THINK Bigg-R

11/07/2024

Is the 1st step bumpier?

Many quote that the first step is always the hardest, hence the saying “to start is to have completed half”.

In my experience, the thing that holds us back is all in our mind, causing us to procrastinate. We suffer more in our imagination than in reality.

We need to overcome the fundamental instinct to take it easy. Many defend inaction in the notion that we should work smarter than harder. Agreed, but we need to work incredibly hard to be smarter.

Getting over the hurdles starts with setting a goal, having purpose and meaning in what we want to achieve, and then focusing on that. We can do anything that we set out to achieve by taking responsibility.

If you struggling to clear that 1st step, the problem is on the inside, don’t fall into the victim trap of blaming others, your environment, your upbringing, or even your genes.

There was a period in my life, some call it a middle-aged crisis (menopause), where I focused on longevity until I realized that it was less about living longer and more about adding life to my years. Suddenly, those 1st steps became a “walk in the park”.

We grow more in discomfort than in comfort. If we don’t start, we are 100% wrong, taking the first step might only be 40% proper, but it is infinitely better than 0%.

Don’t settle, especially when you are younger; keep pushing. Climb the first hurdle for you, other people cannot make you happy. Don’t mask the reasons for not starting, get to the root cause www.thinkbigg-r.com

26/02/2024

PICK UP THE PHONE.

LinkedIn is intended to be a professional and business forum. I think so anyway, yet the content and comments on LinkedIn too often mirror other social media platforms, shallow and with little substance.

Numerous managers publicise their teams’ so-called successes (not substance) in LinkedIn posts or congratulate their teams in the comments section. If these managers genuinely want to congratulate their associates, they would do better calling them directly. A personal interaction goes further, it is genuine and has greater impact.

When I observe such posts and comments, my first thought is that the authors are trying to help themselves, blow their own trumpets, rather than genuinely caring about the associates that they write or comment about. It is like they need external validation, a distorted sense of their own self-worth.

If I genuinely care for, or congratulate someone, I deliver the message in person, or at least outside of the public domain. Practicing real gratitude, nurturing meaningful relationships, and cultivating connections with others is better achieved outside of social media platforms. Online praises are an erosion of empathy.

Another trend is “brown nosing”. Leaders without courage tend to put being liked before being respected. Employees with a still developing inner security, and nurtured under weak leadership, cannot be blamed for “brown nosing”. I learnt the implications of “brown nosing” in boarding school where values and principles were instilled in us from an early age.

We know the significant impact that social media influence has on our thoughts, decisions, and actions. I grew up outside of the rise of the “selfie culture”, which tends to normalize narcissism and has created an obsession with self-image. I do try to understand social media influence and adjust my behaviour to better understand others, but this does not mean my compromise or aligning with improper behaviour.

“I am too old to be quiet”, a quote by Primoz Roglic. I understand the context of his quote, but a better articulation would be “I have too much wisdom to be quiet”.

15/02/2024

Testosterone or oestrogen impacts, or maybe wisdom, our biases change as we age.

https://thinkbigg-r.com/2024/02/15/our-eggs-change-as-we-age/

22/01/2024

Stop whining and get on with it.

I keep hearing how difficult it is for first time home buyers to enter the housing market. The reason, high prices and high interest rates (4-5%). Many had the opportunity to enter the market in 2021 / 2022 when interest rates were practically zero (first world economies). A once in a lifetime gift horse for those intent on buying fixed property.

https://thinkbigg-r.com/2024/01/22/stop-whining-and-get-on-with-it/

16/01/2024

LOST TO THE INTERNET.

In February of every year, I already witness commitments to health span evaporate. The most relevant and proven lifestyle habit to healthy living is physical exercise. Despite this, in the gym that I frequent, February attendance each year is about 40% down vs. January.

Many gym starters can be seen on their mobile phones, scrolling on social media between sets. Technology may have revolutionised our lives, making many things more convenient and efficient, but progress in fitness is a lifelong analog journey.

