taking 'more risks' that once seemed unsurmountable...Motivational ResourceReal risk takers:https://youtu.be/T4HwVrK2vRE?si=1DdjQ64CmytIoNRX

Building a brand isn’t about being a fake. It’s about showing people the real you. That should always be enough. You need to be authentic if you want to build a brand that lasts.Don’t try to create a fake persona, and pretend you’re someone you’re not, as eventually people will see through that.Worth a LookDesigning a Purposeful Personal Brand...https://youtu.be/Alqt7pIbp_o?si=PgR84R64fauwnQlG

It’s important to celebrate your successes, and you should acknowledge to yourself that you’ve achieved your goals. But you need to be careful that how you celebrate success so that it doesn’t damage your long-term ambition or become destructive to your life.It's OK to feel relief rather than joy when you accmplish a goal..Motivational Success Storieshttps://www.yescoachlisa.com/blog/true-motivational-stories/

Be curious - it'll give you power. I’m a level beyond curious - I’m inquisitive. I’ll keep asking questions because I want to know everything. The more information you have, the more opportunites there are to ethically increase your knowledge and power to grow and transform - increasing your 'operating envelope....'That’s true inside and outside public and private life....For furhter explorations:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-reboot/202311/the-psychology-and-neuroscience-of-curiosity

You'e probably hearf the expression "fake it until you make it!"  Yes, it can sort off work in the short term - in my expereince, not in the long term.People waste a lot of time thinking about their body language when they should be working on how they really feel on the inside and then their body language will reflect that.It’s tempting to pretend to yourself and to others that you’re OK. You don’t want to admit that anything is wrong because you see that as a weakness or a failing, as if going through a hard time somehow makes you less of a person.Showing vulnerability doesn’t reveal weakness. Actually, it’s the opposite. It’s a sign of strength. You need to have a certain level of confidence to show vulnerability.'Worth a Read'Feeel the Fear and Beyond, Susan Jeffershttps://susanjeffers.com/books/feel-the-fear-and-beyond/

How do you prepare for the punches that are going to come your way in life? Like anything, it takes practice.If you’re going to succeed at anything, you have to practise, and you have to practise how you want to perform. That means bringing the same level of intensity and focus to your preparations that you’re going to want when you’re performing.Resource:Achieving Peak Performance: A Conversation with Anders Ericssonhttps://behavioralscientist.org/achieving-peak-performance-a-conversation-with-anders-ericsson/

Whatever you’re doing, try to use fear as a positive force in your life. It can be the fuel that makes you work harder than ever before.When you’re preparing, feel scared that you’re not going to achieve your dreams. But when the day comes, you mustn’t allow fear to cloud your judgement as you can’t think clearly when you’re afraid.If you’ve done enough preparation, you don’t need to be afraid.Resource:"Feel the fear and do it anyway", Susan Jeffershttps://susanjeffers.com/books/feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway-25th-anniversary-edition-uk/

Positive energy goes a long way: everyone responds better to positive energy than to negativity, and to being around optimists rather than pessimists. In life, having a sunny outlook goes a long way. I would like to think I’m an upbeat person. I’m happy with who I am and what I’m doing with my life and that allows me to have a positive energy.Have a think about how you might come across to other people, and whether they view you as positive or not. Consider the language you use and how you express yourself. Let's explore....

If you want to change your life, and push yourself to new heights, you're going to have to take some risks.Playing it safe gets you nowhere in life. At best, you’ll stay where you are today. More likely, you’ll drift backwards as others will rush past you. Ultimately, if you don’t take any risks, you can’t expect to enjoy different results and new, bigger rewards. If you only stick to what you know and what you’ve done before, you might also end up regretting why you limited your chances.

