Regardless whether your goal is world domination, smashing the annual bonus scheme or something more personal, we believe that when you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, you are way more likely to get stuff done.
Research has shown that people who write down their goals are 42 percent more likely to achieve them than those who don’t.
Having something as simple as a basic Personal Development Plan (aka the PDP) can often be the start of something brilliant.
You can download a simple template from us here. It’s amendable if you’d like to make it a little more ‘you’.
Before you get started on what it is that you want to achieve, spend some time thinking about your progress over the last 12 months. This will help you get a picture of what’s going well and any areas that you can improve on, it will also help you to recognise the strengths and weaknesses in your skillset.
2. Write a list of your strengths and weaknesses
Your strengths are a mixture of your talents, knowledge and skills. By getting an idea of what your strengths are, you’ll be able to identify activities where you can add value. And by recognising your weaknesses, you can start to get involved in work that allows you to develop gaps in your skills and knowledge.
3. Set some goals
Goals can be anything from short-term to long-term, big or small. Whatever you decide you want to work towards, the key thing is to make sure that you’re setting goals based on what you want to achieve, not what you think your manager would like to see. Once you’ve set your goals, consider prioritising them – and try not to tackle too many at once.
4. Get SMART
Now that you have an understanding of what you want to achieve, it’s time to set some concrete actions. Think about what you’re working towards and then work backwards from there, outlining the steps you’ll need to take. It’s also important that the actions you set for yourself are clear, measurable and obtainable. A great way to make sure of this is to follow the SMART method: keep them Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timed.
5. Make time for updates
For your PDP to work, you need to update it regularly. Setting a weekly reminder in your calendar is a great way to get yourself into the habit of spending time reviewing your progress and updating the areas of your PDP that you’ve been working on.
First things first. We’re not therapists or experts, just throwing our opinions out there!
This is something that’s close to our hearts so we’re choosing to gently dip our toe into the wonderful world of self-compassion, where being brave & showing kindness meets up with self-improvement and might just spark a revolution of feel-good vibes with those who read it.
So, sit back, unclench your jaw, take some deeper breaths and drop those shoulders for a few minutes. Let’s explore why showing ourselves some tender loving care is not only important but also comes with some cool benefits too.
Picture this. We’ve all done it in our own way. A friend is in need and reaches out to you. Naturally, you offer them a listening ear, a supportive shoulder, and sprinkle your words with empathy and kindness. Seems like a no-brainer right..? Isn’t this what everyone does?
Yep! Most of us are brilliant at dishing out compassion to others. Our hearts swell and those soothing words just trip off the tongue.
Then, something strange happens. You suddenly need a little compassion yourself, for whatever the reason, and those emotions, skills and words just disappear!
It’s like the worlds best magic trick, ‘roll up, roll up and witness the incredible Disappearing Compassion’
We’re quick to extend compassion to others, but when it comes to ourselves, we can become self-critical ninjas. It’s like we’ve entered a secret society where guilt, shame, harsh words and self-judgment reign supreme. We say things to ourselves that we would surely never say to anyone who needed our help. What the hell is going on?
At We Are BRAVE we want to try to flip that internal mean spirited script and instead embrace a Self-Compassion Revolution!
Something most of us tend to forget is that we’re all human, and that means making mistakes is part of the deal.
Instead of berating ourselves with a never-ending loop of negative self-talk, let’s treat ourselves like a best friend. Be gentle, kind, offer a helping hand, and reassure yourself that it’s all part of life. We are not perfect. We will always make mistakes.
Showing self-compassion doesn’t mean you’re letting yourself off the hook or settling for less. It’s about acknowledging your flaws, embracing your imperfections, and understanding that you deserve a little bit of love and understanding, just as much as the next person. Simple eh..?
So let’s talk about the benefits of self-compassion. When you treat yourself with compassion, you’re giving your mind and body the permission to relax and heal.
Stress levels decrease, and the weight of self-judgment slowly lifts from your shoulders.
As an added bonus, self-compassion strengthens your resilience. Much as we hate to quote Roman Keating, life really is an unpredictable rollercoaster, and when you freefall, which you inevitably will, self-compassion acts as a cushion that helps you bounce back stronger.
