November 05 Stress Busters: Winston Churchill Issue

In This Month's Newsletter
Thought For The Day
Did You Know?
30-Second Stress Buster
News And Offers

Thought For The Day
"The empires of the future are the empires of the mind." Sir Winston Churchill, speech at Harvard University, September 6, 1943. British politician (1874 - 1965) who led the UK through the Second World War.

Did You Know?

• That it is Sir Winston Churchill's birthday on 30th November?
• He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953, although it was an open secret that he would have preferred the Nobel Peace Prize.
• In school Churchill was at the bottom of his class. And Isaiah Berlin said, "Nothing showed that he would become the largest human being of our time".
• He was a great motivator and often hailed as a great example of a leader. Through the dark times of war, he still managed to inspire and uplift a whole nation. He understood the power of the mind, and the internal battle that goes on between optimism and negativity.

• Are you in charge of motivating a team?
• Are you working through a 'tough' time, or a difficult project that is creating stress?
• Are you interested in how your thoughts and your words affect your outlook, and that of the people with whom you are dealing?

Sir Winston understood that our souls or our inner dialogue drives our fate. Have you ever worked with someone who only ever saw the problems with everything that you ever presented, and who said "we tried that once and it didn't work?" That person will fulfil their beliefs because when your project reaches sticking points, instead of helping you look for alternatives or ways around it, he or she usually says "I told you so".

It is easy to see this behaviour in other people, but are we immune to it ourselves? Are we de-motivating people around us? Are our projects difficult because we expect them to be so?

One of the first steps to changing our negative thought patterns, and therefore actions, is to become aware of our types of thoughts. Here is an interesting 30-second stress buster to try: -

• Sit upright with the spine self supported, and away from the back of the chair, have your eyes downcast or closed.
• Breathe comfortably in and out of your belly.
• Wait for a thought to arise...
• When it does so, catch it at the beginning (there is no need to follow it or get involved with it), simply observe what type of thought it is. Give it a label if you need to, and then put the thought on one side.
• Wait for another thought. Observe what is happening in your body while you are waiting for another thought.
• After 30 seconds or so, become aware of your immediate environment again, and raise or open your eyes.

• For more 30-second stress buster exercises that you can do at your desk, see our archived newsletters on our website.

• Open Conference: Are you interested in attending a one day conference, or do you have a team member who you think would benefit? In March and April 2006 we will be touring the country with a programme packed full with incredible speakers, practical exercises and useful tips and information about managing stress at work. Contact us for more details or look out for the advertising in the New Year, jillb@zenatwork.com.au
• Morale Boosters For Your Team: Are you organising a social function for the festive season? Looking for something different, which is fun, and memorable? We have experienced Laughter Leaders based all over the country who are guaranteed to get your group laughing without the need to resort to jokes. They can teach simple laughter exercises that help improve health and well-being as well as morale. Contact us for more details.
• Packages: Do you have regular training or team meetings? Several clients ask us to come in regularly and present on a number of topics and so we have pulled together a bi-monthly package of topics for internal training. Seminars include Sleeplessness, Exercises to Revive In Five, More Stress Busters, Nutrition At Work, Anger Management, Desk Based Exercises and Ergonomics, Laughter Workshop and Concentration Skills.

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