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Our Perceived World versus The Real World

27/1/2021

 
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Why is it that many of us can have the same experience yet take away very different information, opinions, points of view or understanding? In other words, our perception of the experience is not necessarily consistent with that of others.  This is very evident when you listen to someone telling their story of the same experience and you find the explanation to be inconsistent with your version, which is where arguments often begin.  Our view of the real-world experience is based on our perception of that experience. This point of view is evident in families, workplaces, communities and especially in the current political space.

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Building Resilience in a post Covid World

27/1/2021

 
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​Building your resilience in a post Covid world will provide many ongoing challenges and opportunities. Living and working within a positive psychology framework that is utilised around the globe will help you to transform your relationships with family, friends, work colleagues and members of your community.  Key to building resilience is understanding the Five Basic Human Needs; this will help you to appreciate how meeting your needs motivates your Behaviour, which focuses on how and why you make need satisfying choices.  

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The FEAR of STIGMA

27/1/2021

 
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I tell this story for the very first time, it is about a young married woman, who I know very well, as I am that woman!  At the time of this story, I was working full time running my own successful Registered Training Organisation (RTO).  My husband and I had three children, 6yrs, 15yrs & 16yrs at the time.  You may well ask why I have not told this story before? The answer is simple the FEAR of STIGMA!

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Inspiring Leadership

25/5/2020

 
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A question often asked is, “What constitutes an inspiring leader”?  Inspiring leaders use the language of “We” not “I”.  They display humility and have a genuine interest in developing the capacity of others, they respect and seek feedback.  Research has identified the quality of humility as a strong predicter for effective leadership.  Humility is about having the ability to minimize status or position differences, genuinely putting the needs of others first.  Inspiring leaders have the ability to turn the big ideas into executable plans, whilst keeping others enthusiastically engaged. ​

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Valuing Lived Experience

7/5/2020

 
Valuing Lived Experience in Mental Health support services
The Poem below clearly demonstrates why a peer workforce is essential, living with mental ill health must not define a person or his/her ability or capacity to live a life of purpose, meaning, choice and citizenship.

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Set Yourself Free of Old Habits

5/5/2020

 
Understanding Behaviour.  Set yourself free of old habits. All behaviours are chosen.
Want to set yourself free of old habits?
​Covid 19 has offered us a chance to not only clean our cupboards but to also assess our old habits and clean out those that are no longer useful to us.  Understanding behaviour is necessary in order to make change.  The old saying “out with the old and in with the new” is much easier said than done.  Before we can make changes to the behaviours that do not serve us well, it’s helpful to understand that there are other ways of perceiving the world and how it operates.  Dr. William Glasser has provided us with a new psychology - a new way of perceiving the world that frees us from our old habits.

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Building Connecting Relationships & Home Schooling

28/4/2020

 
Choosing connecting behaviours to build strong relationships while home schooling and home schooling
Covid 19 is imposing many restrictions on our communities and in particular schools.  My seven-year-old, grandson Jack, who is in Grade 3 is doing his schooling with me, his sister is being supported by their mother, who is also working from home. One could be forgiven for thinking that supervising Grade 3 work would be a breeze! Well let me say it is not!  Maths has changed dramatically! The challenge that I set myself is to be curious instead of telling and to use my connecting behaviours instead of the disconnecting behaviours. Teachers do a magnificent job and I say THANK YOU! 

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Dignity of Risk

13/4/2020

 
Dignity of Risk - everyone matters
​As the weeks pass in these days of uncertainty and social distancing, I have taken the opportunity to reflect upon the things that matter to me and the things that I think are important for a progressive inclusive society.  There will always be vulnerable people in our midst, but the question for us to respond to is “what effort do we make to create an inclusive society”?  The poem that I have included in this blog does not require and commentary.  But I urge you to take the time to contemplate the challenging message!  We all have the right to want something purposeful and meaningful to do, to love and be loved and to have hope for our future!

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Dementia - What is the end game?

6/4/2020

 
Dementia what is the end game? Blog 5
Having watched vascular dementia take over my father’s life, I often asked myself the question “Where is the balance between supporting the person living with dementia and his/her family versus research and treatment options”? Dementia is a cruel and debilitating disease and its impact on people, families and friends is both challenging and shocking.  The greatest challenge that I witnessed was constantly remembering that my father was not just a diagnosis or a statistic, he was a human being with feelings and human rights just like me. He deserved and had the human right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times.

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Time on Your Hands - De-Clutter Your Life?

29/3/2020

 
Blog 4 declutter
We are now living in unchartered and challenging times. As a global society we are rethinking almost everything that we do to make the necessary changes to meet our global survival need.  On the home front I have been going through the many files on my computer to make access easier and to get rid of obsolete files!  During this process I came upon 8 Steps to DE-CLUTTER Your Life, an article from the worldhappinessforum.org, November 2012.  The first question I asked my self was “what is clutter”? My curiosity took me into the article to find an answer!  ​

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    Cathy O'Toole

    Consultant, Mentor, Speaker.

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I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I operate my business; the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people. I pay my respects to their Elders.
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