Alyceum

Igniting Leaders, Inspiring Revolutions

Alicia Curtis

Be More Productive with this One Key Skill

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Imagine if I could give you a magic pill that had the ability to make you happier, healthier, foster stronger relationships, enhance your career, deal with stress and conflict and even help you live longer – would you take it? Of course, right? What if I told you, you could have access to all these things without a pill?

How?

It is all about strengthening your willpower.

What is willpower?

Simply, it is the ability to decide and initiate action. It’s about being able to control your impulses and decide on the most empowered action you can take. How good are you at controlling your attention, emotions and actions?

Ok, I agree it’s not easy in the world we live in. The reality is that we live in a noisy, distracted, emotionally charged world, that drives terrible behaviours where:

  • multitasking is the norm
  • we are addicted to our phones and to social media
  • There are constantly multiple tabs open on our computer screens.
  • we can’t sit, be still, clear our minds or be without our phones without making people anxious!

The bad news is this noise weakens our willpower. It’s our kryptonite. Not good for us.

The good news is that scientists have found that willpower is like a muscle, you can strengthen it with practice. You can start with really small ways to build your willpower. Even the smallest practices of self discipline start to build our willpower muscle.

It’s the habit of noticing what you are about to do and choosing to do the more difficult thing instead of the easiest. It’s about slowing down and asking yourself “What would my most empowered self choose to do here?”.

I’m talking about the most simplest of things to begin with. For example, putting your clothes and shoes away at night, making the bed in the morning, going for a run or eating the healthier option at the cafe. Every time you do this, you are strengthening your willpower muscle, just like working out at the gym.

Think of it as having two different people in your head:

1. Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – who lives for the moment, wants instant gratification and has no self control.
2. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter – who is a level headed person, who can delay gratification to achieve bigger goals and stay calm in chaos.

Each day, these two voices in your head debate the smallest to the largest willpower challenges you are faced with. Can you resist instant gratification for longer term rewards?

3 Strategies to Develop your Willpower

1. Pause and Plan

When you’re faced with a choice, rather than racing into action, consider the options carefully. Think about it for a moment. Take three deep breaths and think about the long term gain of taking the harder option. Listen to Aretha Franklin’s classic song, Think:

You better think (think)
Think about what you’re trying to do to me
Think (think, think)
Let your mind go, let yourself be free

What’s truly the best decision to be made? What would your best self do?

2. Make it easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing

If you want to go exercise in the morning, what can do do to set yourself up for success? You can set your alarm, you can get your clothes and shoes ready and put them next to your bed, you can arrange to go with a friend so it makes it hard for you to back out. Set yourself up for success.

Consider other good habits that you want to set up in your life – eating healthily at work, banishing time spent on social media. How can you pre-commit to making the right decision and give yourself no other option than to succeed?!

3. Track your progress, make it visual and fun

Get focused on the habits needed for you to achieve your goals. Think about one habit you can do for the next 30 days. Chart your progress or get a friend to help. And hey, even if you miss a day, get back on the horse straight away (recommitting is as important as starting) and make sure you complete your habit the very next day. Monitoring your progress improves your willpower and is also motivating.

It can make an incredible difference in your life

As Kelly McGonigal, author of The Willpower Instinct says “Self-control is a better predictor of academic success than intelligence (take that, SATs), a stronger determinant of effective leadership than charisma (sorry, Tony Robbins), and more important for marital bliss than empathy (yes, the secret to lasting marriage may be learning how to keep your mouth shut). If we want to improve our lives, willpower is not a bad place to start.”

My advice – start with the smallest thing you can do to improve your willpower and work up from there.

Now over to you: What action will you take to start improving your willpower? Let’s continue the discussion on my Facebook page.

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Finding your Purpose in a Noisy and Distracted World

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Finding and living your purpose is more important than ever in a world that can lack meaning and connection.

Do you feel a little lost? Want to know how you turn up the volume on your inner voice and work out a purpose that resonates?

I’m going to be honest, it’s not easy. Like any type of self reflection work, it is work! The answers won’t all come immediately. You do have to work at it and it will take time. You can continue to evolve it too, it will become your life’s work. But it is nice to think about the body of work you want to create in the world.

Before you jump into the three powerful activities below, I have a few other recommendations to get you started:

• Get out into nature more. Less screens and walls means you can breathe more deeply, get more oxygen into your bloodstream and connect back with you. Research says that nature helps our heads as well as our bodies stay healthy. You know the feeling you get after a walk or hike in the bush, a stroll on the beach or a day at the river. Diarise nature time to clear your head.
• Insights and understanding come with time. Set up a habit to reflect often. Just like any other skill or habit, it will take time to get into your reflection flow. The great news is those who take the time to reflect are better learners, happier people and more productive.
• Move your body. The insights can come when we move, that’s what are bodies were made to do! It gets the blood pumping and gives you inspiration. Exercise is not only crucial to physical health, but it’s good for your head too.

