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This next project was the idea of  Dr Molly Molly.

We’ve had a few Run events on the fridge door and the Run Larapinta has been on longer than most. Partly because it’s a nice picture. Molly, who never enjoyed running, decided that this was the year to up her game from the comfortable ‘every-now-and -then untrained half marathon’ to the 4 day, multi-stage, sleep in a tent, run in the heat of the day, run event. Then she signed me up- obviously I didn’t want to miss out. With that in mind we will cover both the short and the long course between us culminating in a shared 217 km (approximately) from start line to finish feet up.

Follow our journey and feel free to donate the cost of a coffee or a dollar or two to the Starlight Foundation, the teams are doing terrific work for children and their families.

It really feels good to give and we will match the first 5 donations!

Training has started and we start exploring new trails to prepare us for the different terrain and elevation that will be served up.

Recently Stephen Heart and Dr Molly visited to see Santa and share the wishes and love from children at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (where Dr Molly works.)

Yes that is a crutch that Mr. H has decorated beautifully with the help of the Gnomes and some fairy lights! No more ski-ing for him right now. It was a real treat to receive all the pictures and letters for Santa and we shared them with him by iPad . He even made a video especially for the folks back home.

Here’s a link to the Santa Project

www.santaprojectaustralia.webs.com

These were  Santa’s messages for the staff and children back in Melbourne

What a refreshing Article in the Financial Review, by Mark Eggleton.

Here is just a taste..

This content is produced by The Australian Financial Review in commercial partnership with DeakinCo.

Soft skills such as the ability to communicate effectively, think critically or work in a team are not only critical to every employee but are often ignored as too hard to quantify by business leaders, was the general consensus among participants at a recent Digital Economy Skills roundtable in Melbourne.

The term soft skills is one that annoys LinkedIn managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Matt Tindale, because the so-called soft skills are those that should be baked into every employee in the digital economy.

…they are the skills you need to get the jobs or the promotions. He says how people get those skills “whether it’s university, short online courses online or whatever” is vitally important to creating the mobile, agile and educated workforce we need to thrive in the global digital economy.”

• from the Financial Review full article here 

He goes on to say much more that we agree with a PWHQ. There is one error in where he suggests these skills can be gained and it’s worth mentioning. University is an excellent place to learn Soft Skills, EQ (if you prefer.) Short online courses? No, Podcasts? No. Sporting clubs? Yes and other areas of social interaction. Hackles are raised here when people think they can simply jump on line to learn social skills, fill out questionnaires, play games online or trawl through the knowledge that is curated in the online world. Social areas online are not real-time or necessarily in the-moment. Yes we can gain knowledge. Lots of it. Knowing is not doing. Knowledge is not power- mindfully applied knowledge is power and to do that you need real world face to face experience. Why? Several reasons and here is just one good one; When we develop ourselves and our skills we necessarily go through discomfort, we become vulnerable and have to cope, thrive even. Learning social skills and emotional intelligence skills online, by it’s definition, is not real.

The discomfort is manufactured. Personal stake and therefore learning is watered down and quite simply, we are reacting to a facsimile of a manufactured situation, at best. That’s a little bit like watering down real medication a few times to make it more convenient to take.

The solution is real world, real time problem solving that relates to our personal and company needs. In a real world environment we maintain the genuine vulnerability of failing in front of others and a company shows its true colours with genuine support,or disdain for those that fail. That’s authentic. It’s also why  companies are turning to universities to run courses that help employees connect both hard and soft skills. When we work with companies they are often concerned regarding the ‘Play’ aspect. That word is the elephant in the room. The way we get past that it to make clear that the playing is not about turning their employees into ‘clown doctors’ or trying to create happy clappy environments on the floor of a manufacturing plant. Play is simply one piece of the experiential learning that our participants go through. The play is genuine and our participants are able to be themselves, safely and quickly. They share relief, humour and moments where they can be vulnerable, being themselves, removing the ‘masks’ that are donned for the different situations and different people they encounter daily.  Then the learning really begins.

The four key criticisms that threaten the implementation of Positive Education, as voiced frequently by teachers, are:

• Positive Education appears as another subject which needs additional time and effort to learn and then teach in an already crowded curriculum
•  Playworks® because teachers are able to see strategies to  immediately apply Positive Psychology to their already positive teaching work.
• A traditional classroom approach is limited in its ability to engage all students in this behemoth called Positive Education
•  Playworks® because of its universal accessibility and ease to engage with
• Students can begin to struggle at ‘wellbeing’, when the lesson is presented as yet another subject they need to pass
• Playworks® because participants learn as they do and process their experience which supports their classwork.
• ‘Positive Education’ is an umbrella term that includes Mindset, Mindfulness, Character Strengths, Grit, Flow  , Appreciative Inquiry, Self Determination Theory, Gratitude, mind body awareness. That’s a huge amount to take in at one shot!
• Playworks® trainings work because participants are not overloaded, we teach core concepts and Playworks Oz trained facilitators choose activities that best serve their clients requirements.

