If you're avoiding dealing with a problem, if you're ignoring your problem and hoping it will go away there's three unintended, hidden and huge costs to you by you doing that. This short video demonstrates the huge drain on energy putting your head in the sand is and therefore conveys metaphorically how much effort ignoring […]
The special series of my Landscaping your Life with Alison Smith podcast going live this week aligns with the Chelsea flower show and talks you through the seven keys to having a buzzing life. (You can listen to the podcast here - spotify / apple.) If you're wanting a copy of the article with more […]
A healthy and flourishing garden is one that is also buzzing with life – with regular visits from bees and other pollinators to maintain its beauty. In this article I’ll be exploring what insights we can take from how to have a beautiful garden buzzing with life, and apply them to having a life that […]
This image shows the insight from a Landscaping Your Life walk someone went on here in Fife when they were feeling demotivated and lacking direction: Next time you go for a walk notice what you notice about the patterns around you. It's a really simple process If you'd like to find out more about going […]
I'm never one to pass by a metaphor in a clients language. Not least because they're a quick and easy means of exploring a situation, and finding a wide range of potential solutions. (Here's a more recent video on the subject although the notes below take the exploration in a different direction) For example, if […]
A post from the archives written in April 2020, only a few weeks into the first lockdown, and ahead of a virtual webinar for Future Purchasing, a procurement consultancy I'm an associate for, that was recorded. As I launch my new website I realise it's as relevant today as it was then and so decided […]
In recent posts from the archives I've looked at understanding your own values, how values can get too big for their boots, why values don't inherently drive right behaviour and why I think business values don't really exist. Which will certainly help you to understand what motivates you, how you can use values to motivate […]
Values are what drive all our behaviours. What values aren’t - are things we decide or even choose to have ie they’re not conscious they’re unconscious. See my previous post for more on personal values. The challenge is can we translate personal values into business values? In this post from the 2015 archives I explore […]
"Live your values" "make your values real" can be heard often in organisations and on LinkedIn posts. I don't disagree with the sentiment - because the sentiment assumes that acting with integrity and being authentic will ensure right doing rather than wrong doing. I fear however that the assumption is wrong - and here's why […]
I wonder if have uttered any of the following about others in the past: They're lazy They just don't respect me They're dishonest They're just not focused enough They treat some people so differently They're selfish They're too wishy washy They just never finish anything They talk all the time They don't talk enough What […]
