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Five-Bullet Monday - December 13, 2021

Updated: Jan 4, 2022


Here is your Five-Bullet Monday


A quote I am pondering:

“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.” - Gordon Parks


Enthusiasm is often an underappreciated attribute in people. It is easier to lead teams with enthusiastic members than try to stoke up energy when there is none. And our responsibility is to bring enthusiasm wherever we go. I also like the second half of the quote that encourages us to act enthusiastic until genuine enthusiasm surfaces.


A question I am asking myself:

How can I become an ultra-attentive listener?

Research has shown that only about 10% of people listen effectively. So, what prevents effective listening? Three things come to mind: 1) not allowing things like cell phones to distract us, 2) not just thinking of the next thing we will say, and 3) not allowing our minds to wander off. Attentive listening is a gift that we can keep giving all day long, and it will make a big difference to those speaking to you.


A book I am reading:

Gravitas: Communicate with Confidence, Influence and Authority – Caroline Goyder


Gravitas is an excellent book with many simple techniques to help build your natural gravitas. Goyder defines gravitas as knowledge, passion and purpose, less anxiety. She provides plenty of practical ways to express yourself clearly with passion and confidence so that you can persuade, influence, and engage listeners.


My favourite podcast this week:

What’s Essential: With Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations

I found this podcast interesting, as Greg McKwoen and Joseph Grenny discuss difficult situations, relationships and under-performances and what does and doesn’t work when attempting to rectify them.

Hugh-Tips

Allocate some giving money in your budget and stick with it


Establishing and sustaining the habit of giving is very healthy for our relationship with money. We need to keep the master-servant relationship with money the right way around, i.e. money serving us, not the other way around. And a great way to do this is to be generous in our giving. It has also been clinically proven that giving is good for our health (mental, physical and spiritual) health. Budgeting an amount for giving is also a great way to lock it in and make sure that you give regularly. And what better time is there to launch this great habit than the Christmas season.


My highlight this last week

Making Boerewors (Southern African sausage) for the first time


Now that I can make pretty good biltong (Southern African air-cured beef), I asked a Zim friend to help me make some boerewors this weekend. Our venture into the world of sausage making turned out to be quite successful, and it tasted great. We also had so many laughs at his repeated attempts to synchronise spewing sausage meat with uncooperative casing.


My challenge to you for this week

Check the ergonomics of your home office to make sure you are not doing your body a disservice.

There can be a lot of ergonomic shortcomings when working from home, so it is good to pay attention to these and go through a quick checklist to see what you can improve. There are loads of checklists on the web, but a couple to be aware of are your head and neck position, your sitting posture, your hands and wrist position, and the breaks you take. Adjustable sitting and standing desks are also a great option.


Have a great week

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