Getting into a routine

A Message from Noelyne...

It's all about routine with a new pup.  Dogs like routine just as much as humans.  My routine has been totally disrupted as a result of the arrival of the new pup and as you know I was resistant to this change at first which was making matters worse for myself, the family and of course Ellie the pup.  Now that I have accepted the situation we, the pup and I and getting into a routine that suits us both.  I'm happier and she is happy too.


I've researched managing pups and am learning, very quickly on what works best.  The house training is going well so long as I am vigilant.  Taking her outside as soon as she has eaten, slept, play or got over excited.  I'm learning to spot the signs of when she needs to elliminate and to get her outside as quickly as possible.  Accidents are still happening but that's to be expected as she is still developing.  It also tends to happen more when other members of the family are with her.  They are learning too and I'm sure they will get tired of mopping up the accidents and will learn fast too.

I'm using a hands off approach to training which suits me very well and she is responding excellently.  I give her lots of praise when she does what I want and then walk away or ignore her if she doesn't behave.  I'm also using a clicker which gives a consistent sound when she does well, rather than relying on my voice which can change.

I'm feeling a change in myself and I'm also seeing changes in behaviour with my partner's two teenagers, as they learn to communicate effectively with a pup.

I'm really enjoying the whole experience however, just need to watch that I don't over do things, which is one of my weaknesses.

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

P.S. Request a copy of my Free Special Report on How to Easily Overcome Your Fears

There's a reason for everything

A Message from Noelyne...

If you have been following me and reading my blog over the past few days you will know that I am learning to handle an addition to the family in the form of a nine week old pup.  You will also know that I didn't expect to be doing the caring and house training and other training.  I though that my partner and the boys would be doing that.

Now that I have accepted my role I am finding that the experience is very enjoyable and I am also learning new things about myself.  I got angry and frustrated initially when the pup wouldn't do what I wanted.  I have rarely been abgry in my life and in fact find it difficult to get in touch with that emotion no matter what has happened.  However, a seven week old pup brough that out in me and of course when you are dealing with a pup you have to learn to control that emotion otherwise it can escalate the unacceptable behaviour.

I'm reading and researching all about communicating with a pup and it's amazing to se how quickly she progresses.  I even went to a puppy party on Monday at the local vets clinic where they do a little socialisation and training.  The other pups were older than Ellie so were a little more under control.  Now that I am reassured and have a few new tips I am much more confident when communicating with the pup.  When I am confident and calm then so is the pup.  I know what to do once she starts to misbehave and how to stop her from continuing the poor behaviour without shouting, getting angry or touching her.

What I have noticed though is that having got in touch with the anger emotion I am no longer so tolerant of other people's behaviour.  For example, I bought a red berry muffin from the fresh bakery of the supermarket only to find that it was frozen in the middle and so could not eat it.  My normal reaction would have been to let it defrost and forget all about it.  However, I was so angry and disappointed at not being able to eat it staright awayI decided to write to the company.  This resulted in an apology, a reassurance that the branch manager had been contacted and an additional 1000 points on my card.

There have been other minor incidents that would not have affected me however, now I am much more aware of taking action when things are not to the standard that I expect.  It's not just about me because as I take action and get things changed then it stops other people from receiving poor customer service.

So there's a reason fro everything and I am not only learning to communicate with an animal I am also learning about myself and improving my own behaviour.

Fantastic!

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

P.S. Request a copy of my Free Special Report here www.howtoovercomeyourfears.com

Learning from Experience

Image by Yellow Snow Photography via Flickr

A Message from Noelyne...

There is no substitute for experience when it comes to learning and development.  That's in my opinion of course.  In the training room Kolb's experiential learning cycle is often referred to when helping students understand how they learn and encouraging people to reflect on experiences so that you learn from them.  This is particularly useful for bad, unwanted or unplanned experiences as you can turn a negative into a positive, work out what you would do differently so that you can act or behave differently the next time if faced with a similar situation.

The choices that I have made this year have given me even more opportunities to learn from experience.  Thankfully there have been more planned and wanted experiences than the unplanned.

Thank you for dropping by and do let me know if there is a particular topic or issue that you would like to see covered here.

