Museletter - October 2004

My News 

Last weekend I assisted on an Essence course. For those of you unfamiliar with the course, Essence is the second of three personal development programmes run by the Outlook Training Organisation. I took the Outlook course in July 1996 and it changed my life. It was the catalyst for my career change. It has helped me grow as a human being in ways that I couldn't have dreamed possible 10 years ago. I have committed to learning to run the Essence course, a process that will take a huge commitment and some years to fulfill, but I believe that it will be good for me, and I am passionate about Outlook, and I am keen to contribute to it's continuing success. If you are interested in personal development and want to know more, please feel free to contact me, or log on to www.outlookcompany.com The website is temporary but you can link to the Spanish and Israeli sites which have similar information.

My Muse

One of the key tenets of the Essence course is excellence, and I had an amazing opportunity to test this myself last weekend. But what is excellence? How can we measure it? And how do we know if our efforts produce excellence or merely adequate results?

Many of us confuse excellence with perfection. That's a dangerous place to go. Perfection doesn't exist; because invariably we could always do something better, and we could drive ourselves mad if perfection is the standard we set for ourselves. But excellence is achievable, and hugely satisfying when we attain it.

So picture the scene; It's Saturday morning and we are ready to start the first session. All the participants are seated and I walk to the front of the room. As I'm walking purposefully, something catches my eye and I look to the right, next thing I know I walk smack into one of the pillars in the room! As I stagger about, I take off my glasses, and discover that blood is spurting, not merely dripping, from the side of my face. I'm taken from the room, and Fee, our 1st aider informs me that I have a cut about 1cm long and 5mm deep. She applies some steri strips and the team insist I go to hospital. Some new NHS steri strips are applied and I'm discharged, and we're back to the course.

Now I know that the cut's deep but taken care of, I become aware that my head hurts! A lot! And I feel sick in my stomach which I suppose is shock and I can't think too clearly. (No change there then, I hear you say!)

If I would have been at home when this happened I know that I would have spent the rest of the day lying down on the couch, remote control in hand, being looked after. But this was Essence, and on Essence we give 100%, and so I went back into the room, because I had work to do and I would hate not to have given my all.

But it did make me wonder how often I do quit on a standard of excellence because something happens. I might have a cold or some ache or pain, or I'm put in a bad mood by some external occurrence. And then I'm letting myself down and all those around me who are affected by my behaviour.

And what about you? How often do you perform to the standard of excellence? How would your life improve if you cut out some excuses and got on with whatever needed doing? Let's make November the month we raise the bar on ourselves and enjoy the results!

Book Recommendation

McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

I don't normally recommend a book that I haven't finished reading, but I am really enjoying reading this very funny book. Pete McCarthy goes in search of his Celtic soul trying to discover whether he is English, because he was born here, or Irish as his grandparents and other ancestors were. As he travels around he observes life in the old country and recalls it in such a way that I laughed out loud on many occasions. Here's an example:

Once you cross the Shannon - even though geographically you have only come a short distance - different rules of time apply, and most people still understand the crucial secret of human happiness: that it's better to do a few things slowly, than a lot of things fast.

I find myself contemplating this eternal truth as I sit becalmed behind an impressive quantity of steaming pigshit on the road from Westport to Knock.

Sadly, Pete McCarthy died on October 6th, so I'm savouring the book, and knowing that I've got his second book still to read, The Road to McCarthy.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the book.

To buy the book click here

 

Opportunity to Contribute:
I want to plug the Joely Bear Blood Day again, as it's on November 14th

Here's what I said last month:

Good News this month! An opportunity to contribute that won't cost you a penny!

I would like you to consider blood donation. The thousands of medical operations performed every day cannot be performed without blood supplies, which come from donations. New rules introduced by the blood transfusion service means that many recent donors are now not eligible to donate and so supplies may well be affected.

Friends of mine run regular blood donation days in the Elstree area, and the next one in on November 14th. More info from www.joelybear.org.uk or if you can't wait that long, log on to the Nation Blood Transfusion Service on www.blood.co.uk to find out where the nearest suitable place you can donate.