Purpose Activity 1: Identify and Utilise your Signature Strengths

Living your strengths each and every day can be one of the most powerful strategies you have to creating a life of meaning, happiness and hope.

Martin Seligman, Professor and founder of the University of Penn’s Positive Psychology Centre has done a huge amount of a research into the benefits of identifying and living your strengths as a way of living a flourishing life. They have developed an online (free) survey to identify your top 5 character strengths. (Head to Questionnaires and check out the VIA Character Strengths Survey).

Personally, I’ve gained much over the years by reflecting on my key strengths and incorporating them more and more into my life. It makes me happy when I get to use my strengths and it brings me a sense of purpose. Understanding my key strengths has given me an awareness of my leadership superpowers too. I use my strengths (and my unique mix of strengths) as my leadership brand and people get to know me for my strengths.

For those playing along at home, my top strengths are hope and optimism; zest, energy and enthusiasm; gratitude; leadership and creativity.

A note to beware – after coaching many people to focus on their strengths, the catch is that people see their strengths as so easy or commonplace that they dismiss their power. You might think – is this a superpower? Doesn’t everyone have this strength? This is nothing special. The simple answer is no. Not everyone has this strength. How can you deepen your mastery of this strength, practice it deliberately and enhance its use in your life?

Purpose Activity 2: Understand your Hedgehog

This concept was highlighted in Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, and is based on the ancient Greek parable about the hedgehog and the fox. Who would you rather be – the hedgehog or the fox? Despite all the tactics of the fox, the hedgehog always wins because it knows how to do one thing really well and that’s defend itself (think spikes!). So this model asks you to think about the intersection of three questions:

1. What are you great at? These are your strength areas! Focus on them, practice them, improve them and know them! What can you be best in the world at?
2. What will people pay for? Or what does the world need and are willing to pay for?
3. What are you deeply passionate about? What do you love or brings you joy? What’s important to you?

Now spend a bit of time to consider these questions individually – think of them as three circles in a venn diagram. Then the interesting part is finding something that intersects all three of these. According to Jim Collins’s book, organisations that have focused on one thing (the intersection of these three questions) and done it really well, outperform all their competitors and stand the test of time.

What’s in the intersection for you?

Purpose Activity 3: Focus on the Intrinsic Motivators

In life, you can easily get caught up with, as author Brian Johnson would call it, ‘society’s candy’. Which is when there is an over-emphasis on our extrinsic motivators – namely fame, fortune and how you look. It’s okay to focus a little on these things but an over-emphasis can actually, at worst, make you depressed. Yes, that’s right if you are living the rat race where you can continually focused on material wealth, chasing fame and focus on what you look like on the outside – you are in danger of having poorer mental health because of it.

Instead, it’s best to reorient yourself to focus on areas that intrinsically motivate us – fostering strong relationships, learning and mastering skills, and contributing to a community. It’s been found that people who are motivated by these intrinsic motivators are more likely to be healthy and have higher self esteem.

When you look at your goals this year and in life, what is driving them? Is it about status, power, money or comparison? Or is it about how you can learn and grow as a person, or the people who mean the most to you, or how you can give back to a greater purpose in life? It is so interesting to use this filter when you come across advertising. You start to see the extrinsic motivators that advertisers use to try and get you to buy their product. Where does your focus truly lie?

Last word

My last word is this – no one is going to do this important work for you. It’s up to you to take responsibility for clarifying your purpose in life and living a more meaningful existence.

We live in a really lucky time (and place) in the world where we can focus on meaning and purpose in our life. Don’t underestimate the power of these simple reflection activities. Join me on social media and share your purpose!

What's your value proposition for a board?

POSITION YOURSELF AS AN ASSET
THE ALYCEUM BOARD RESUME TEMPLATE
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Use Gratitude to Boost Your Resilience and Leadership

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The start of the year is a useful time to reflect on the previous year and be grateful. And yet, over the last couple of years in particular, I often see comments after each year – “isn’t it great to kiss 2018 goodbye?”. There might be a few bad experiences and all of a sudden we write off the whole year as being terrible. That negativity bias definitely has a way of infiltrating our lives!

It’s been shown the act of gratitude can have a significant positive effect on our resilience and also our leadership (not to mention our health, happiness and wellbeing). It can also be trained and increased with practice!