Whatever you’re trying to accomplish in your life, it's a good idea to have 'numbers' that allow you to track your progress. This is the era of data – you should be able to find a way, maybe even an app, of quantifying the progress you’re making.I've founf, over the years, that it's preferable to have targets that are measurable. Numbers put everything in black and white. Numbers mean you can’t lie to yourself. If you have a target that’s measurable, you’ll know when you’re on track...Goal Setting Support Info:SMART Goalshttps://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-smart-goalsBHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/big-hairy-audacious-goal-bhag.aspFitbit health fitness statshttps://www.techadvisor.com/article/742445/fitbit-health-and-fitness-scores-and-stats-explained.htmlGarmin Health and Sports Statshttps://www.wareable.com/sport/every-garmin-metric-explainedApple Watch Health Datahttps://www.apple.com/healthcare/apple-watch/

You’ve figured out how you want to transform your life - now you need to start thinking about how you’re going to create that change. You can’t rely on luck – you can be sure you won’t get far without a strategy and without having measurable goals to work towards.When someone calls you lucky, it devalues all the hard work and sacrifice that have gone into achieving your dreams.

Can impatience be a Dream Killer?People today are more impatient than ever. Our celebrity culture is damaging because it creates the impression that overnight success is most people’s experience, that you usually don’t have to be patient and persevere. We understand people don’t want to work for years. They want to go directly to being successful, skipping out the tough part in-between. But that’s not how the world works.Let's explore in some more depth...

Problem Solving by Writing it DownOver the years I've discovered,that sometimes, there's nothing more powerful than a pen and paper. When I’m going through a hard time, or feeling low, I’ve learned that one way to deal with my problems is to write them down. Often the best and the quickest therapy is scribbling my concerns on a piece of paper. Getting it out of my 'scrambled brain' and connecting with my gut for a solution. Yes, logic also has a 'part to play'. Let's explore....

Don't waste precious energy being jealous of others. Jealousy gets us nowhere. Actually, it’s much worse than that -jealousy pulls you back and drags you down.Jealousy means you’ve allowed yourself to be distracted from the person you should be focusing on: yourself.We have an opportunity to take reponsibility for our lives and decide where our life is heading.

If you’re going to be successful in whatever you do, the belief and confidence has to come from you, not from strangers who don’t know you. And you certainly shouldn’t allow strangers on the internet to negatively affect how you feel about yourself and your ambitions.If you’re comfortable with yourself, and have a strong sense of who you are and what you’re hoping to achieve, it won’t matter what others say. Be Strong, Be Smart, Be Safe....

If you’re going to change your life, or do anything meaningful, you have to truly believe. You can’t do anything half-heartedly. You’ve got to keep on telling yourself: "I can do this, I can really do this, I can see, hear and feel it." Sometimes you’ll know where you want to get to, but you don’t know how you’re going to get there. If you truly believe, you’ll eventually find a way to make that dream become a reality - step, by step, by step.... 

The challenge for many prople in the 'adventure world' is  that threir ambition lies on the reaching of a single goal. Then to be 'met' with a profound emptiness once it has been reached. "Where to now?" jumps up! For me it's about keeping dreams alive - Big, Bold and Beautiful ones. It's about re-setting our compass once we've achived our first 'Biggie"....

I've heard that the way to achieve your gols is to imagine in great detail all the different ways success will affect your life. perhaps in some istances this will work. However, I am inclined to believe that's not as necessarily true.Rarely there is only one single reason for what we do. While some motives aren't easy to identify, I believe there are some that are behind almost every journey. Momentary flashes of experience can be compared to eternity. Let's explore them in some more depth.....

Don't chase happiness, let it find you...Have you ever wondered properly why you are happy? Although I've felt I was happpy when I asked that question of myself I beagn to doubt myself.A good life is about using your senses, seeking knowledge, living in companionship with others and being engaged in striving. Does contenment come from someone who is content? Let's explore furhter...

I believe that a zest morning routine is one of the most important habits for an exceptionally great life. The way we begin our day very much sets up how our day unfolds.Of course we may choose to start with MVP [Meditation, Visualization, Prayer] is also powerful.Doing a sweaty workout while hydrating and listening to a fascinating audiobook or pulsating music adds magic to our morning.I’ve also started writing a few lines in answer to the following 5 questions, which, in the spirit of service I share with you....