We want you to create an inner cheerleader that’s always on your side, reminding you that you have what it takes to conquer any challenge that comes your way.
We want to leave you with a personal challenge.
The language we use when we talk to ourselves is incredibly important and the words we choose can have a lasting legacy. We challenge you to choose the harshest word you say to yourself (we all have one) and simply start to soften it a little each time you say it. Dial down the inner mean girl and turbo-boost the self compassion revolution. ❤️
Remember, any Self-Compassion Revolution starts inside each and every one of us. Let’s try harder to be brave & kind, gentle and supportive and spread those good vibes to the people around us.
Life can be really hard. We get it. So why bother..?
The pressure is always on, the workload can feel relentless and then on top of that you need to try and be BRAVE? Who has the time?
We share so much helpful content with you about how to be BRAVE that we realised we’ve made a glaring omission!
What if you just want to get on with it in your own way and not use our guiding principles? 😳
Behold, just for you, here’s 8 Ways to Fail at being BRAVE.
Rush into your decisions
Work at speed, keep up that pace at all times, and never slow down before thinking. Definitely do not take time to write anything down! There’s no time! Your brain will fill in the gaps and find the clarity you need from somewhere. When it comes to conversations, don’t take the time to think your answer through, just shoot from the hip!
Speak quickly, without thought, and don’t worry about backing it up.
As you jump from a meeting, to a debate, to a call and then onto the next zoom, just say whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about it, who even pays attention anyway? An even easier way is to develop your inner parrot! Take what someone else says, add a little twist of your own and repeat it. Easy win all day long! If anyone challenges you, just throw the question back at them and swiftly change the topic. No-one will even remember this next week!
Trust your gut, and decide quickly, especially about other people!
Where there are important decisions to be made, it’s important to keep it high level, don’t get into the detail. The quicker you decide the faster this meeting needs! If someone challenges you or your thoughts then they’re clearly jealous and you can secretly plot their downfall at a later stage. If it’s gets a bit personal, so be it, they started it after all.
Don’t give your thinking any extra thought , you know you’re pretty much always right
Life is too busy for second guessing right? Once you have answered a question or made your decision then save time and move the hell on! There’s no need to over analyse and reflect over what you said or why, it’s a waste of time. Why? Your brain cleverly gets used to the way you work and think and eventually introduces biases and shortcuts to get you quickly to the same type of decisions over and over again. Genius!
Learn to get your own way when you need to.
This one’s all about learning to disagree and win at all costs. If someone disagrees with you then you need to nip it in the bud. Make a stand and understand that this person clearly dislikes you, so there’s no relationship to lose. It’s important that in a disagreement you do not fail, you must make sure to win, no matter how it reflects on you because what’s important is not failing.
Make the easy (or even first) decision, saving you time and effort.
Decision making can swallow up so much time in meetings. A simple way to expedite the process is to use those helpful brain shortcuts we talked about earlier and just make the first, or the easiest, decision that comes to mind. Another brilliant way to sidestep decision making completely is to simply agree with whoever is the loudest, or highest paid person in the room. This way nothing sticks to you when it goes wrong. Perfect!
When debating, focus on the person not the topic!
When it comes to debating there’s a sure fire way to get what you need, or at the very least be disruptive and hurry the meeting along. Flip the focus from whatever the topic is, and instead make it about the person who is talking. This is so much easier! You don’t need to agree, or disagree with the topic, especially if you don’t really understand it. Just pick holes in the person, the way they’re debating, the words they use and try to get them to defend their ideas. Before you know it you’ll have made it into a personal dig at the person whilst simultaneously dodging having to make any kind of decision.
Finally, and this one is truly brilliant when it comes to really failing at being BRAVE.
No decision = no progress = no work.
At the end of any meeting or debate there’s that moment where a decision just needs to be made. People start to become uncertain or even fear the decision they’re about to make. They need help. The best thing to do is wrap up the meeting asap and take the pressure off. Give people a break from making decisions. The added benefit to this is that now nothing will get agreed on, therefore there’s no follow up work to be done and it will probably just get shelved or tabled for a later discussion. Bonus!
If you’ve read this blog and identified any of the descriptions or behaviours in your own worlds then you might need to get in touch with us. We can help you and your teams to not fail at being BRAVE and instead learn that all progress starts with a BRAVE decision.
