|
"I have the willingness to think fully about
where opportunities are and where they live.
"
~Theaster Gates
|
|
| Wheel of a Deal Wednesday |
|
|
The Spokesperson E-Newsletter
|
|
Being 'Intentionally Full' Instead of 'Busy'
|
 Hello Facilitator Friends!
Thank you so much to those that took time out of their day to join me in my 21 Year Anniversary Zoom Happy Hour last Friday! I had friends and colleagues from so many of my 'past lives' show up. I am very blessed.
In last week's newsletter I came up with a list of 21 Lessons Learned over the years. If you missed it you can read them here:
21 Lessons Learned
Today I want to talk about the word
busy.... I know I'm guilty of responding with the word 'Busy' when someone asks me how things are going. "I'm crazy busy." or "it's been really busy!" According to
dictionary.com, the word busy means "actively engaged," which doesn't sound all that bad. But added to that definition is "not at leisure, not accessible." It can also mean "cluttered with small, unharmonious details." Add "careful, anxious, continually employed or occupied" to the definition and it sounds really awful.
A quick survey
of a thesaurus.com produced the following synonyms for busy:
unavailable, buried, overloaded, slaving, snowed, swamped, tied up. Eeeek! When we we're busy, we're not available. We're not present. Being busy makes us feel buried, trapped, and anxious. And that's not at ALL how I feel or want to live each day.
So I'm doing a paradigm shift and choosing a new word (actually, words). I'm choosing
Intentionally Full.
Can being 'busy'
mean that your life is rich and varied and you chose to have it that way? A lot of the things we complain about being 'busy'
with are things we intentionally and joyfully chose to bring into our lives -- the work we do, the houses we clean, the children we cheer on at their chosen hobby, the friends and family we spend our time on or with... Sometimes we need to reevaluate how we spend our time, and sometimes it's just about appreciating the amazing things we spend our time doing.
This week at Training Wheels is crazy Intentionally Full. (Doesn't that sound SO much better than busy?) I'm delivering a virtual keynote today and several virtual workshops with clients this week. I also have 10 Virtual Scavenger Hunts to build out for August programs, which has been SO fun coming up with new ways to connect people in a fun and engaging platform. (Email me if you want to chat about having me or my team build out one for your upcoming event!). I also have a writing deadline of THIS FRIDAY to get the last bit of writing done on the upcoming book, Team Building From the Toy Aisle, which I'm co-authoring with Matthew Broda and Trevor Dunlap. Plus we've gotten in a ton of orders on our Online Store, so we are hopping around here! AND my oldest son gets to have his high school graduation ceremony next Thursday, so we are prepping for a (physical distancing) reception in our back yard. All good, amazing stuff! And I love all of it, and I love being Intentionally Full.
How about you? Are you busy or intentionally full? Perhaps it's as simple as changing the words we use to describe our lives. Perhaps not, but I know that words matter -- they powerfully shape how we see ourselves and how we interpret our actions and lives.
Best wishes for an Intentionally Full week!
Michelle
Michelle Cummings
Owner/Trainer/Big Wheel
Training Wheels
Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Personify Leadership
www.PersonifyLeadership.com
|
New Podcast Episode!
Last week Chris Cavert and I met up to record another new episode of our podcast,
'
Ask Michelle & Chris About Team Building' This week we tackled Part 2 of the question: "What's been working for Team Builders Online?"
You can listen to, download and access the show notes to this episode and all available episodes
at this link
.
|
Personify Leadership Self-Paced Online Course 
Many of you know I have a second company called Personify Leadership. My business partner, Angela Sebaly, and I have developed a Self-Paced, Experiential, Online Course for leaders based on her best-selling book, The Courageous Leader.
Are you looking for a unique virtual course that will help build your skills as a Courageous Leader? Look no further! Our self-paced, virtual version of this course is a perfect fit for remote teams and those seeking professional development online.
|
Important Training Wheels Info 
|
| Wheel of a Deal: On Sale this Week... |
Custom Virtual Scavenger Hunts
Do you have a virtual event coming up that needs to be educational, engaging and FUN? At Training Wheels, we can build out a custom Virtual Scavenger Hunt for your event. We can customize the theme, clues and locations unique to your group.
If a fully customized event is a little out of your budget, we also have ready-to-roll Themed Scavenger Hunts you and your team could participate in.
Regular: $3750
On Sale: $3600
|
We love this Tabletop problem solving activity. Perfect for small teams or groups with limited space or limited mobility.
Task:
For teams to create a free-standing bridge using custom-notched dowels.
Set Up:
You will need one Bridge for every 5-6 participants.
Rules:
- Give each group one set of The Bridge pieces.
- Instruct them to create a free-standing bridge that has four points of contact with the ground/table using only the custom-notched dowels.
- If you have more than one group working on this task at a time, a natural element of competition will emerge.
- Once groups have completed the task, debrief the experience.
- You can combine two sets of The Bridge to make one larger Bridge. This can create excellent dialog and metaphor for working well with other groups/departments/teams, etc. Build a bridge!
Regular: $19.99
On Sale: $16.99
|
Experiential Facilitation 101 Class
Our Experiential Facilitation 101 training is an introductory class for the team building facilitator. This three-day training provides an important first step in building the foundational skills necessary to lead experiential programs.
Date: October 6-8, 2020
Date: December 15-17, 2020
Location: Hampton Inn, Littleton, CO
Time: 9:00am-4:30pm, Breakfast & Lunch included!
Price: $975
Includes instruction manual and $50 credit towards Training Wheels gear.
Certification in this class: $3500, July 7-10, October 6-9 and December 15-18.
|
Make sure to 'Like' us on
Facebook! We post coupons, activity ideas and other fun things each week. You can also interact with other Facilitators!
|
|
Where In the World is Michelle?
|
|
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops where Michelle is presenting:
|
Want to participate in one of Michelle's workshops? Is she near you? Piggy back a training for your organization when she is traveling near you. Here's a link to our event calendar as well.
All In-Person Programs Cancelled or Postponed through the middle of August.
July 29, Virtual Keynote for a Youth Event
July 31, Virtual Client Program
July 31, Book Deadline! Aaaaaaaah!
August 4, Client Program, Denver, CO
August 6, Michelle's oldest has his high school graduation ceremony! Yay!
August 26, Client Program, Missouri
August 25-26, Virtual Client Program
|
|
I can't believe you made it all the way to the bottom of this email! Kudos!
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