How do we use gratitude practices to increase our sense of wellbeing, resilience and leadership?

1. Make it a ritual to look for the small wins, the tiny micro moments of joy.

Often we will do the opposite and maybe gripe at the end of the day to our partners about the times people annoyed you. Instead, make it a habit to point out to yourself and your loved ones, when things worked out.

LEADERSHIP HABIT: Start or finish a meeting with words of gratitude that you and the team can share with each other.

2. Look for micro moments of connection and make it count.

Increase your wellbeing by making it a game to get a smile out of the people you meet in everyday life. It might be doing something kind for a family member, listening to a colleague, opening the door for a stranger. Look for acts of kindness that you can practice every day and it will increase your own happiness.

LEADERSHIP HABIT: Focus on connecting with teammates. Perhaps it’s remembering a birthday, an unexpected public thank you or a saying good morning when you enter the office.

3. Create a family ritual of gratitude – get your family involved.

Perhaps it’s sharing something that you’re grateful for at the dinner table or before bed time or if you have kids in the car on the way home from school. If it’s a ritual, it will encourage people to think about and look for something to be grateful for during the day.

LEADERSHIP HABIT: Leadership starts at home. Character, integrity and authenticity is not only to be practiced in the office but also at home. In fact, it’s when we are not ‘on’ that it can be the most challenging to practice this but good to reinforce for ourselves.

4. Write it down.

This time of the year, you can use the season to choose one, three or five people who you want to thank this year and let them know what you are grateful for. Of course, you can practice this throughout the year with a thank you card. Or if you really want to level up on this, consider writing a letter to someone in your life that has had a profound effect on your career, family or life.

LEADERSHIP HABIT: Set some time aside weekly or monthly to practice writing words of gratitude to those around you – bonus points for handwritten notes!

5. Take a moment to appreciate the miraculousness of life.

The Greeks would say ‘memento mori’ which means ‘remember that you will die’ and so appreciate the preciousness of life, don’t sweat the small stuff and make every day that you are alive count!

LEADERSHIP HABIT: Let’s bring humanity back into the workplace. Share the personal triumphs within your team as well as the professional ones.

Share your favourite gratitude practices on our Alyceum Facebook page.

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8 signs you’re ready to join a NFP Board

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Are you ready to join a NFP board?

It’s time to step it up! You might have a burning desire to change the world for the better. You might want to put your leadership and teamwork skills to the ultimate test. Or you know it’s time to use your voice for the good of others and the community.
Quite literally, the experience of contributing to a board can be life-changing!

When you can connect to a deeper purpose in life, one that’s above personal gain, fame, or fortune – something that truly means something and makes a difference – it’s a game-changer. Serving on a board gives you the opportunity to make an immense difference. It also broadens your networks and creates deep and long lasting relationships. Not to mention the opportunity to learn SO many new skills at the same time! It really can be one of the best leadership development opportunities you can come by.

But it’s a huge decision! How do you know when it’s the right time to jump in?

Here are eight signs that it could be the right time for you to join a NFP Board.

1. You have the time and energy to commit to a board

First things first – do you have the time to truly commit? Some people are surprised at how much time and effort a board position can take. And you don’t want to take on a board role only to find that you don’t have the time to really give it your best.
So how long do you need? Do you have 5 – 15 hours per month to contribute to a board position?

This time could include board meetings, sub-committee meetings, annual strategy sessions, leadership responsibilities, representing the organisation at external events, as well as social activities where you represent the board internally. Ensure you have the time to give!

2. You are ready to work effectively with others to fulfill the mission of the organisation.

As a board, you will work closely with other board members to fulfil the mission of the organisation. You will want to check out who is serving on the board before you accept any position. Because you’ll be working pretty closely together!

Truth time!

Are you an effective team player who communicates well with others, shows emotional intelligence in the boardroom, and can lead sub-committees or volunteers to work on aspects of the organisation? You might want to get some critical feedback and ways to improve before you hit the boardroom.

FREE 3-Day Board Confidence Challenge Waitlist

Build the confidence to step into your first NFP Board Position and become the leader (and advocate for change!) you want to be in your community & the world.

The next round of the challenge is coming up soon! Join the waitlist to be the first to know when the challenge is running again!
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Boardroom behaviours are so important when you are working in short spaces of time e.g board meetings! Leaving egos at the door and working effectively with others (however different to you) is a MUST!

3. You’ve done your due diligence

What does due diligence even mean? Simply put, it’s the research or investigation you do before commiting to something to avoid any trouble. So in a board context, you want to ensure the organisation has the appropriate insurances, is registered with the appropriate bodies, and is financially solvent!