If, however, you’re truly determined to fail, we’ve even created a Downloadable Fail Checklist to help you Fail Better ✅
You’re in a meeting. So are they. Over there. Lurking. They’re disagreeing with your points. What a surprise. While their points might be valid, the red mist is descending, you’re not listening anymore. This is just SO damn hard. But why?
‘because I don’t like them’
We have all met someone we just don’t like. It can be for a variety of different reasons. It might be their personality, the way they behave at work, or a quirky thing about them that made you cry out internally ‘that’s an immediate no from me!’
Whether you are in your job, the school gates or meeting new neighbours you’re most likely going to run into people you don’t like. It’s a fact of life that we all need to learn to live with.
What we suggest is adding to your personal toolkit some skills to help you survive when you cannot simply escape.
We’d like to share 5 tips with you that we think can help you learn to like (or at least tolerate discretely) someone you don’t like.
1. Don’t let your dislike become your disrespect
Just because you don’t like someone doesn’t mean you have a right to disrespect them.
Unfortunately this happens a lot, from even the most mild mannered people. Dislike can cause us to irrationally write someone off and our brains look for reasons to do this more. When we see them we begin to create a picture of someone who can do no right, and who has no redeeming features…and this can cause respect to be lost.
We suggest spotting this one early and nipping it in the bud. Learn to apply a game face and show respect at all times, even if just for the fact that it reflects well on you as an individual and a professional.
2. Get into their shoes
No literally, obviously. Try to force a new persective. What does this look and feel like from their side of the fence?
It’s really easy to dislike people we don’t understand because out instincts from thousands of years ago tell us to distrust what we don’t know.
We want you to try developing empathy for this person and how they behave. This doesn’t mean you now have to agree with everything they say and do, but it should help you to disagree well, and focus on the point in hand, not the individual. We constantly remind our clients during our BRAVE program of 2 key points.
1. Disagreement is not dislike and 2. Debate the idea, not the person.
3. Keep the right amount of distance
This one seems simple but often gets forgotten. If you don’t like someone then do you best to keep the right amount of professional distance. We say the ‘right amount’ because this is key.
It’s a little like Goldilocks and her porridge temperature. It needs to be just right.
Don’t completely avoid, ignore or blank from your life and vocabulary. It’s too obvious.
Aim for some simple hello’s and how are you’s, in the right meetings and whilst passing in corridors or on virtual screens. Put some thought instead into avoiding situations that are easier to manipulate and don’t make you look bad for not being there instead. Be authentic, be you, be respectful but don’t fake it too much.
4. Let it go, let it go…
As we said already, people dislike others for lots of reasons.
If yours relates to something that person said or did, then we’re sorry, but whilst you work together you’re going to have to be the bigger person and do like Elsa in Frozen and just let it go.
Whilst this might seem completely impossible you have to recognise that having bad feelings towards them will undoubtedly come through in your behaviour towards them, no matter how hard you try not to.
We’re not suggesting you become work best friends and start hair-braiding each other at lunch, but in order to maintain that professional behaviour you need to find a way to forgive what they have done, in order to help you better mask your dislike.
5. Take a reality check
The reality of this situation, playing out in businesses all around the world, is that sometimes, it’s just the way it is. It is very rare for anyone to like everyone. We just need to deal with it.
Using some of the tips we’ve suggested above will help but there’s a part of you that first has to take that reality check and remind yourself that its ok to not like someone, and for them to not like you. It’s just not realistic to expect that to be the case. And yet, when we are at work, it does feel that we are expected to do just that!
We have found that reminding ourselves that no-one, including us, is perfect. It’s a physical impossibility and a myth. Everyone has flaws and everyone has strengths. We’ll often try to think about one of our own flaws, and strengths and then apply it back. If you have them and that’s ok, then it’s ok for ohers to have them too, right?
By trying to accept that, and realising that you may also be disliked by someone at this very moment without even knowing it might help you dial down the dislike for someone else.
Our BRAVE Disagree sessions cover all this, and much much more aiming to provide real change for you and your business. If this has peaked your interest, then please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
Have you ever wanted to release your superpowers and let that inner entrepreneur out?
