Persistence - standing up 8 times - Meeting Notes newsletter

Hi and welcome to this edition of the Meeting Notes newsletter, where I'll be falling 7 times and standing up 8. Persistence and resilience in action.

It's mad busy here at Lambert Towers. The kids are back at school, life and work are busy and the weather, surprisingly, is very very nice.

Alas, cue lots of work in the garden to get things ready for winter. I love Autumn. It's my favourite season for sure. Autumn is also a time to review my long term painted picture, take a look at the tension between the pillars of life - and come up with the next quarters aims and goals.

For those new to the Meeting Notes newsletter, welcome, I’m Rob, Chief Conference Organiser at Cultivated Management. Every two weeks I publish this newsletter about envisioning bright futures of work, as well as tips and advice on improving communication skills - a genuine super power in the world of work.

I'm putting the finishing touches to my latest book (that I have been promising for 8 years now) called Zero To Keynote. This book will be another self published book (you can grab my first book, Take A Day Off, here) and I'm thoroughly enjoying the desktop publishing side of things.

I will let you know when it's out. Of course, there will be a discount price for subscribers to the newsletter.

The book is based on my Zero To Keynote workshop, in which I help people build a solid understanding of the principles of communication - and how they apply to delivering a good conference talk.

The book is based on the idea that all presentations at conferences should be "keynote" worthy. It's all about the story, the science of communication, the prep, the delivery and of course, the logistics of getting to conferences.

We cover the main principles from the Communication Super Power workshop, but it's tailored for those who wish to start, or grow, in their conference speaking journey.

I hope to have it released very soon indeed! Here's a sneaky peak.

Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight

Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight is a Japanese proverb about resilience and persistence.

I have these words printed and stuck on my wall. Why? Because it reminds me that persistence is something that comes from within, and that failure is not permanent.

As a side note, here is an interest Reddit on the meaning behind it - and why you stand up one more time than you fall down. (Note : I have zero responsibility for what else you may find on reddit....)

We need resilience and persistence in work and life. There will be times when we fail, when we want to give up, when it all just feels too much for us. There will be failures at work, mistakes that we make and times when things seem bad.

That's why this proverb is so empowering, so helpful, so warming. We've just got to keep standing up one more time.

But, a proverb is not helpful without some ideas and tactics that sit behind it. As much as I read the proverb every day, I also have some things I do. I won't call them habits or systems, they are more like mental games that I play - they may help you.

And let's be clear, I can sometimes lose entire days and weeks metaphorically laid on the floor - waiting for that moment when I can stand up. So, as much as I share this with you for inspiration, it's something I'm still working on. One day, I'll fall over and stand up straight away 😄

Here's what I've been doing that may help

Failure is not permanent, unless I let it be

I journal often. Not every day, but often. It's a form of therapy and a way to get things of my chest.

I also know that a mistake, or failure, is not permanent, unless I let it be. A mistake is an opportunity to improve myself or the business. So, this is what I journal about. I remind myself of this idea - that it's not permanent unless I let it be.

I look for what, in this situation, is in my control - a stoic idea if ever there was one.

It's only permanent if I let it be - and I journal to remind myself that I can do something about it. I can look for a new solution at work, or find a new path, or remind myself of the painted picture and strategy.

In my own life, I can simply pick up the next creative project and try again. Always telling myself (and journaling), that there is something else to stand up and move towards. There is another reason to stand up.

Having kids helps - I'm showing them that bad things happen, that failure occurs and that mistakes are made. And then showing them how to stand up and try again. Always moving forward.

This is life

When I'm laid on the floor (metaphorically) I tend to wallow on the web. Social Media, although not seemingly helpful, is my first form of distraction. It's a place to escape the falling down.

It's good then, that I did a lot of work on Instagram to remove pointless accounts from my feed, and follow people who are also working through tough times. Their posts and perseverance helps me to realise that I'm not alone. In fact, throughout all of history people have failed over and over - and stood back up.

Of course, friends and family are also good sources of inspiration - and people to speak with if I need a little boost.

It's life.

We cannot have the good without the bad. We cannot have the up without the down. I remind myself that things are never as bad as they seem.

Failure and falling downs happens to everyone. And it always has. And it always will. It's life.

At work, this is a natural cycle. There are ups and downs. Good months and bad months.

Everything depends on my own perception

How I view the falling down is important. Similar to seeing it as non-permanent, I'm trying to meditate and journal on the idea that it's neither good nor bad. It just is.

It's easy to see yourself as someone who isn't resilient or persistent, but it pays then to attempt to intercept this self talk, and apply some critical thinking.

As an example, when I'm struggling to stand up (again, metaphorically, although I am getting older), I have to remind myself that I do indeed have this mental muscle of standing up, of persisting, of being resilient. In fact, when I'm leading teams I demonstrate this consistently.

So, I can do it - I need to remind myself of that. I need to take my thoughts of giving up and apply some critical questioning. I soon realise I'm telling myself something that is not true.

At work, I've always accepted what happens as just something that happens. And picked myself up to lead the team.

A release goes bad - well, ok, what can we do about it now? What can we learn from it? How can we stop it happening again? What can we do to improve the business?

I often simply need to remind myself that when I'm on the floor, it's just temporary. I've told myself it's too hard to stand up. But I remind myself of the times when I do stand up. I remind myself that I do it all the time at work; I get back up and lead the team. I counter the voice with critical thinking.

Maybe

Maybe is a powerful word.

This video here is a good example of this, as told by Alan Watts. It's a sobering reminder that things just happen - they are neither good nor bad - just things. I'm still working to get to this level of Zen thinking.

Hence, I watch this video when I'm on the floor (metaphorically of course) and find a way to stand up.

Get out in nature

Nature heals. I've done a post (and podcast) on biophilic design and how nature heals, helps us to be more productive - but more importantly for me, it helps me get some sense of connection to the world, and to realise how tiny my problems are in comparison to the vast world we live in.

Resiliences is something that I must develop

Resilience is a behaviour and skill that I have to develop.

All of this is applicable in our world of work too. Work is never plain sailing. There are problems everywhere. Some people we work with will be mean and surly. Sometimes we get laid off, or dismissed, or ignored for the promotion. Sometimes we have leaders who don't lead, or make bad choices, or expect more than they themselves give.

Work is tough. Life is tough. However, if we fall, we've just got to stand up one more time. It's not easy. In fact, it can be brutally hard, but maybe some of the above will be helpful.

And of course, if you're in a really bad place please seek some help.

For those in the UK, here's the NHS support.

Editorial Desk

By the way - dropped my first video in nearly a year. A short one called Take a day off

Interesting Link

Although this article is aimed at those in creative fields of work, it's core message is solid - never stop learning. Good read with some tidy ideas.

Until next time

Rob..

If you enjoyed this newsletter then please consider:

1. Sharing this content with others you feel would get value from it.
2. Downloading the free ebook 10 Behaviours of effective employees.
3. Buying the “Take A Day Off” zine for an insightful read and cool artwork
4. Sitting the online communication workshop to develop your super power in work.

It means a lot. Thank you.

Until next time

Rob..