Do you know the right questions to ask before accepting a position? Have you done your own research about the board and organisation?

Reading the annual report, checking the finances of the organisation, and understanding the brand/history of the organisation is a MUST. And this could be just the start of your due diligence. You want to make sure the organisation is suitable before signing up as a board director.

4. You understand your responsibilities as a board director

The best board members understand the unique role the board plays within an organisation – strategy, governance, financial oversight, compliance, risk management, etc. It’s nose in, fingers out! This means you have to have a good understanding of what is going on in the organisation without getting involved in the details.

Perhaps you need to educate yourself about the roles of governance before stepping up? Do you understand the difference between the board and management of a community organisation? Are you sure of the liabilities that you take on?

Having a thorough understanding of what’s expected of you as a director is integral. It will give you peace of mind knowing you are fulfilling the role appropriately.

5. You understand the board’s expectations of you

Most boards will have some type of recruitment process that may include a position description. This will outline the key expectations of the role in terms of hours, skills, and knowledge preferred or required and the meeting schedule. This is a great starting point, and you may have further questions about the cultural fit between you and the board too.

You might also want to explore YOUR expectations and the type of experience you are expecting. Are you looking for a formal board role? Something more relaxed and grassroots? Do you like the excitement of a start-up or are you interested in contributing to a more established organisation?

It’s definitely best to have these conversations before joining any board!

6. You understand the NFP sector landscape including the current challenges and opportunities

It’s called the third sector for a reason – Not-for-profits are different to the corporate and government sectors!
If you have not been involved in the NFP sector, it’s time to do your research and read up!

Reading NFP publications, attending conferences and events, and understanding the broader trends that affect mission-based organisations are good strategies for being an effective board member. There are also online blogs, LinkedIN groups, and peak organisations to improve your NFP knowledge.

Boards are looking for directors who have their finger on the pulse, who can identify the key trends, and translate that back to the organisation.

7. You understand your own value proposition and what you can contribute

You need to be really clear about what you offer. What value do you bring to the table?

And it actually takes a fair amount of self awareness to understand the value that you provide and be able to effectively communicate it. Sometimes people might know the value that they can bring but can’t articulate it very well at a networking event or through their board resume.

Your board value may include your skills and expertise. But it could also include your networks, your lived experience, or your ability to step into leadership roles down the track e.g Sub Committee Chair or Board Secretary.

8. You’ve found an organisation that aligns with your purpose and values

In your search, you will want to do the mission test.

Do you wholeheartedly believe in the mission of the organisation and picture yourself standing as a proud ambassador for the organisation?

This is the mission test!

The richness comes from finding an organisation whose mission aligns with your purpose and values. That means you have to know what your own purpose and values are to find that right fit for you.

This is worth the time and effort because when you find a board and organisation that truly aligns with your own purpose and values, the energy and reward you feel for your contribution will make the time and work all worthwhile!

How did you go?

I know what you’re thinking!

There is much work to be done before signing up to be a board director.

Boards are looking for directors who understand the above and are ready to fully commit to the term of the board. When all the stars align, you will know you’re onto a winner!

Now over to you: How many of the above do you feel comfortable with? Which areas do you need to improve before you’re ready to join a NFP board?

Join me LIVE for the 3-Day Board Confidence Challenge!

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After years of working with people who are keen to step onto a community board…

Do you know what I’ve found is the key reason holding them back from a board role?

The answer is….. CONFIDENCE.

I get it.

The boardroom can be a really daunting place, especially if you haven’t been a board director before.

That’s why a few times a year, I run a 3-day Board Confidence Challenge!

This challenge is designed to help you build an unstoppable confidence so you’re ready to accept your first board appointment! And January is the PERFECT time to reflect, plan and create an action plan about how you can make your dream of being a community board director a reality in 2019.

The Challenge will run from January 21 – 23

Join me live at 12pm midday (Perth time) for an interactive and motivating 60-minute session on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. If you can’t make it live, we will give you access to all the recordings to watch later if you’ve signed up.

During the 3-Day Challenge, you will:

+ Explore the BIGGEST fears that hold you back from the boardroom and how to overcome them -alongside an intimate group of your driven, change-making peers.

+ Discover the framework I’ve used with hundreds of young professionals to identify your core strengths and achievements and how to position them for the boardroom.

+ Work through my unique board value proposition canvas to understand the unique value you can bring to the boardroom – and how to position these values in your hunt for the perfect board position.

+ Mindset is everything – explore the key mindsets required for the boardroom, and banish the self-talk that’s holding you back – for good!