It is sometimes easy to reach agreement smoothly, painlessly, and quickly. Other times it takes a lot of tugging and pulling to finally arrive at “Yes.”There are four main reasons why peo-ple do not ask for that “Yes”:Fear of rejection;Lack of appropriate vocabulary;Insufficient practice;Lack of belief.Learn to ask for the “Yes.”  Let's explore 'Factors plus incentives' and dealing with objections.Behavioural Values Dictionaryhttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Core-Values-Behavioural-Dictionar-Rev-1y.pdfZeComms Workbookhttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZeCommunications.pdf

Methods and words that are used to persuade and influence people are important to identify. These things are as important as modes of speech and body language.Clients will choose you because they trust you, like you, have confidence in you, and think that you can get the job done. Most important, they believe you have their best interests at heart....   Helpful Link:Standford Report on 'The power of language: How words shape people, Culture."https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2019/08/the-power-of-language-how-words-shape-people-culture

When starting a conversation with another person, you are attempting to break the other person’s preoccupation with whatever they are  doing.Make the person want to listen to you. Excite them, put them at ease, or have them feel important. Each of these reasons is supported with various techniques to have the most effective start to a conversation.......Useful Help:250 conversation startershttps://conversationstartersworld.com/250-conversation-starters/

Body language is considered the most important and largest percentage of the three major fac-tors of communication. It far surpasses how you say what you say and what you actually do say in words. A staggering 93% of communication relies on aspects other than the words you use.Body language really is the unspoken truth - it is as crucial as active listening....Helpful LinksUnderstanding Body Language and facial Ecpressions:https://www.verywellmind.com/understand-body-language-and-facial-expressions-4147228Body Language and Non Verbal Communications:https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/nonverbal-communication.htm

Questions are very powerful because they are always answered, even if those answers are not verbalised (spoken aloud).You will be able to create a number of different situations and reactions by the types of questions you use e.g.:Use information questions to both give and to receive information. Consider a focusing question to focus people on a potential outcomeFill an embarrassing silence with a good question.Show that you are listening actively by asking questions......Resource:NLP for Dummieshttps://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/emotional-health-psychology/psychology/neurolinguistic-programming/neuro-linguistic-programming-for-dummies-cheat-sheet-207437/

Subconscious EncodingConsider that as humans we have two minds: the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious mind is the judge of the information that comes through the senses, dealing with one item at a time.The subconscious mind stores memories and does not judge information at all. It simply stores it. When a person is asked a question they respond, whether the re- sponse is verbalised or not. Getting to Home BaseWithin any particular native language, each person has their own home base of language, according to the ideas put forth by the two founding scientists of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).The home bases are built on the five senses of visual (seeing), auditory (hear- ing), kinaesthetic (feeling/action/touch), olfactory (smelling), and  gustatory (tasting). Let's explore.....Resources: Neuro Linquistic Programminghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programmingNatural Language Processing and Artifical Intelligencehttps://www.deeplearning.ai/resources/natural-language-processing/    

ZeCommunications is about enabling the zest in people and organisations through the power of values based communications. It involves “practice practice, practice” and a sense of fun ‘sprinkled’ with resilience…Everyone is in the persuasion business.Sometimes that persuasion is directed to other people. Sometimes it is inwardly directed to your self talk. Persuasion can occur in a simple conversa-tion with one or a few people, or it can be while speaking to an audience of 500 or more people, as part of your professional world or within your personal activities.    Persuasion is part of everyday reality and greatly determines the quality of your life and the success you achieve....    

These are strange and gorgeous times. Tons of challenges. Dazzling possibilities. And I viscerally want you to leverage these times to fly. To express your talent. To do your dreams. To make the world better. To help you Lead Without a Title,I’ve distilled 10 of the most valuable and practical insights on Leadership that I’ve shared globally to my corporate clientsThese ideas have helped them do some great things. My deep wish is that they deliver the same results for you.....

