2: Distract and absorb yourself: if you are prone to worrying or getting agitated, distact yourself by focusing on something more positive.  For example, instead of worrying, try problem solving.  If you focus on X, you can’t then focus on Y to the same degree.  So aborb yourself in something positive, which helps displace the negative. Watch a favourite film, read a book, go swimming, play with the kids….

3: Get a sense of proportion and perspective: how big is your worry or concern anyway?  Is something that is in reality quite small being blown up out of all proportion?  Is your (negative) investment disproportionate, way over the top? Maybe you have a  half hour meeting due next week that you are already fretting about, and will do 24/7 until it arrives?  How does this help?  One idea is to take the ‘worry’, then mentally put it in a box, lock it in, and keep the key.   This means you can take it out again any time you like, but for now it’s been ‘put away’.

4: Surround yourself with positives: be with people, and in places, that make you feel good.  This is particularly true with friends.  You can’t choose your family, or (generally) your work colleagues, but you can choose your friends.  Why have ‘friends’ who take you down….?

5: Love what you do: and how you do it.  Most of your waking life will be spent at work - so make sure you enjoy it.  That not only includes the big picture - find, or at least seek, a job you enjoy - but also the little things….make your work environment pleasurable and pleasant.

6: Invest in your happiness: happiness ought to be a choice, not an accident.  You need to work at it, and put it on your ‘to do’ list.  What makes you happy, or feel good?  Do more of it.  What makes you unhappy, or feel bad?  Do less of it….

7:  Focus on your state: - as well as, or even instead of, your targets. Focus on being, as well as doing.  It’s not just about achieving things, it’s also (much more?) about being someone.  Switch from ‘doing’ (getting a promotion, earning more money, expanding the team) to ‘being’ - happy, content, fulfilled, challenged, relaxed.  ‘Doing’ as in achieving things, may be out of your control: success may depend on others. ‘Being’ is entirely down to you….

8: Enjoy it all: after all, it’s all there is!! Focus on the good things in life, which we often take for granted.  Count your blessings. There are many - millions - far, far worse off than you or me.  So much of what we get from life depends on how we see things, and how much we invest.  Look for the negatives, and invest in the negatives, and don’t be surprised if that’s what you get.  Look for, and invest in, the positives, and you are living in a different (and better) world.

9: Learn: “there is no failure, only feedback”.  Stuff happens, and some of it is unpleasant.  Rather than dwell on the negatives, reflect on what messages the experience is giving you, and how you can learn from it.  That way, no experience, however unpleasant, is wasted or entirely negative.

10: Manage your response: this is what, ultimately, it all boils down to.  Whatever life throws at you, you choose how you respond to it (which, incidentally, includes ‘refusing to choose’ - that is still a choice…!)  Most of the ‘difference’ in our lives is due less to what happens to us, than to how we respond to what happens.  And one key element of choosing your response is learning to let things go.  Don’t dwell on the past, on failure, on difficulty.  Especially, don’t dwell on things you can do nothing about.  So always choose a response that enables rather than disables you, that works for rather than against you.  It definitely isn’t easy - but it is certainly worthwhile.

October:

5            Team development day, Manchester

6            1-1 coaching,  Liverpool

Development meeting, Crewe

Development day, Stockport

8            Account Manager programme, Bolton

9            As above

12          1-1 coaching, Guildford

13          Moving into Management, Manchester

14          Moving into Management, Manchester

15          Team development, Guildford

Learning at Work Day, Manchester

16          Assessment Centre, Bolton

20          Team Development, Guildford

21          Team Development, Guildford

22          Essential Tutoring Skills, Manchester

23          How to manage and plan Group Tutorials, Manchester

27           Assessment Centre, Bolton

28           1-1 coaching, Crewe

29           1-1 coaching, Crewe

November:

2            Development Centre, Bolton

3            1-1 coaching, Liverpool

4            1-1 coaching, Liverpool and Crewe

5            Development Centre, Bolton

Learning at Work Day, Guildford

• 3 December, am:  making a positive difference: the power of personal impact
• 3 December, pm:  how to negotiate successfully
• 4 December, am:  how to solve problems
• 4 December, pm:  building successful teams

Each workshop has plenty of handy hints and tips, and a full supporting workbook.  There is a maximum of 20 places for each workshop, and the fee is £145 per workshop, or £250 for two workshops on the same day.  If you’d like to reserve a place, or for more details, please phone Caroline in the office on 0161 437 6809 or email carolinerowlands@etduk.co.uk

To go on the bike ride, the minimum the lads had to raise was £9,200 between them - and the deadline for paying this is this coming Friday…!  As of this lunchtime, and taking into account all other fundraisers, and donations made through the ‘justgiving’ website, they have raised….£9,600!!  So they are definitely going!!!!! Well done to David, Nathan and Bam, and everyone who has so far supported ‘Team Nambodia’.

But do they want to stop there?  Of course not.  Their team target is a massive £15,000 - so the fundraising goes on.  Next is a golf day on 26 September: a 9 hole round of golf, followed by a barbeque.  The minimum donation is £15 per person, so if you’d like to take part, and can get to Styal in Cheshire, then leave a note below, or phone 07976 654429.  Or you could just leave a congratulations message - I’m sure they’d appreciate it.  and if you just want to give a donation, which is great, and greatly appreciated, then go to their site on www.justgiving.com/teamnambodia

Here are some pics from the event:

car wash::

…the cake stand…

…the wellie-throwing contest…

…the bridge building challenge…

…the Wii and Guitar Hero corner…

..Harp and a Monkey evening entertainment..

