Imagination

By Andy | September 4, 2022 |

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein. The Oxford Dictionary defines imagination as the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality. It could also be expressed as the ability to think of new and interesting…

Delegation

By Andy | May 11, 2022 |

“From a young age, I learned to focus on the things I was good at and delegate to others what I was not good at. That’s how Virgin is run. Fantastic people throughout the Virgin Group run our businesses, allowing me to think creatively and strategically.” Richard Branson. Delegation could be thought of as giving…

Written Communication

By Andy | September 29, 2021 |

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” Tony Robbins. I’ve been inspiring children to write and teaching them these skills for many years. One of the greatest experiences teaching young children to…

Decision Making

By Andy | November 24, 2020 |

“Good household decision-making often relies on thinking about your household like a firm.” Emily Oster. Think quick – make a choice now! We have all been in this situation many times before. When we are competent with something, like riding a bike, making a split-second decision can come naturally to us. However, when we are…

Critical Thinking

By Andy | August 21, 2020 |

“Economists who have studied the relationship between education and economic growth confirm what common sense suggests: The number of college degrees is not nearly as important as how well students develop cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving ability.” Derek Bok. Critical thinking could be defined as the process of gathering information and analysing…

Teamwork & Collaboration

By Andy | June 15, 2020 |

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, take others with you.” Native American Indian saying. Teamwork or collaboration, what’s the difference? Some people may say that teamwork is when individuals work in isolation to achieve a team goal whereas collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. There…

Making Requests

By Andy | March 10, 2020 |

“Making a request is much more powerful than asking a favour.” Andy McNeilly. Making a request in its simplest form is just asking someone for something. However, the person asking someone to do something may be waiting for a long time for their request to be fulfilled if the request doesn’t have a ‘by when’…

Patience

By Andy | November 18, 2019 |

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tsu. Patience may be defined as the ability to accept delays without becoming annoyed, and remaining calm. It may help us to persevere with something when we experience difficulties, to continue without complaining. I have noticed that patient people tend to be calmer and more relaxed.…

Forming Relationships

By Andy | October 21, 2019 |

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Jung. I looked up many definitions for the word ‘relationship’ regarding human beings, and the one common thread was ‘connection’. There were three main connections defined; through blood, through marriage or an emotional…

Resilience

By Andy | September 12, 2019 |

“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” Gever Tulley. During our lives, we will all often experience times when things become challenging or difficult. It can be said that many of these experiences help us to grow. However, some of these times can prove to be…

Self-Awareness

By Andy | August 12, 2019

“To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.”  Lao Tzu Self-awareness may be defined as being aware of one’s own feelings and qualities. It may be knowing who we are so that we can understand how others see us. Being self-aware could…

Growth Mindset

By Andy | June 11, 2019

“There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet.” Sheila Tobias Growth mindset could be defined as one’s ability to believe in themselves, to grow and develop through dedication and hard work. Some people may have had an experience or been told something in their past and then started to take this into…

Staying Calm

By Andy | May 8, 2019

“Mistakes and pressure are inevitable; the secret to getting past them is to stay calm.” Travis Bradberry. Remaining calm when things start to get busy or stressful can be a wonderful skill to have. It may mean we appear not to be nervous, angry or to show any other strong emotions. Staying calm might be…

Respecting Differences

By Andy | March 12, 2019

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” Stephen Covey Every human being is different. We all look different, think differently and have different beliefs. Often, what you believe or what is important to you may have been taught to you from your elders or your peers, or you may have learned them from the environment…

Creativity

By Andy | February 4, 2019

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.” Steve Jobs I often…

Empathy

By Andy | December 10, 2018

“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.” Daniel H. Pink Some people may describe empathy as being the ability to feel what someone else is…

Gratitude

By Andy | December 7, 2018

  “He who knows he has enough is rich.” Lao Tzu Gratitude could be described as the quality of being thankful. Being grateful for something may help us to become connected with the present; not wishing for something from the future or not thinking about the past. There may be many benefits to us of…