18.01.2023

Delayed Gratification and Boredom | Wait | The Effort You Don’t See

Hello there! Welcome to my weekly LEAPS. 

You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly Wednesday feature or our mailing list. Every Wednesday, I share 5 things using our LEAPS approach: 

Learn: something new or an idea
Energy: something that’s creating an energy and positive impact
Action: something to do
Processing: a question to consider
Shout out: something or someone that I want to celebrate or acknowledge

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and received your free report?

LEARN
Something Worth Sharing

Delayed Gratification and Boredom

We have all become used to things being ‘instant’ - to watching ‘on demand’ and ‘box sets’. We want everything now and immediately at our finger tips. The binge-watching we tend to do removes our ability to delay gratification and save watching episodes of TV shows. Gone are the days of having to wait for a week to see the next episode of something. Being able to take on debt has a similar impact - in this example, gone are the days of saving up and looking forward to the point to have enough money for an item. We are sacrificing the important lessons, apprehension, excitement and sense of pride - of saving and waiting - for instant gratification.

Waiting provides rewards - simple. I wish we could slow down a little, build space and the ability to fully process, whether that’s enjoying a great meal with lovely company or when watching TV shows. Research shows that waiting and ‘boredom’ have huge benefits to our mental well-being. Boredom, for example, can simulate creativity and problem-solving, while giving the brain time to recharge. We are all always ‘on’ and alert - ready to respond, ready to watch, ready for on-demand and now. My best ideas come while out walking on my own - without listening to music or podcasts - by just being out in nature alone with my thoughts.

ENERGY
Focusing on an emotion or positive energy; a stand-out word / s

WAIT

The word originated from Old French GAITIER meaning "defend, watch out, be on one's guard; lie in wait for". When we ‘wait’ we usually need a signal to break that stage and proceed. Just think of crossing the road and pressing the button at a pedestrian crossing. In life, we often fail to wait sufficiently, and go steaming ahead without patience or any ability to: ‘defend, watch out and be on guard’.

ACTION
Something small that you can do that might make a big difference

Sit in Boredom

See if you can sit for just 5 minutes doing nothing. Use your phone as a timer and allow yourself to just sit - not meditating, not doing anything! Imagine you’re in a waiting room and just sitting looking ahead.

Once the timer goes off, think about how uncomfortable you may have been or how challenging it was. It was just 5 minutes. If you’re up for a challenge, try this each day for a week - even increase to 7 minutes and then 10. Boredom requires acceptance of the state!

PROCESSING
A question to think about and consider (you can discuss this with someone or write your thoughts down)

“How can you grow?”

We learn so much at school - some useful things and some not so much, but the real learning and growth happens away from formal education. The question this week is not just about learning, but in a more general way: GROWTH. In what ways can you be deliberate about your growth? Whether this is physical, emotional or investment. What comes to mind when you see this question?

SHOUT OUT
Who / what I think deserves recognition, my gratitude or to be celebrated.

The Work and Effort You Don’t See

Having been extremely privileged to once again see Cirque Du Soleil in London at the weekend, I was once more in awe of the strength, skills and professionalism of everyone involved. Thanks to Instagram, I took a peek at the profiles of some of the acrobats and artists that appeared in the production. WOW! Many of their profiles consisted of the training that sits behind these beautiful performances. It reminded me of how often we only see the performance and fail to appreciate what has gone into achieving this - often over many years. People often see #success - without all of the work and effort that has been required to achieve it.

This shout out is to all of the unseen - and often unacknowledged - work and effort required to achieve.

BONUS GIFT FOR YOU
This week’s little extra for you - from me

This week, I’m recommending the book Deep Work by Cal Newport - and I’m gifting you the visual synopsis I created for it.

The visual below is available to you for free (for 7 days) using code: CONNECTIVITY when you check out. Access is via the link below.

The artwork featured in this section is all copyrighted and for private use only. If you wish to use these online, in blogs / features or in presentations etc - we are happy to discuss licences. Please get in touch. The downloads do not have watermarks.

If you’d like to discuss having your ideas, business or culture captured visually - you can also let me know via email.

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DELIBERATE: The Story Behind the GLAS Method

LEAPS is a process used by our team and clients all the time - and even my own family on a daily basis. 

I’ll be sharing a set of LEAPS each week with you and encourage you to do your own version:

• L: what have you learned?

• E: what’s your energy / feeling word

• A: what’s one thing you need to do?

• P: what are you thinking / processing?

• S: who or what can you shout out?