2: alphabet intros: each person says their first name, and chooses one letter of the alphabet.  Everyone is then given 30 seconds to say 3 things about themselves, or their world, with each comment starting with their chosen letter

3: two true, one false: each person chooses three things to say about themselves.  Two are true, one is false.  The rest of the group (on own or in discussion) have to choose which one is false.  Great fun, and a real opportunity to learn things about people

4: 3 things in common: in a group, the group have to come up with three things they have in common - and they cannot be too obvious or boring (we’re all in the same room, we’re all humans…)

5: pairings: write some famous pairs, one per post it, and before the group come in, put one name under each person’s chair.  When they have sat and settled, you ask them all to look under their chair, and find their pair.  Good for getting people moving around.

6: small talk: choose a list of interesting questions.  Number them,  and ideally have them projected onto the screen.  Put the numbers into a bag, and ask the group to draw one of the numbers each.  Their job is then to mingle with everyone else, and ask as many people as they can the question represented by their number.  Of course, since everyone is doing something similar, everyone will have to answer others’ questions too.  Get people talking, without them having to ‘make conversation’ themselves.

7: line up: get everyone to one end of the room, and get them to line up according to a series of criteria - eg tallest/shortest, letter of first name (A-Z), living closest/furthest to this location.  Again gets people moving and talking in a non-threatening way

8: pass the question: ask for a volunteer.  When you get one, ask them a question, which they answer.  They then can choose someone else in the group, and ask for their name, and ask them a different question - and so on round the group, until it comes back to you.

9: who’s?: create a 3×3 or 4×4 matrix, and in each cell, ask a question - eg who’s got the most interesting collection, most sisters and brothers, won an award, been to Africa, etc.

10: speed dating: sort the group into two sets, one facing the other, so you have conversation pairs.  Each pair has - say - 3 minutes to chat, and find out three things about the other person, and after the three minutes, one line moves up one, to form a new pair.  Has lots of movement, isn’t too long, and again, encourages communication and relationship skills

• come, if at all possible, if only for part of the day.  We’d love to see you there, and it would mean a lot to the boys
• contribute anything for the charity auction, that takes place at 5pm on the day - goods or services, no matter how small - everything is welcome
• bid for anything at the auction.  If you can’t be there but would like to take part ‘remotely’, then leave me contact details below, or phone 07976 65442 and we can either email or text the list to you
• donate on line at www.justgiving.com/teamnambodia

This is ETD’s main charity event of the year, so please help and support if you can.  Anything you can give will be most appreciated.  Thank you.

To help raise funds, they have asked us to help them host a fund raising day, called ‘Nambodia Day’.  This will be held on 12 September, in and around a local village hall in Stockport.  It will run from 11am to 10pm, and the day will be packed with fun activities, games, quizzes, puzzles and challenges - indoor and out - for all the family.  There will be a treasure hunt walk, a local olympics for the family, car washing, and a charity auction.  There will be a barn dance and live music in the evening.

Each adult will be charged £10 ‘entry fee’ - family members under 16 admitted free.  All of this will go to charity.  There will be food and drink available all day, but you can also bring your own if you prefer!  If you’re interested in coming, send Arnie an email (arnieskelton@etduk.co.uk) and he’ll send you a full running order of events for the day (though there’s no need to be there from the beginning or all day - you can drop in anytime).

Ideally, we’d love you to be there for the day - the more the merrier.  So feel free to invite family and friends too.  If you can’t make it, though, could you please consider offering your support in one of two other ways:

• make a donation to the team by clicking on the charity donation site www.justgiving.com/teamnambodia, where you can also read more details of the actual trip
• offer something for us to auction on the day - goods or services(!), no matter how big or small.  We’re hoping to make ‘mystery boxes’ of a range of small goods to auction, so we’re happy to get anything, no matter how small…

Please help if you can….a small step for you, but a very sore bum for the lads!!!

• how to apply successfully
• preparation
• successful interviewing

So if you interested in this workshop, and are a member of the IRM, go on to their website  to see if you can book a place (http://www.theirm.org/events/riskforumworkshopsknowledgeexchange.htm).  Alternatively, if you would be interested in hosting a similar workshop in house, leave a note at the foot of this item, and we’ll get back to you.

The four workshops are:

• making a positive difference: the power of personal impact (15 September, am)
• how to negotiate successfully (15 September, pm)
• how to solve problems (16 September, am)
• building a successful team (16 September, pm)

Full details are available on the IRM’s own site, where bookings can be made, at  http://www.theirm.org/courses/Soft_skills_roadshow.htm.  Alternatively, you can leave a request below for more information, or email us at carolinerowlands@etduk.co.uk.

We have arranged a really great deal.  The fee for each workshop is £140, or £250 if you attend both workshops on the same day.   Arnie will be the workshop facilitator. There are only 20 places available for each workshop, and it has been opened up to the whole IRM membership, so if you’re interested, you might want to email your booking straight away…!