And so much more!

Now more than ever, we need confident, creative leaders with the passion, talent and insight to create the massive change needed in our community and the world.

So, if you’re…

+ Ready to step up and fulfil your dream of being a board director.

+ Keen to leave your fears aside and start taking action on the goals you want.

+ Keen to explore if you have what it takes to become a board director of a Not-For-Profit organisation.

+ Ready to contribute your time, skills and experience to a worthy cause and make real change in your community.

We need YOU!

Sign up – this challenge is for you!

FREE 3-Day Board Confidence Challenge Waitlist

Build the confidence to step into your first NFP Board Position and become the leader (and advocate for change!) you want to be in your community & the world.

The next round of the challenge is coming up soon! Join the waitlist to be the first to know when the challenge is running again!
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Is it your time to step up and lead? Yes!

Join me and we’ll get you there!

I hope you will join me!

To your success,

Alicia

PS. Got a question? Join the conversation on my Facebook page or send me an email at alicia@alyceum.com.au

10 questions to plan for 2019

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January! A fresh new year to dream, visualise and plan. Journalling is a great tool to develop our insight, connect with our inner voice and start to develop clarity about the life you want to lead.

I think we can under-estimate what can be achieved in a year. What do you want to be different in a year’s time?

In early December I posted 10 Questions to Fuel Your Reflection of 2018. This is integral to reflect back over the whole year, visual what you did with your time (consider the projects you worked on and what you achieved) and really focus on the key learnings you have taken from the year. Most often, we sleep walk through life without taking the time to reflect, grow and stretch into the future. Just as useful as it is to look back, now it’s time to look forward.

Here are 10 questions to help your planning for 2019.

1. How will you step into the highest version of yourself this year?

If you practiced all the habits you wanted, lived your core strengths and you were totally aligned with values – this would be your highest version of you. The game is – how do you edge closer and closer to this person every moment. Think small steps.

2. Describe your ideal day, week and year?

How you live your days is how you live your life! It’s a big statement but it’s true. Our daily habits form the foundations for how you live your life. What is one habit you want to focus on this year and one habit you want to let go of?

3. How will you best utilise your strengths?

Professor Martin Seligman, Director of the University of Penn Positive Psychology Centre found that a key part of flourishing in life and work is using your strengths. To use our strengths, you need to be able to identify them and work on ways to use them more everyday and commit to getting better at them.

4. How will you take care of yourself? What’s your health and wellbeing plan?

Without your health it’s very hard to achieve anything of significance. This means you have to actively plan for sleep, rest, nutrition, movement, mental clarity and fun! How could you step up in terms of your health? What could be a key goal you could achieve that could help motivate you to take care of yourself?

5. What is holding you back? 

Otto Scharmer, author of the books Theory U and Leading from the Emerging Future talks about the three voices that hold you back – the voice of judgement (shutting down your open mind instead of being inquiring and curious), the voice of cynicism (shutting down your open heart instead of connecting and relating) and the voice of fear (shutting down your open will instead of letting go). What do you need to leave behind and to tap into the great courage you have?

6. How will you give back to community? And how can you be of service to others? 

How can you focus on giving to others this year? Often this can provide great energy in our lives. If you were to focus on one area to give back in, what’s it going to be this year? Commit as deeply to this as the other areas in your life. Maybe it could be to join a Not-For-Profit board?

7. What’s your learning plan?

Where do you want to grow, stretch and learn this year? What books can you read? Are there any courses you can take? What conferences can you learn from? Which key skills do you want to learn and foster this year?

8. What relationships do you want to foster?

Who is in your community? Family, friends, networks, work colleagues and neighbours. Be focused on the key relationships you would like to develop this year. Who can help you be the person you want to be? Will you reach out to a new mentor, create a mastermind group, attend a new conference to expand your networks or foster your friendships?

9. How will you be inspired?

What are the inspiration sources that help you stay energised and refreshed for the ups and downs for the year. How can you systemise the inspiration sources so you can perform at an optimal level?

10. What amazing life adventures do you want to do this year?

Ok – now it’s time for a bit of fun. Forget work, think about what is going to bring you joy and fun into your life. What life adventures could you have this year? Think about learning a new skill, visiting a new place or enjoying something with the people you love. Let’s continue the conversation here. I’d love to know what 2019 will bring you !

FREE 3-Day Board Confidence Challenge

Build the confidence to step into your first NFP Board Position and become the leader (and advocate for change!) you want to be in your community & the world.

The training starts on Monday, January 21st and runs for 3 consecutive days.
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