Progress in fitness cannot be seen or felt at the start, yet the internet has made us accustomed to instant gratification, creating a sense of impatience. This is a big reason that many starters do not stay on the journey, and thus never find their purpose in keeping fit and strong.

I see leadership (my lens) in people’s behaviour much more than I do in any piece of university paper. At the gym I see many investing in a personal trainer yet spending time between sets on their mobile. My way would be to use that rest time to gain knowledge (for free) from the qualified trainer. Productivity was a big part of how I was conditioned.

Furthermore, personal trainers mostly do not call out that internet” behaviour. In my role of leadership coaching, I have honest confrontational interactions even though many would prefer me to reinforce their behaviour, but that does not push great people to be even better.

I love the analog experience of physical exercise, whether in the gym or hiking with others, building meaningful relationships. My mind slows down and is more strategic. I get to appreciate the simple things in life. It is my mediation and source of inspiration for many things. It is my time to unplug from devices and to relish in the moment.

We need balance, a balanced approach to technology, to use technology wisely and responsibly.

09/11/2023

Learn to live with fog in nature, but never accept brain fog. We cannot break ourselves against nature but we can influence a lot in our own lives. Self reflect and be proactive in all those things that are important to you. Do not be impatient because quick fixes are seldom a permanent fix.
www.thinkbigg-r.com

30/10/2023

Cats have 7 lives. We have 2 lives. I started my 2nd life when I realised that I only had 1 life. https://thinkbigg-r.com/2023/07/04/sunrise-not-sunset/

15/09/2023

High inner strength formed out of a foundation of proper principles and values will ensure that no one acts on you. You are not a mirror image of social media.

In the link below; leadership examples in the fiasco playing out at La Vuelta 2023 cycling road race. How we all see the world through a different lens.

https://wordpress.com/post/thinkbigg-r.com/521

26/07/2023

If you are not happy where you are in life, MOVE, you are not a tree. Some habits have shallow roots, others have deep roots, but all habits can be unlearned and new habits learned. With self reflection we can determine what habits need to be unlearned.
Specifically excluded from this perspective are those suffering from depression, they need specialized support in order to heal.
www.thinkbigg-r.com

22/06/2023

https://thinkbigg-r.com/2023/06/20/shackles-to-thinking-bigg-r/

There are many aspects to thinking bigger. Step outside of your culture to see the shackles it has placed on your thinking.  I am specifically referring to cultures of geography, and not the c…

05/06/2023

I have more wisdom, more learning and better health now than ever before. BUT, important is what others say about you and not what you say about yourself.

To me age is just a number, but when I noticed that more and more people started thinking that I was older, it was time to change my sails and focus on a value that I could bring in my next 30 years.

It has been a year since I embarked on leadership mentoring and business consultancy. The focus on others and seeing their positive transformations is my dopamine.

In the first 12 months I focused on in person work sessions, simply because I believed that it was a more effective form of communication, and for creating trust essential to real progress.

After engaging in a number of online sessions I proved to myself that I could be as effective in remote mentoring and consulting; and definitely more efficient.

Today starts and additional phase of my business and leadership support, namely online. Hence starting a page THINK Bigg-R

In the photo is my dad (91), my daughter and my wife.

05/06/2023

I like to observe human behaviour. I learn from it.

I see parents taking their children to tennis coaching lessons. Parents carrying the bags of their children. Then I observe the same parents yelling at their kids and behaving like they want them to be the best. Champions.

What a contradiction. Treating your kids like snowflakes (carrying their bags), and in the next moment expecting those kids to have the mental toughness to progress to stars.

Kids have not changed. We (adults) have changed. We make lives easier for our children, like carrying their sports bags, yet we demand higher achievements from them. Treating children like a prince / princess is no preparation for the realities of the world.

Next time that you think to criticize habits of youth, catch yourself and self-reflect. The problem is always on the inside. Thinking that the problem is on the outside is the problem. Children don’t know anything. Adults are moulding new generations.