The holy grail of habit change is not a single 1 percent improvement, but a thousand of them. It’s a bunch of zest habits stacking up, each one a fundamental unit of the overall system.In the beginning, small improvements can often seem meaningless because they get washed away by the weight of the system. Just as one coin won’t make you rich, one positive change like meditating for one minute or reading one page each day is unlikely to deliver a noticeable difference. Gradually, though, as you continue to layer small changes on top of one another, the scales of life start to move. Each improvement is like adding a grain of sand to the positive side of the scale, slowly tilting things in your favor. Eventually, if you stick with it, you hit a tipping point. Suddenly, it feels easier to stick with good habits. The weight of the system is working for you rather than against you.....For a summary of the 'key habit secrets' please click on the following i-mindmap link:Portable Document Format (.pdf)https://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZeChanges_Final.pdfPortable Network Graphic (.png)https://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZeChanges-Final.png

In our discussion of the 4th STEP of Behaviour Change we have covered the importance of making good habits immediately satisfying. The inversion of the 4th STEP is Make it immediately unsatisfying. Just as we are more likely to repeat an experience when the ending is satisfying, we are also more likely to avoid an experience when the ending is painful. Pain is an effective teacher. If a failure is painful, it gets fixed. If a failure is relatively painless, it gets ignored.The more immediate and more costly a mistake is, the faster you will learn from it. The threat of a bad review forces a plumber to be good at his job. The possibility of a customer never returning makes restaurants create good food. The cost of cutting the wrong blood vessel makes a surgeon master human anatomy and cut carefully. When the consequences are severe, people learn quickly.Let's explore in some more depth....

No matter how consistent you are with your habits, it is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point. Perfection is not possible. Before long, an emergency will pop up - you get sick or you have to travel for work or your family needs a little more of your time.Whenever this happens to me, I try to remind myself of a simple rule: never miss twice. Let's discuss in more depth...

Making progress is satisfying, and visual measures provide clear evidence of your progress. As a result, they reinforce your behavior and add a little bit of immediate satisfaction to any activity.Visual measurement comes in many forms: food journals, workout logs, loyalty punch cards, the progress bar on a software download, even the page numbers in a book. But perhaps the best way to measure your progress is with a habit tracker - let's explore in some more depth...

Step 4 of changing habits is that it needs to be enjoyable for it to last. Simple bits of reinforcementlike soap that smells great or toothpaste that has a refreshing minty flavour can offer the immediate pleasure we need to enjoy a habit. Change is so much easier when it gives us  joy.It is more likely we will repeat the behaviour when our expereince is satifying. Our human brain has evolved to prioritise immediate rewards over delayed ones.Key points in helping us change our behaviours are in this i-Mind Map:https://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Creating-Good-Habits-2.pdf

Making  Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits ImpossibleSometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits harder. This is an inversion of the 2nd STEP of Behaviour Change "Make it Attractive". If you find yourself struggling to follow through on your plans make you bad habits more difficult by creating what pschologists call a commitment device.Commitment devices are useful because they enable you to take advantage of good intentions before you can fall victim to temptatioin. For example - if you are looking to cut calories ask your server to split your meal in two and box half of it 'to  go' before the meal is served...Let's explore further......For an i-MindMap of key insights please follow this link:https://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Creating-Good-Habits.pdf

Even when you know you should start small, it’s easy to start too big. When you dream about making a change, excitement inevitably takes over and you end up trying to do too much too soon.The most effective way that's known to counteract this tendency is to use the Two-Minute Rule, which states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” You’ll find that nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two-minute version.....For an i-MindMap of the latest update please click below:ttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ZeChanges-Rev4.pdf

Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient.Despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one. Energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort, which states "that when deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work."Look at the well worn path in the grass where people "cut corners' to 'save time' (smile) rather than walking on the pathway......This link for an i-Midmaphttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ZeChanges-Rev3pdf.pdf

Making our Lives EasierIt is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best programme to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side job. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good." This is the difference between being in motion and taking action. The two ideas sound similar, but they’re not the same. Let's explore....

This week we examine the cause of our bad habits and how to avoid them. The 'higklightd' are as follows....The cause of our habits is the prediction that precedes them. (the 'activator') This prediction leads to a feeling. Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative ones.When we create a motivation ritual by doing something we enjoy immediately before a difficult habit it then becomes a pleasure to do.Let's examine this topic in more depth....For a summary of the key points please find this link to an i-MindMaphttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ZeChanges-2.pdf

Whenever we are unsure how to act, we look to the group (the many) to guide our behaviour. We are constantly scanning our environment and wondering, “What is everyone else doing?” We check reviews on Amazon or Yelp or TripAdvisor because we want to imitate the “best” buying, eating, and travel habits....Likewise, humans everywhere pursue power, prestige, and status. Historically, a person with greater power and status has access to more resources, worries less about survival, and proves to be a more attractive mate. Let's explore in more depth....

