Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. 

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. 

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. 

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Fat2Fit - Today I Am Better Than Yesterday

In the early part of 2013 I had a great opportunity to deliver Service Excellence workshops in Afghanistan. This blog entry is not about that eye opening experience of Afghanistan, it is about an individual called Aris Serquina who I met around the same time. When you look at Aris you can see he is healthy, in fact you will immediately define his physique as extremely fit. You will believe this man has been like this all his life and is very regimental about his health.

The truth is this is absolutely untrue, it is a complete lie. A while back he was weighing well over 100 kg and had an outrageous eating habit of fried and grease foods, fizzy drinks, pizzas, burgers and desserts. So, his major food in take consisted of bad carbohydrates and fats. To top it up he had the greatest excuse of having no time to exercise. The results of this could easily be seen from his body shape. A shape of being a round figure, yes he was overweight. His wedding day was around the corner and with the look he had he could be described as the Michelin Man in a groom suit. His doctor had warned him that he was seriously in an unhealthy shape.

Many people in such a circumstance believe they cannot change, there is no way out and this is the way their life is meant to be. Numerous justification, excuses pop-up and even the blame game is played.

Individuals say things such as there is no time to eat healthy and exercise, its too difficult, I am not that fat, I am more lovable this way, I tried before and this healthy living doesn't work, my partner/family thinks I look fine, its the governments fault why do they allow such bad foods, my parents never encouraged me to eat healthy or be physically fit, its in the family genes, I have hormonal imbalance, I am vegetarian so I cannot get good protein, all healthy food taste bad. This list can be never ending.

Aris on the other hand took 100% responsibility for his experience of life. Rather then excuses, justification and playing the blame game he made a decision to change for himself. A change that made him healthy and fit. He made a decision to live a healthier life. Once, he made that decision he was able to set goals, overcome obstacles and stay on the path of his healthy life style. Self-pity was thrown out of the window.

His inner belief is what Adidas states as "Impossible Is Nothing" and he took the action Nike defines as "Just Do It". He turned his experience from ABC to AUC. Rather then being in a state of hypothermia, which has the end result of death, he is applying the many elements of the Seven Essentials of a Happy Life.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of giving up. Once a decision was made, Aris followed through with his commitment. He realised and gained the awareness that his better healthy lifestyle was not for others but for himself. He was finally being truthful to his inner self. 

Well done Aris Serquina, keeping inspiring others.

I Can See You Naked

Actually, I cannot see you naked. Many presenters say that in order to overcome the fear of presenting imagine your audience to be naked. The honest fact is that this has never worked for me and a number of great presenters I have met agree with me on this.

What has worked for me and others is the IKO of a Great Presenter. In fact, the most crucial part of IKO being the I. This I being the Inner Self.  It means to always focus on creating and managing a positive mind-set. In other words the way you think and feel has a dramatic effect on your delivery.

By creating such a state you overcome the state of fear. When you are in a state of fear ask yourself two crucial questions:

• What do you achieve by being in this state of fear? 
• What do you achieve by not being in this state of fear?

There are pay-offs in both cases. The person who asks these questions to himself/herself will get a greater understanding of their emotional state by answering these two crucial questions. When doing this exercise remember to take pen to paper and jot your thoughts.

Once you are able to dig deep into your emotional state by asking these questions you then have to make a decision in which emotional state you would like to be in.  Would you like to be in an emotional state of fear, anxiety, worry or strong self-esteem, confidence and inner belief.

At end of the day what you will really see naked is the fear that could have sabotage your delivery.

Want to be an impactful public speaker and presenter? Click here to see In Learning offers trainings on public speaking and presentation skills.

IKO of a Great Speaker

There are three common errors you will make when presenting/public speaking

1. Fear -  You allow the mind and nerves to take over thus performing as an amateur.
2. Teller -  You focus and strongly feel the need to lecture the audience. You tell the audience everything you know about the subject. Too many details tends to have little impact on the audience.
3. Communication -  You display poor verbal, written and non-verbal communication throughout the talk. You have a lack of eye contact, show strange non-verbal communication, inappropriate voice projection and even poor posture.

There is good news and that is there are only three things that you need to get right to become a great presenter/ speaker

1. Inner Self - Always focus on creating and managing a positive mind-set.  In other words the way you think and feel has a dramatic effect on what you deliver. 
2. Knowledge - Ensure the content you present should have a clear structure. Your ability to entice the audience will be dependent on the clarity of projecting the knowledge you want to share
3. Outer Self - The way you use your verbal, non-verbal and written communication such as words, breathing and voice immensely affects your delivery style

Want to be an impactful public speaker and presenter? Click here to see In Learning offers trainings on public speaking and presentation skills.

Service PRIDE for Service Excellence

Whatever your role in an organisation it is critical to realise that the only reason your organisation is in business is because of the customers it serves. "Service Excellence" happens at all levels of the organisation through different means such as face to face, written or phone interactions.

It is crucial for you to have “Service PRIDE” of not only in doing your role, but also to comprehend you are  the customer and sales service representatives for your organisation. You represent your organisation through your actions and appearance.

Always remember Service PRIDE simply means:

• Politeness with customers 
• Remember to go the extra smile
• Inspire each other to be the best
• Develop to be customer focused
• Evaluate how you can be better