It is said that he became inspired to create one of his immensely powerful theories of relativity by imagining he was riding a light beam i.e. imagining that he was travelling at the speed of light and what the implications might be. This imagination has led to much in our expansion of science and the technological applications that make our modern world work for us. Now, this post isn’t necessarily about science, but it is about the power of IVI:

1. Imagination – the dream, maybe without proof of viability yet
2. Vision – the refined dream with definition, resources and structure for it’s achievement – the plan.
3. Innovation- the ‘doing’ part, taking action to realize the vision – the roll out.

Question. So, why is this so critical ?

Answer. Because no idea/product or style of service remains unique for long, especially with even faster technological communication continually developing. Because to retain a strong and sustainable market position your business needs to have an ideas /creativity centre at its core.

What are you doing to ensure your market position?

Take stock of your ‘ideas factory’ and begin to (or extend) your capacity to implement the IVI Solution. Study major companies like McDonalds and Apple. Having a strong ‘fresh ideas’ focus is the main reason for their current sustainability. You can do the same, within your budget and with the time and resources that you have.

It’s not about dollars invested, it’s about imagination utilized.

Here’s how it goes (briefly):
1. Stimulus/Response – the almost ‘knee jerk’ response at the time of the decision producing a
2. Reaction – the consequence of the initial decision “sinking in” which in turn causes
3. Deeper Impact – more broad impact, usually not directly thought of/understood at the time of the initial decision

Here’s a real life example :
A particular industry group recently held their conference in a facility with a restaurant. During the lunch two of the participants commented that their meals were tough and quite unenjoyable, and although they ate the meals, they decided to give feedback to the wait staff, for the purpose of genuinely assisting them to improve the meal standard. This was different from a ‘whinge fest’. They were not going to request a refund, just give feedback in a respectful way.

When the feedback was given, the waiter commented that if they didn’t like their meals they should have said so before the meals were eaten, and he was quite adamant on that point. The participants reiterated their feedback and intention, and this conversation was heard by the table of conference diners. It was later found out that the restaurant owner who had recently taken out the lease of the restaurant, was cutting costs by insufficiently training his staff (and possibly having poorer quality food). He had hoped by ‘short-cutting’ to increase his profits in the initial stages.

What a ‘classic’ example of lack of Three Deep Thinking©.
The restaurant owner’s mistake came with Step 1 – he was acting to make immediate cost cuts. Then Step 2 kicked in. The reaction of the cost cuts was lack of adequate training/or selection of experienced staff who reacted inappropriately to customer feedback. Step 3, the Deeper Impact was considerable, the conference attendees at that table said that the service and general quality of the dining experience was not adequate.

They would recommend that the industry body select another venue for future meetings. It was not only the loss of this group that was the deeper impact to the restaurant, but it was also the potential loss of this group as a center of referral to other groups. The conference center – which was a different business to the restaurant also lost out, so the further impact was on another entirely separate but affiliated business.

So, what to do? Consider the short term decision from the Three Deep Thinking© model implications and ‘future proof’ your immediate decisions from negative consequences .

I would encourage that Three Deep Thinking be explored in your business as an integral strategy.
________________________________________________________________________________
Tric Gibson can personally conduct Three Deep Thinking © sessions on site.
Please contact for enquiries.

• Knowing (being clear) what you want – your goal
• Communicating (clearly) what you want
• Receiving what you want

If you only have a ‘vague’ idea about something, it will be difficult for any of the three steps above to be achieved.  As an example, let’s look at a goal that most of us have stated we want – success.

Over the years I have asked many people what success means to them, each individual will give a different answer.  Most will not have clarified or defined what their own success is about. Here are three tips for clarity:

1. The more specifically you can think and feel about your goal ‘picture’, the more you will be able to look out for the resources and opportunities which will support that goal achievement.
2. If your goal is a long term one, then having  clarity of a general nature can be useful, e.g.you might want to retire by the ocean in 20 years time, but you may not specifically know which beach, what type of house etc
3. However, the more short-term the goal the more clear and specific your ideas should be e.g. At the meeting next month I’ll present in the meeting room for 20 minutes, using visual aids and I will invite the six members of red sales team  and specifically address the issues of….

