Hi there,

Happy Monday!

Here is your weekly dose of The Monday 3: a quote, an insight and an action I’m taking.

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A quote I’m pondering

Behind every negative criticism is a good question.

Robert Dilts

An insight from conversation

I was at an Olympian alumni event speaking on a panel about life-after-sport transition. One question was What skills from sport do you think translate into working life?

For me there were two specific soft skills that made a difference.

The first was asking for help. (There’s a dangerous myth in the “self-made person” story. There is no such thing. Everyone has had help along the way.)

As an athlete, I was constantly seeking input from people who knew more than I did about everything from strategy, tactics, skills, physical conditioning, strength, nutrition, psychology… whatever I could find. When I started my first business, it made sense to me to apply the same principle and ask for help from people who knew more than me about business. Incredibly, some of those relationships continue to this day, decades later.

The second is linked to the first: coachability. It’s a skill that every athlete relentlessly trains. The willingness to actively seek out and take feedback and then put it into action as quickly as possible. Coachability is a never ending loop of action, feedback, repeat.

An action I’m taking

I’ll do my annual review this week. I’ve allocated 2 hours to go through a deep dive reflection on the year that has been. I use categories adapted from Professor Kelly G Wilson’s Valued Living Questionnaire to help me reflect rather than a blank page.

The categories are: Family relationships (other than intimate or parenting), Intimate relationships, Parenting, Friends/social life, Work, Finances, Education/training, Recreation/fun, Spirituality, Citizenship/community life, Physical self care (diet, exercise, sleep etc) and Environmental issues.

Each of these I score out of 10 for Importance and another score out of 10 for Current Satisfaction. Then I write down answers to three questions: What worked well? What could be improved? What might I do differently next year?

I find it a great way to get closure on the year and crystallise the most important lessons. It also helps me intentionally make the most of the upcoming break.

(You can access a free PDF worksheet for it here if you’d like to do the same.)

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Is there one of these that really stood out for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions too.

I hope you have a great week ahead.

With love,

Toby

Performance Coach, Speaker and Author

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