This week we look at culure and the role of family and friends in shaping our habits. Humans are herd animals. We want to fit in, to bond with others, and to earn the respect and approval of our peers. Such inclinations are essential to our survival. For most of our evolutionary history, our ancestors lived in tribes. Becoming separated from the tribe, or worse, being cast out—was a death sentence. “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”As Charles Darwin noted, “In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” As a result, one of the deepest human desires is to belong. And this ancient preference exerts a powerful influence on our modern behaviour.We'll explore the powerful effect of those close to us in our social environment.....Please click this link for more detailshttps://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ZeChangesRev1.pdf

In our 2nd STEP of ZeChange let's learn how to make a habit attractive and irresistible.It may not be possible to transform every habit into a supernormal stimulus, we can however make any habit more enticing. To do this, we must start by understanding what a craving is and how it works. Today we begin by examining a biological signature that all habits share—the dopamine spike.Research has shwn that when it comes to habits dopamine is released not only when we experience pleasure,but when we anticipate it. It is the anticipation of a reward, not the fulfillment of it, that gets us to take action. Our brain has far more neural circuitry allocated for wanting rewards than for liking.Let's explore in more depth....Please click this link for a 'summarising' i-Midmap.https://jimbennett.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ZeChanges.pdf

As we move forward in our journey of culture and behavioural change in creating good habits lets look deeper into the secret's of self-control and review our 1st Step Principles as follows:The inversion of the 1st STEP of Behaviour Change is make it invisible.Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.One of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one.

We continue our journey of looking at Step 1 in Making it obvious where we discover the motivation can be overrated at times and our environment matters more ar certain times as follows: Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behaviour over time.Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out.Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment.Gradually, your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with the entire context surrounding the behaviour. The context becomes the cue.t is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.

The 1st STEP of Habit Behaviour Change is make it obvious.The two most common cues are time and location: Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location.The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOUR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].Habit stacking is a strategy that you can use to pair a new habit with a current habit.The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].Let's explore in some more depth.....

The human brain is a prediction machine. It is continuously taking in your surroundings and analyzing the information it comes across.Whenever you experience something repeatedly your brain begins noticing what is important, sorting through the details and highlighting the relevant cues, and cataloguing that information for future use. With enough practice, you can pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it. Automatically, your brain encodes the lessons learned through experience.It gives us a way of observing the cues that creates our habits that help us change our behaviours...

A habit is a behaviour that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. The process of habit formation begins with trial and error. Whenever you encounter a new situation in life, your brain has to make a decision.Occasionally, you stumble across a solution. You’re feeling anxious, and you discover that going for a run calms you down. You’re mentally exhausted from a long day of work, and you learn that playing video games relaxes you.You’re exploring, exploring, exploring, and then —a 'Eureka moment' that gives a reward. After you stumble upon an unexpected reward, you alter your strategy for next time. Your brain immediately begins to catalog the events that preceded the reward. Wait a minute—that felt good. What did I do right before that?Let's explore in more depth.....

Few things have a more impact on our life than our daily habits. However, it is likely that this time next year you'll be doing the same thing rather than something better...It can feel difficult to to keep good habits for more than a few days, even with the most sincerest of efforts and with good motivation. Habits, like exercise, meditation, journalling and yoga are reasonable for a day ot two and then they become a hassle.Once your habits have become established, they seem to stick around for ever - particularily the unwanted ones. Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons:We try to change the wrong things.We try to change our habits in the wrong way.Let's explore "changing the worong things" to start with....

Small Habit changes can make a 'monumental' difference. Research has shown that it is easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value on making small incremental improvements on a daily basis.We can convince ourselves that a massive success requires massive action. Be it losing wiegt, building a business, writing a book, winning a chamionship... Improving by 1% isn't particularily notable, at times not even noticeable. It can however, be meaningful , esoecially over time. The diference tiny changes can make over time can be phenominal... Let's explore the concept...