It’s OK to feel  discontent. This is the way that change happens.

If we didn’t feel that something could be improved we might miss out on the opportunity to look for a better way to do it.  To explain this more I’ll distinguish between what I’ll call “positive discontent” and compare that to unhappiness.

Positive discontent means that you:

• Have an awareness that something is not quite right or could be better and you
• Are engaged and active in the solution process
• Believe that you are in your power enough  to  achieve a better outcome

Unhappiness  generally means that you are more likely to feel:

• Demotivated
• Powerless
• Uncertain that anything can change for the better

Unhappiness produces a feeling of being ‘stuck’  and that’s part of the problem. There’s not much vision about a better future, whereas  positive discontent is not stuck at all. It’s a transition phase which stimulates your energy to move forward.

1. Look at your beliefs about money.
2. Take the time and write down the beliefs about money that you know have influenced you/are influencing you now.
3. You most probably learned them from parents, business models and people with whom you mix.

My beliefs about money

Belief #1  ________________________________________________
Belief #2 ________________________________________________
Belief #3 ________________________________________________

Writing your beliefs about money down is a great strategy because:

• In order to write something down you have to translate it from a feeling to a through – into words- this adds clarity.
• Once out of your head and on paper, you can look at it more objectively and then decide whether this a limiting belief or an empowering belief for achieving your goals.

Your beliefs about money will be directly related to your self esteem around money, and this links us right up to the first point in this article – the You and Money equation. Here are some equations with limiting beliefs that I have assisted clients to work with and positively change:

Money = Self Worth

• Earning  less money than my partner = I am not as valuable in the relationship

• Earning  less money = I do not have as much control

• Earning  less money = I am not as smart /have enough potential

• Earning  less money = I am not as free/my choices are limited

Here are some equations with empowering  beliefs that some of my clients have chosen to take on as their true belief:

Money does not =my self worth

I am not my money and my money is not me.

I have the capacity to create new opportunities, no matter what the current situation  (of the business, family or world finances). My real work is to feel abundant, know what it will be like to have the financial goal I desire and then ACT AS IF I were already experiencing the outcome. My better feeling, and attitude will energize me to complete the action steps required to put my financial plan into place and achieve my goal.

To finish up this post here is a wonderful quote :

“Lack of money is no obstacle.
Lack of an idea is an obstacle”.
Ken Hakuta

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com

We are currently blasted with fear based talk about the economy. In a way we are a bit like our car. We do not put unclean or poor quality petrol in our car – unheard of.  Yet, we put poor quality messages into our conscious and sub-conscious when we over focus on news and messages of limitation.

Now, I can hear some of you thinking: “we live in the real world, we need to know what is going on, and financial losses have been suffered due to the current circumstances”. Yes you do live in the real world, and the solution is to stay optimistic enough to allow new thoughts and creative ideas to come to you so that :
YOU are the creative force behind the real world you want and you create.
You can live in your world where you believe that you can make your business /family finances a success and find ways to act on that belief, whilst acknowledging that some of the outside world is having a different financial experience and different beliefs.

You can:

• Acknowledge and
• Notice and
• Not let outside circumstances have Impact on your
• Beliefs and Actions of Success.

It has been proven in Brain Based Leadership Studies, that a stressed person has less capacity to remember, organize and produce (even with tasks that they know how to do) that when not stressed. So literally ‘use your brain’, know how to get the best from it, and that means look for the opportunity, even within a challenge.

This will assist not only your capacity to come up with the new good idea, it will also allow you to process it and organize yourself and your resources so that you can carry out your plan and get a result. Even in the worst of times, people thrive and some even build empires.

The difference is not about the money they have or have lost.
The difference between thriving and falling is your attitude and the beliefs you carry about money.

Your beliefs are your biggest influencer.

We have all heard the following beliefs:

• Money doesn’t grow on trees
• You have to work hard to get money
• Nothing is for free
• What I enjoy now I’ll pay for later etc. etc.

These beliefs come under the category of LIMITING beliefs, and they are all FEAR based.  It is impossible to have optimism, hope and fear and restriction at the same time. Which do you choose? Does this mean that we ignore responsible behavioyr – for example – spending what is a responsible amount on the business expansion?

