Greetings beautiful people,
Happy May to you all! It is the month for moms as Mother’s Day approaches – So from me, a special hello to all you moms! As I write this I am listening to beautiful rain and thunder, the latter which is a rarity in this part of the world, and a sound I do miss from my days in JHB. The fire is lit and it’s a perfect moment for me to share what is happening here at DGT.
Diane and her team of “techies” have been working nonstop on our DGT website. I have had a few glimpses on what she and her team have been doing and it’s going to be “wow”! I will let Diane chat more around this.
We have also been having great fun setting up the Personal Magnetism Program, which is free to all our subscribers. All that is required if you wish to join, is to email Diane@dgt.co.za and she will invite you to join the closed Facebook Group set up for this program. It includes a host of information, tools and tips that will enhance your magnetism. It is never too late to join as you can catch up easily.
One of our End Results down the line, is to take Beyond Thinking program online. Beyond Thinking is our flagship program and is a brainchild of both Diane and myself that first began over a cup of coffee many years ago. Since then it has evolved into something very special for both of us.
How Beyond Thinking began, was itself something of a story. Back then, I had been delivering some conventional soft skill workshops, and my passion for teaching wanted to go beyond the traditional forms of soft skills training. The big “why” or vision for me personally was to share what I had learned through my own life experiences that contributed to a holistically improved way of life in both personal and professional capacities, and to do this in a way that challenged the status quo of delivering standard courses.
In addition, I wanted to deliver something that was highly practical and “connected the dots”. Through my training experience I had noticed how the individual soft skill programs such as EQ management, communication skills, problem solving skills, stress management etc. were all interconnected but usually delivered as standalone courses, leaving out these valuable connections. I wanted to provide a practical foundation that told the “whole story” of how these relationships worked and why it was so important to connect these dots. I remember, that whilst incorporating this idea into my personal vision work, I noticed this little “self-doubter” within me shaking his head in the background – it was a tall order!
The thing was, that whilst I had the “Why” of what I wanted to do, I had no real idea of the detailed “How’s” or “What’s” I needed to put into the course. One day, Di came to me and said she had a name for the course – Beyond Thinking – and that would I commit to having something within in two months when we would run our first two day Beyond Thinking course, as there was no time like “now” to begin – after all vision and no action remains a dream. I heard my outer voice say “yes, I’ll do it!” but my inner voice (That little self-doubter again!) was screaming “What if you don’t come up with something in the two months”. I think I tried very hard to give Di this very brave “of course I can do it” look and went home to panic!
That next day I sat staring at my lap top, feeling overwhelmed. I think I spent the first two days typing two sentences. Then on the third day I simply started at a point, and it began to flow. The “how” and “what” I was going to do in Beyond Thinking began to form on the pages slowly but surely. They came to me, I did not go looking for them. The burning “why” in me, the “why” I was doing this, pulled me through the muddy patches of self-doubt and the many other fears that were desperately trying to keep me in safety, and hold me back.
I spent 6 weeks writing as the connections came through quicker and faster. By the time that first Beyond Thinking started I had “Beyond Thinking V.1” ready and edited by Di and the team. To my relief, I felt that at least, I wouldn’t stand in front of my students looking like a guppy fish at feeding time! The thing was, would it make a difference?…and so that little self-doubter visited me again!
I must confess, I do look back at those first two days in comparison to where the course is now and I have a smile. I have learned so much and this will never stop – The saying “When one teaches, two learn” is very true for me. Synchronicity played its part on the first course, as it has throughout the life of the program. On the first Beyond Thinking I had an influential leader from one of our clients who loved the course. She asked me to extend it one more day as it was too intense for two days, and asked if I would provide it to her graduates on a leadership program to be run in the next few months. By the time I was standing in front of the graduates, the course had evolved to version 2 in a short period. They then referred the course to their peers and it grew exponentially from there. We are currently on Beyond Thinking V.10 and there will be more versions to come.
I will declare, the joy I have working with students on this program adds so much more meaning to my life and I never stop learning with them in class. It is a sacred privilege, being in the class amongst them and with them, as a fellow student of life.
So, my dear friends, I shall leave you with this wonderful Chinese proverb which I feel embodies Beyond Thinking:
With Love
Colin and the DGT team