Play is universally engaging, it creates a safe learning environment for students to fail, it is highly flexible and delivers immediate feedback. Playworks® Oz helps their clients to keep concepts of Positive Psychology relevant and applicable.  Dr. Stuart Brown,  Author of ‘Play’,

It [play] is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. We are designed by nature to flourish through play.

It is just one more reason Playworks®.

Contact us for more information regarding  ‘Serious Playworks®‘

There are better ways to cope. Don’t quit Smoking

More secondary students and their parents are looking for ways to quit, this topic often comes up at a Strengths presentation “How can knowing my strengths or Positive Psychology help me quit smoking?” so the advice is “Don’t quit. Choose not to have one next time you want one.”

For those who didn’t immediately pick up on that subtlety of syntax I shall explain. How often do we hear that we should not give up, we should hang in there, don’t quit?  I suggest we need to  look at the language that we need to use to help us achieve what we want.I have stopped smoking, I was a smoker for many years. I quit several times! I may still  be a smoker, deep down, but for all intent and purposes I have stopped smoking. I don’t enjoy it and I’ve developed better ways to cope.

Generally speaking we tend not to want to ‘Quit’ at anything. “”Quitting is for losers. Have you heard that before ? Imagine the protest  taken up in your synapses when you declare you are quitting:

You: “I’m quitting smoking”
Your Brain: “Ok…I have a lot of reference stuff here, memories of how quitting is not something you do or enjoy doing…um? I also have some very positive moments here when by not QUITTING you coped and managed to succeed…erm…shutting down to think on this, pass me a light would you?”

Make sense ? Consider this too, if I say “I’m quitting”  I have given up!” that’s a very bold statement. Very bold. Very finite.
The thing is, if I tell everyone this and then slip and have a cigarette then I have FAILED! Now the problem is compounded. I failed at quitting EEK!

Try this instead:  “I don’t want a cigarette, I choose not to smoke right now.” “I don’t want one today.” “Not right now thanks.”

Every time I refuse a cigarette or choose not to buy a packet or have a smoke free day…(whatever works for you), I have evidence of kicking a small achievable goal.  Each success makes me feel good, stronger and healthier. At the same time, If I do slip and have a cigarette, I don’t  feel like a total failure who has to start all over again. I acknowledge that this is a learning process,that I still don’t want another one, that this is one stumble on a tough road. I use this experience to help me make a stronger choice next time. It’s leverage but it isn’t guilt-ridden-abject misery related ‘FAILURE’

Learning to COPE without smoking is a smart goal.

So, small steps.  Accept slips as learning moments. Check the evidence for what caused your slip.  Owe it to yourself to go on from here and not have another today (or in the next hour.) Pick a wide variety of strategies that help you and Engage fully with one of the strategies and C.O.P.E

COPE deal effectively with something difficult: e.g the ability to cope with stress

The COPE model is a creation of Playworks® Oz

Ok so the title is a little misleading, perhaps chemical induced play?

How often have you heard that something is good for you because of the ‘good chemicals’ released into  1) The body  2) The brain, 3) by the brain, man, like natural high?

Ringing bells? So here’s the skinny. …send an email to Stephen Heart  –  steve@playworksoz.com with ‘Drugs n Play’ in the subject line and we’ll send you a short, quick-read, relevant breakdown of those great feel good chemicals accessible through play.

When we cope, we are actually dealing effectively with something-not just dealing with it, but dealing EFFECTIVELY with it.

We originally put together this acronym to help students remember how to deal effectively with stresses and challenges at school. It may help you too.

C is for Check, “I can’t do this- when you check, becomes, this is difficult, what do I need to succeed? Have I done this before? Do I know someone who has? Check the evidence of the the belief.

O is for Owe yourself the opportunity for the best outcome. If I walk away I may never know if I could do it. (For example.)

P-is for Pick a Plan, Person or strategy that will help me do this thing.

E-is for the most important point. Engage with the Plan. It’s no use having great plans and strategies that you are unwilling to follow.

Next time you are in a tough situation, remember to COPE