The map is not the territory

One of the key NLP presuppositions is that the map is not the territory.

As a seasoned NLP-er that makes sense to me (if you want to know what it means- ask). But doesn't help when I am about to embark on my late summer hols and find that there's no map!

The holiday company have given me an address and a postcode (that's a zip code to my transatlantic friends).

I've tried every which way I know to find one or other or both on the internet. And neither the address, the postcode, nor variations of the same are recognised...

Last time I had real (and I mean REAL) problems locating a holiday home I found myself faced, in the dark and seemingly in the middle of nowhere, by a man with a shotgun. As you might imagine, I scarpered pretty quickly!

Once I found a town and found the gendarmerie closed and no signs of life I was in despair - until I saw a sliver of light from under a window shutter. I couldn't find a door so just hammered like billy-o on the shutter. And am forever grateful for the kind French people who interrupted their Very Posh dinner party to escort (nb - not to give directions, but to lead the way) us to our destination.

I hope that won't be necessary this time. And, if it is, that the natives of the Lakes are as friendly as the natives of the not quite Loire valley.

Meanwhile, I shall ponder what it means to have neither territory nor map....

Veg Talk 4

Regular followers will know that a few months ago my veg patch was a constant source of inspiration for my blog.


And it remains thus - it's just harder to put finger to keyboard when busy with watering, weeding, eliminating (oh, I do so hope I have) powdery mildew and finding yet more recipes to deal with a glut of courgettes. (Hey, I'm not complaining - home-grown courgettes are THE business. And, most recipients of my surplus have been glad - though I am mindful of a website that gave 10 tips for dealing with a surplus and number 9 was placing 2 courgettes on every neighbours' doorstep - and it came with a health warning that this was as good idea until/unless everyone read the same website/had the same idea..)

So, what are my most recent learnings via the veg patch?

• It's good to find other/different ways of packaging things (my courgette chutney is STUNNING!!)
• If you take your eye of the ball - unexpected and sometimes unwelcome things happen ( powdery mildew sucks|)
• People may tell you things are difficult but they aren't necessarily telling the truth (my supposedly hard to grow aubergines have been a BIG success)

And, of course, there's always more.....

Caught between a rock and a hard place

Decision making isn't always easy.

Sometimes it can feel we are caught between a rock and a hard place. My latest ezine article gives a simple - but oh so powerful - set of questions to help untie the knots.

Oh, and by the way, it also includes a link to the story of a young man who was, quite literally, caught between a rock and a hard place and faced with a decision that most of us, thankfully, will never encounter for real.

Live your passion

Not my normal type of post this - and one which I nevertheless hope will help a lot of people, including you.

Click on this link to get details of a free e book (over 200 pages - haven't read beyond the first few yet, so can't vouch for its quality) about living and making a living from your passion. It IS free, And the author, hopes you;ll feel moved to make a donation to one of his passions - supporting homeless children and young people in the States. Get your copy here

Never too old to learn

I've been surprised by quite a few people's reactions when I tell them about my visit to Dans Le Noir (see August 26^th - Kept in the Dark). Quite a number have asked , 'what would you want to do that for?'

Now, while in some ways I'm not always the most adventurous of souls, I do - or so a colleague told me recently (and I think she's spot on) - have what she described as an 'indefatigable capacity to see everything as an opportunity to learn'. And, more than a week later, I am still discovering and processing my learnings from that trip - and indeed from others' responses. (This  capacity has, incidentally, been stretched to its limits this week with my phone/alarm saga - but more on that another time...)

Actually, I think it's a pretty useful quality - consistent with  the NLP presupposition of there being no failure only feedback (and Edison is reputed to have said, of his many unsuccessful attempts to make what we now know as a light bulb, 'I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work')- though recognise that it can be counterproductive to be too gung ho or Pollyanna-ish about it.

Years ago when I assisted on occasional outdoor based training courses for young, high potential ICI recruits, I came across a quote on someone's wall that said 'to know and not to do is not yet to do'. (If you know the provenance of the quote-  please do tell). It's stayed with me all these years because , I think, it goes to the very heart of learning  and draws a distinction between 'head' or theoretical learning and 'embodied' or utilised learning.

So, for me - and I hope for you, a useful question to star tthe day with is 'what did I learn yesterday and what am I going to do as a result?' Note - not what am I going to do differently (although it may be useful to consider that) but simply 'what am I going to do?' This allows for me doing more or less of something. Or the same (because I've learned it works). Or stopping (because I've learned it doesn’t ). The 'anchor music' for my NLP Master Practitioner course was 'What have you done today to make yourself feel proud'. It could equally have been 'What have you learned today to make yourself  feel proud'.

~ Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Not enough hours in the day?

Sound familiar? then have a look at my latest article on ezine- Get more done: 5 quick and easy ways to achieve more. Click here to access.

Oh, and driving home tonight I heard an ad for Christmas party venues - and it's only the 1st September ?!?!? So maybe I need help getting more done in less, time, too !