Absolutely not.

More money talk in my next post. Stay tuned.

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com

Whether you are in business or it is a personal anxiety, money is one of the most emotive subjects on the planet. Most marriage and relationship breakdowns cite money differences as a significant element in the discord. Similarly in business partnerships – if you can’t agree how to run the money then most other things are irrelevant to the business success.

So is the answer to have the skills to make everyone else involved in our money matters operate as we would? I would be lying if I said that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but then at various times throughout my life’s journey, so have other impossible and unhelpful ideas.

Money is such an interesting topic, because it is like a microcosm – your world in one subject – and usually represents how we operate on many other levels and on other topics. Therefore, it is important to take an objective look at the foundational ways in which you relate to money.  These considerations are relevant for business and personal life.

What meaning does money have for you?

Many people believe: Money = Self Worth

This equation represents one of the greatest mistakes in thinking and believing.

It directly links your financial position to your worth as a human being.

Sometimes in a business or personal partnership, an higher earning individual may believe that his or her own wishes are more important and should be given preference, due to the fact that they provide greater $ contribution. Now, incentives work well – produce more income and receive the benefits eg a car, trips etc. It is not incentives that I’m talking about. It is a personal belief that someone is a better person or more intrinsically worthy due to income status.

This ‘crazy’ equation causes havoc when the income is decreased also.

How many times has a woman who reduces her income to raise a family feel that she doesn’t have the same ‘esteem’ and ‘rights’ in the household decisions about money.  Equally, a man who is financially contributing to the family can feel enormous stress and threat to his manhood if he is made redundant or takes a lesser wage, as he often feels that he is letting the family down.

For either party this can lead to stress symptoms or even depression.

More on the money topic in my next blog post. Stay tuned.

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”

Celebration is the genesis of our feeling of:

• Fulfilment
• Satisfaction and
• Accomplishment

We must have experienced celebrating something in order to feel that delicious satisfaction of a job well done. Celebration is not only for the conclusion of something, it is the essence and spirit of being able to appreciate many things in your business and life, and being able to do so even if the situation is not pleasing. In this case it is possible to celebrate the great opportunity to take feedback and choose a more effective or profitable business path.

A great business is built on relationships. Many businesses have good services and products, but the difference between those businesses and the truly great ones is the quality of relationships. Staff who feel valued are more likely to be loyal, take fewer sick days and really promote the business. Clients who feel that they are part of a business which celebrates the value of themselves as a client will be loyal, repeat customers who refer others to the business. They become a raving fan.

This is the result of the spirit of celebration in the business, and the flow on profit and life benefits are massive.
Celebration leads right back to compassion, which looks objectively at the circumstance and begins the exciting cycle again anew.

Wishing you celebration, and cycles of business and personal abundance.

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com

“The plain fact is that there are no conclusions”

So then, we come to the paradox of the conclusion. Once we have taken the feedback and enfolded it into the next level of the business plan or life process, we have:

• Concluded the first phase and
• Begun a new development, proving that
• There can never be a finality in the evolution of a life in business or in personal areas and you have decided to :
• Enjoy the process of the flow of creative energy and rest and restart.

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com

“There is no failure. Only feedback.”

Do…
Review…
Do…
Review…
Do…
Review…

Take note of the effect your planning has achieved. Look at the results and feel the difference. Put into place strategies to get calibration or feedback from yourself and others involved in your business/life plan. Ask your friends, clients, staff, colleagues, consultants, marketing colleagues. Whoever you feel should know how you are performing. Ask questions such as:

• Have I achieved what I set out to do?
• What could be improved?
• How could it be improved?
• What was the best part of the eg. buying experience?
• What additional or different eg. buying experiences would the client enjoy?
• What does this achievement now cause me to consider for the future?
• Whom could I affiliate with to expand my marketplace?

“Without feedback we have no idea where we are”

Tric Gibson is a Psychologist and Communications Expert, with over 30 years experience, who specializes in creating and delivering trainings/mentoring both as an Executive Coach and in Group and Corporate Training Settings. Tric ensures your personal and corporate success, skill, confidence and enjoyment for all your speaking and presentation requirements. Tric can be contacted on 0407 876 867 or contact her via www.tricgibson.com