We want to share some of the key skills we think you need to let that tiger out of its cage!
Welcome to the exciting world of entrepreneurship, where creativity, innovation, and a touch of magic come together!
Can you juggle?
As an entrepreneur, you’ll find yourself juggling multiple tasks simultaneously. From managing finances to marketing your product, the ability to multitask is key. But fear not! With a few circus-worthy juggling skills (metaphorically speaking, of course), you’ll have no trouble keeping all those balls in the air. Think planning tools, software, focus and dedication.
Can you network like a Ninja?
Networking is the secret sauce to success in the entrepreneurial world. Whether it’s attending conferences, joining industry events, or even striking up conversations at the local coffee shop, channel your inner social ninja. Master the art of connecting with people, building relationships, and expanding your network. Who knows, your next big opportunity might be just a handshake (physical or virtual) away!
Can you make the magic happen?
In the ever-evolving business landscape, creativity is your superpower. Embrace your inner magician and conjure up innovative ideas that set you apart from the crowd. Think outside the box, push boundaries, and let your imagination run wild. After all, it’s the entrepreneurs with the quirkiest ideas who often make the biggest waves.
Can you get your flex on?
Being an entrepreneur is sometimes like performing a perpetual gymnastics routine. You’ll encounter unexpected twists, turns, and somersaults along the way. The key is to stay flexible and adapt to the ever-changing environment. Be ready to pivot, adjust your strategy, and ace that graceful landing even when the routine changes unexpectedly.
Can you make friends with failure?
Ah, the dreaded F-word! No, not that one. We mean Failure. But fear not, fellow entrepreneurs! Failure is not the end but rather a stepping stone to success. Embrace it, learn from it, and allow it to fuel your determination. Remember, every failure brings you closer to that one glorious victory.
Can you supercharge your own leanring?
The journey of entrepreneurship is a never-ending quest for knowledge. Develop a voracious appetite for learning and keep those brain cells firing. Read books, attend workshops, follow industry trends, and continuously seek new information. The more you know, the more you can grow. At We Are BRAVE we can help you with a course, a module, 121 coaching or even an entire program to super charge your journey.
Can you laugh at yourself?
Last but certainly not least, a good sense of humour is your secret weapon. Laugh off the occasional blunders, find joy in the challenges, and maintain a light-hearted approach to what you are trying to do. A chuckle here and there can help you navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship with a smile on your face.
Becoming a modern-day entrepreneur can be a thrilling adventure filled with endless possibilities. Embrace the skills we’ve listed above and store them in your entrepreneurial toolbox. That should leave you well-equipped to conquer the business world and create your own success story.
In our daily lives, we’re constantly faced with numerous decisions, big and small. Some choices are straightforward, while others, particularly in business are complex and require careful consideration.
When you’re confronted with your options, it’s crucial to recognise that making the right decision, rather than settling for the first or easiest one, can pave the way for progress and personal growth. As our saying goes, “All progress begins with a brave decision.” Let’s delve a little deeper into why the path to success with BRAVE lies in choosing wisely.
Quality Over Ease
Often, the initial decision that comes to mind seems convenient, requiring little effort or contemplation. However, embracing the first or easiest choice doesn’t guarantee the best outcome. In fact, it may lead to missed opportunities and more work later down the line.
“All progress begins with a brave decision.”
Exploring Alternatives
When we take the time to explore alternatives and consider various perspectives, we open ourselves up to a broader range of possibilities. By examining different options and potential outcomes, we gain a deeper understanding of the situation at hand. This process allows us to make informed choices based on reason and logic, rather than impulsivity or convenience. Giving yourself time, to think about your thinking is a powerful aid in decision making.
Challenging Growth
Choosing the right decision often involves stepping outside your comfort zones and confronting uncertainty. It requires bravery to take the path that might seem unfamiliar or challenging. However, it is precisely these brave decisions that change the game. When we embrace difficult choices, we learn valuable lessons, acquire new skills, and develop a resilience that contributes to our progress in the long run.
Avoiding Regret
The consequences of settling for the first or easiest decision can lead to regret down the line. If you make choices solely for convenience, or to avoid disagreement or conflict, you may find yourself wondering “what if” and wishing you had taken a different path. Regret can really hinder your ability to move forward with a decision and achieve your goal. On the other hand, making the right decision, even if it requires more effort or bravery, can bring us a sense of satisfaction and the bonus is your skill level is also increasing.
