Dream Big Dreams

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It takes courage to travel to another country where you don’t know anybody, you don’t speak the language and the culture is completely different to your own.

You stay in a home you have never been in before, with people you have never met, eating food that is unfamiliar. On your first day you take a bus on a journey you have never been on before and arrive at school for the first time.

Already our students have shown a great deal of courage to do these things which by most people’s standards are ‘out of the comfort zone’. I have spoken about this before, in a post last May, but it is worth mentioning again I think.

Our students have already demonstrated their courage by the time they arrive on the first Monday, but we want them to keep showing this in their learning – being prepared to make mistakes, to fail, to try new things and to not give up.

How can you as a student be courageous today (and every day) in your learning?

Please click on the image below to read a short article about being brave enough to leave our comfort zone. Consider which of the suggestions made you already do, or which you could start doing from now on.

Courageous Learning

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

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Where and why we make our purchases is a very individual choice, because we can have very different priorities. Think about restaurants or hotels to take two simple examples and don’t assume it is purely about price.

You don’t have to be the world leader in everything you do, but you do need to offer genuine value in some way if you want your business to work. If everything you do is average to good, why would anyone feel inspired to use you? There is a great deal of choice out there these days.

The fact that there are so many choices means you can’t just say you are the best either. People can demand proof as shown by the success of sites such as TripAdvisor and the power of genuine customer testimonials.

And what about clarity? Do you make purchases when you understand exactly what you are buying? Or do you prefer to spend hours of your valuable time trying to decipher whether or not a purchase is right and what exactly your hard earned money is getting you?

People want value for money. The price they pay relates to the value they know, or at least they perceive, they will gain from using your business.

No, not just a USP – that is only part of the equation and anyway how unique are you? Honestly?

There is a man from Finland called Peter Sandeen who can tell you much more about this if you want by clicking on the image below.

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Social footprints

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We have spoken before about the (possible) death of the traditional CV. We have also discussed online alternatives.

Could it be that our social or digital footprints become the default method for assessing a person? Seeing how someone interacts online – LinkedIn, blogs, Twitter, Quora and so on, may well provide a better picture of them than a 6 page CV that lists their hobbies and interests as ‘reading and travel’.

It means you will need to judge someone as a human being rather than just a name -posting holiday photos on Facebook does not make them unprofessional, but posting them on LinkedIn might…

What do you think? Is using a person’s online presence as a way to find out more about them a natural progression given the global importance of social media? Or is it simply snooping?

Click on the image below to read a positive article on this topic.

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Coming soon…

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If you are going to be in Bristol this summer, there will be some wonderful sights.

Two of the regular favourites will be the Harbour Festival and the Balloon Fiesta in July and August.

However, following on from the Gorillas, we have new visitors in the city this year. Click on the image below to find out more. Then book your tickets to Bristol…

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Points – Badges – Leaderboards

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I am not the first, and I won’t be the last, to say that I wish gamification had a better name.

The reason I wish it had a better name is because the concept is brilliant, but it won’t get past the first hurdle with many of today’s key decision-makers. In another generation’s time that will be different, but right now the concept struggles to become a reality in many cases.

What is gamification? Essentially it is employing the techniques used in games in non-game situations to achieve a desired outcome. An oversimplification would be to describe it as the PBL trinity of points, badges and leaderboards, but there is more than a grain of truth in that…

Earning points for doing the right thing, getting a badge for being successful and seeing how you are doing compared to the others are all surprisingly motivating.

I strongly, strongly recommend a great Coursera programme if you want to learn more about this application that I believe will have an enormous impact on business and education in the coming years – click here for details.

Click on the image below to read about how students can become more engaged when tasks are gamified. What do you think? Mumbo-Jumbo and a passing fad? Or a really clever way to get people intrinsically motivated and enjoying themselves while learning?

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Where on earth?

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What a great idea to make a geography lesson more engaging – teamwork, using clues, making deductions, beating the clock and escaping from your captors – exciting stuff.

There are a number of versions online, but by clicking on the image below you can see one for yourself (and even create your own pursued quizzes). Choose from US cities and state capitals, European capitals, Latin cities, plus ports, landmarks and several others.

Try it now and see if you can escape…

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The $64000 question

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There is a brilliant book called The Chimp Paradox, written by Dr Steve Peters. I strongly recommend you buy it and read it.

He helps many people, including members of Team GB, to fulfill their potential.

This won’t be my last post based around his mind management system as I think it deserves more, but I will start here…

Imagine you are 100 years old, on your deathbed and you have one minute to live. Your great-great-grandchild asks you the following question -

‘What should I do with my life?’

Don’t take too long (you only have one minute left) and give your honest, first answer.

Now click on the image to watch a short trailer video for the book.

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As you may well have guessed, the advice you gave your great-great-grandchild is really advice for yourself. This is what you believe is important. so are you taking steps to achieve it?

He who gains time, gains everything

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Are you making the most of your time? Do you get things done or end up wondering what happened to the day?

I recently read a short article by Ray Edwards that gave 10 top tips to be “abnormally productive”. If I am honest, I would say I can do some, but not all of them.

What about you? Are there any you could start using? Could you recommend any other time management tips?

Click on the image to read more.

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