#149

Welcome to Weekly Whisper #149.

When the student is ready the teacher will appear… and remember you are always planting seeds that may or may not grow… and others are planting seeds for you that may or may not grow

21 Whispers was born from the idea that life continually whispers to us. When the whisper turns to a shout is often when we take action on it.

So, what causes the metaphorical 21st Whisper?

All the seeds of ideas; assumptions; beliefs; stories; explanations; cultural norms; traditions; etc that have, at some point, been planted somewhere in your consciousness.

Often planted unconsciously and accidentally the seeds can grow (or not) in random or predictable ways. The growing seeds show up as ‘shouts’ when they’ve grown big enough for us to pay attention to them.

For example, my generation grew up with the idea that talking to strangers wasn’t a good thing. As a parent I adopted that idea willingly and taught my kids the same idea but without necessarily stating it out loud.

No problem so far, seems like a reasonable thing to do as a protective parent to a child of 6 years old and it'll serve them well at times.

The problem arrives when that child is 25 and ends up in a sales career but doesn’t do so well. Possibly the unconscious idea that they shouldn’t talk to strangers.

So, the unlock might be – is this a helpful or hindering idea?

In the situation I’m in does the idea; assumption; belief; story; explanation; cultural norm; tradition; etc help or hinder?

Asking ourselves, does it help or hinder allows us the opportunity to hold on or put down the idea depending on our circumstances. Once put down, we can always pick it back up again when circumstances change. If holding on is helpful right now then in different circumstances it might be ok to place the idea in the passenger seat.

Either way, we’re not so beholden to the ideas that have been planted unconsciously and accidentally.

So, for you – what ideas were planted long ago that may no longer serve you?

 
Question of the week:
Have you ever doubted your doubts?

Read that again. And again.

Now ponder… have you ever questioned your doubts? Most of us have probably questioned our ideas or beliefs about what’s possible for us, but I’m curious if you’ve ever questioned the beliefs that crop up that limit you?

Next time you doubt yourself perhaps you could doubt the doubt itself 😊

Quote of the week:
You can put down what you’ve picked up and vice versa

Through your life circumstances what ideas and assumptions have you inadvertently picked up? E.g. my generation (X) were brought up on the belief that to be successful you had to work hard and the harder you worked the more successful you’d be.

Not a huge problem in itself… until I try and relax and stop. Well, if I’m relaxing or stopping then I’m not working hard, therefore I’m not being successful and in fact I’m failing… better get back to working then 😊

What could you put down for a while that you picked up a while ago?

 
NEW EPISODE
Freedom Fridays Episode 84 Featuring Dan Robins

In episode 84 of the Freedom Fridays podcast, Pete chats with Dan Robins, board member for gender pay gap advocacy group ‘Seat at the Table’.

Pete and Dan dive headfirst into some of the challenges of paid parental leave, particularly for Dads. In encouraging Dads to take parental leave the conversation explores some of the benefits for organisations, parents and the wider society.

Pete asks some challenging questions about fairness for those without kids and the potential impact on small business.

An authentic, practical, philosophical and real conversation for any working parents.

                                                                                 

That's all for this week. If you’ve been enjoying the Weekly Whispers please feel free to forward it to friends and anyone you think would benefit.

As always, please send me an email at [email protected] to send me your feedback or to let me know your thoughts.

Cheers

Pete