What we Think
The art of decision-making lies not in the quick and easy options, but in the courage to make the BRAVE choice. By embracing the unknown, exploring alternatives, and challenging our comfort zones, we unlock the potential for progress and personal growth. By Thinking about your Thinking, Speaking Up and Disagreeing Well you’ll be bale to make not just the right decision, but the BRAVE one.
You can talk to us to get an initial understanding of how the team at We Are BRAVE can help you and your teams.
When you become ‘consciously’ aware of something you will notice it and realise it’s happening: this is the definition of a conscious thought.
In our SPEAK programme we share principles to help guide you to success. One of these is Think Consciously, Do It On Purpose.
Here’s a great example of thinking consciously. As a child, when you learn something new like how to ride a bike, you become consciously aware of the process and engage with it. Every time you topple over, scuff the front of your trainers, lose control of the handlebars or fall off and graze your knee you simply get back up and keep going. Why?
Because the thought of being able to gain your freedom, being with your friends on their bikes, cycling with the wind rushing through your hair is so compelling that you persevere through every wobble or fall, you get back up and have another go. You persevere because the outcome will feel great.
Before you know it you are a bike rider, and you hop on without a second thought, free to ride anywhere you like. You build your skills; you go faster and you test your limits.
Skip forward to the future and even if you haven’t ridden a bike for years you can jump on and you suddenly experience an automatic thought process that says ‘I can do this, its familiar, I can ride a bike’. Your conscious thoughts back then, as a child that engaged in learning a new skill, gave the future you a helpful habit. This skill became so ingrained you’re now on full auto-pilot. You don’t need to think about how you do it, you just do it.
Now it’s time to start that journey and build another habit. This time, with your thinking.
Our programmes help you learn to understand the importance of being aware of your thinking and why when you think consciously and do it on purpose, you’ll get far closer to the results you need. Imagine the communication and decision-making powers you can implement when you know you’re thinking clearly and with intention.
By using structure and tools, we can help you to challenge your old way of approaching topics and avoid the pitfalls such as group-think and bias. It’s those pitfalls that keep us stuck or at worst, lead us to faulty decision-making. Unlocking your thinking will help you unlock innovation.
When you think differently, new ideas and solutions can take shape.
The great news is we are all capable of doing this. How do we know that? Because it’s the ability to think differently that took you from riding your bike with stabilisers to the moment when you realise you can let go of the handle-bars and shout “look, no hands!”.
What we do know is that learning to spot and be aware of your thoughts requires some attention and discipline but in any situation it will help you to think better. With the same determination you applied as a child eventually thinking consciously and on purpose will become your powerful default setting.
Talk to us to learn more about the 8 principles that are embedded into our BRAVE programme
Healthy disagreement is an important part of any work or personal relationship. And yet, it’s much rarer than you think.
Disagreement often has negative connotations but in fact it’s entirely natural for people to have different perspectives and opinions, and the ability to disagree well is key to resolving conflicts and finding common ground.
One of the most important principles of healthy disagreement is our principle of ‘debating the idea, not the person’. When we engage in a discussion or debate it’s important to focus on the idea being presented rather than attacking or criticising the person presenting them. It’s important to be able to separate the two, to reach the best decision or outcome.
‘Debate the idea, not the person sharing it’
Instead, we should focus on the merits of the debate itself. This means being curious and listening carefully to what the other person is saying – not something that’s always easy. Start with asking questions to clarify & understand their position first, then present your perspective clearly and calmly. Even if we don’t agree with someone else’s position, we can still respect them as a person and engage in a productive disagreement!
Another important aspect of healthy disagreement is the ability to recognise and address our own biases and assumptions.
We all have our own experiences, beliefs and values that shape how we see the world. It’s important to be aware of these biases and to own how they show up in any disagreement. By actively engaging with different perspectives and viewpoints we broaden our understanding of the world.
Finally, disagreeing well is about being willing to look for and find common ground. Broadening our understanding of a situation may mean that whilst we don’t always fully agree with the other person we can find ways to work together and find solutions that meet everyone’s needs. The very act of engaging with healthy disagreement brings clarity to where we agree and where we may need to work harder to find a middle ground.
That clarity creates an opportunity for progress and all progress begins with a BRAVE decision.
You can learn more about BRAVE, our principles and how we can help healthy disagreement prosper in your business by getting in touch today.
So, first things first, what the hell is a heuristic?
A heuristic is a mental shortcut most commonly used to help us simplify problems and avoid cognitive overload.
Heuristics are an important part of how the human brain is wired, and how it’s evolved, which in turn allows people to quickly reach reasonable decisions or solutions to complex problems.
These mental shortcuts sound amazing right? An easy way to use what you already know to help you work faster? They can be really helpful, but as with many things, there are risks.
Heuristics can often be super helpful for you by:
Helps you get to a conclusion faster
Reduces the mental strain needed to make decisions
Helps you with complex problem-solving
Turns complex questions into simple ones
However, heuristics can also lead to hidden cognitive biases.
As an example, think about the availability heuristic. You’ll be more likely to make a decision based on information that pops into your mind quickly because you have recently been looking at something similar.
Imagine you are reading articles on a regular basis about hostile managers and the damage they cause. This means that your availability heuristic will more easily help you identify this trait in managers at work because the heuristic is helping you get from A to B too fast.
Because of this, it’s important to understand what heuristics you use. Those heuristics could impact your daily decision-making process.
Here’s some of the most commonly used heuristics:
Affect
This is all about how people react to different stimulus and how this affects decision making. It could be any positive or negative feeling they experience at a particular moment and in a specific situation.
Anchoring
In this heuristic people tend to make their judgment based solely on the very first pieces of information they get, often called an “anchor”. Unfortunately the decision is usually made quickly so it may be inaccurate. Impulsive decision-makers forget or ignore other facts, making poorer choices.
Availability
This one we already mentioned. It’s due to our search to reach the best conclusions means we look to the sources that are the most readily available ones.
Representativeness
This makes people evaluate the likelihood of a solution or conclusion to a situation based on a similar past event that acts as representative data. It, thus, provides a reasonable probability of selecting the most effective alternative under uncertainty. You’re simply judging it based on the closest experience you have experienced.
Once you know what these are, and the ones you use the most, you can pause and analyse the effect they are having on your decision-making. This takes some effort because our heuristics feel very comfortable to us. They feel ‘right’ and it can be hard to challenge them.
A way to challenge?
After making a decision, especially a quick one, try to take a step back and consider what other possibilities existed that you didn’t choose. If you had chosen one of them, would the outcome have been different? This helps you internally calibrate if your heuristics are helping you make better decisions (or not)
Making BRAVE decisions
When you work with us we share our BRAVE principles to help you make your decisions in a well-formed and well informed style.
At We Are BRAVE, bear in mind, (pun intended) that we all are proud learning geeks, so when we think Goldilocks, we imagine something very different to most people.
We think about The Zone of Proximal Development. Yep. Really. We know it sounds like something in a Marvel movie.
Learning happens best in the zone of proximal development. This has been defined as the place where learning is still challenging enough to be interesting, but not too challenging that it becomes overwhelming. It’s within this strangely named zone that the really good learning occurs the most.
Most humans are a little bit like Goldilocks. They don’t want their porridge too hot or too cold.
What we’re really looking for, is for our porridge to be ‘just right’.
This leads us to the hook. Just right is also how most people like their learning and development.
Studies have shown that when learning or problem solving begins, our clever computer like brains quickly make a judgement call on what’s about to happen. Either, this is going to be too hard – I should abort, or this is going to be easy – I might get bored, therefore it’s time to check out.
At We Are BRAVE we make sure that our learning hits the ‘zone’ and helps the learner say ‘this is pretty interesting, and feels a little challenging, but I’m curious to know more’
Whether it’s our range of development programmes, our flagship BRAVE product or one of the many other solutions we both develop and deliver for our clients, you can be sure that we’ve applied the Goldilocks Test to make sure your experience is one you won’t forget.
What we can’t promise you is a bowl of porridge. Or 3 bears.
If you’d like to learn more about what we do, and how we can help you then get in touch today to start the conversation.
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