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

P.S. Remember to request a copy of my Free Special Report here

Overcoming Frustration of Losing a Word Document

Image via Wikipedia

A Message from Noelyne....

Do you remember that sinking feeling when you realise that the work that you have spent hours completing has not saved correctly? You search all your folders desperately looking for the file.  You search all directories even though you know there is no way that it will be in the G: drive...all to no avail?  For a while you are in denial and keep telling yourself that it must be there somewhere, surely?  Eventually the reality starts to seep through and then the frustration builds into panic and annoyance at the thought of having to do it all again.  

Yesterday I spent all day designing a Facilitator Brief to accompany a new Training course.  I kept pressing save regularly because learning from experience I wanted to avoid losing any work or having to redo it.  I updated my client at the end of the day feeling quite proud of myself as to how much I had achieved, including mastering the required template.

So can you imagine my horror this morning as it slowly dawned on me that the word document that I thought I had so carefully saved was no where to be found.  Have you ever done that?  It sends you into a panic and sick feeling and then tears of frustration.  You don't think you can face having to do it again and want to give in there and then.  You feel totally frustrated and helpless because you know there is absolutely nothing you can do to retrieve the document.  If you know something that I don't please comment below.

Yet you know that you have to overcome the frustration.  You have to get over your feelings of annoyance and stupidity and resign yourself to the fact that it has to be reworked.  So I notified my client of my superb mistake and that there was a chance that I would not make the deadline as a result.  Better to be upfront and honest about it.  Own up to my mistake.  Then set about starting all over.  I struggled to overcome the frustration initially as my brain sort of went into a 'I don't want to do this mode' however, once I got over that the actual task second timr round was much easier.  I was now familiar with the content, design and layout so it took far less time to complete.  It made me look at the source documents again and I spotted things I had missed first time round.  The finished product was far superior to the original and what's more I completed it on time.

A big lesson was learned about saving files contained originally in a zip file....it doesn't!  You need to extract them and save as.  I'm now and expert in this design and topic.  By the way if you do lose a document try these options to recover it before you start over: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316951

The lesson is never ever give up no matter how much you want to.  If it's worth doing you will get your rewards.  Overcome your frustration and just do it!

Although I don't recommend this as a learning approach.

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

P.S. Request a copy of my Free Special Report here

A Message from Noelyne...

How to Achieve Your Goals If You're Born to Lose

Some individuals are just born losers, which mean that these people are bound to fail more than others.
If you think that you belong in that category, then you a change of pace to start enjoying life more fully.
There are some approaches that have been tried and proven by the experts and pros. You might find that you're not such a big loser after all.

Understanding Yourself

Take a pen and paper and give yourself a brief evaluation. Write down the things that you believe are your strengths and weaknesses. It is very likely that you have more items in your weakness list compared to the ones in your strengths list if you are a born loser. Next, try to write down the reasons why you have the strength or weakness. For example, if you listed down "Patient" in your strength list, put some more specific details such as "I am willing to wait several months to save for a new mp3 player" or if you wrote down "Lazy" in your weakness list, you can correlate by stating "I do not like to wake up until after 10 in the morning."

Knowing the specifics of your strengths and weaknesses can help you become more adept in improving the
hindrances. It is vital that you know and understand how you can use your strengths as foundation, as well as turn your weaknesses into strengths gradually. You can aim to change one to three weaknesses at a time.

Changing Your Weaknesses

You need to give yourself time to improve on your weaknesses. Be specific in your action plan by creating
steps toward your goal. For example, if you are "weakened" by "Lack of focus", you can start enhancing in
that area by doing activities like "Reading more books about the matter for at least 30 minutes a day" or
"Listening to a person talk for at least 1 minute before losing focus." Improve in the activities regularly by increasing the time frame and adding more challenges.

Learning from Winners

It is recommended that you stick with individuals who are successful and born winners. This way, you can
adapt their habits and personality that will, in time, lead to nonstop success. Winners and leaders have great traits that you can follow, such as perseverance, critical thinking, stability under pressure, competence and the aspiration to never give up. Adopt these qualities as your own and use the individuals as your role models.

Read about people who have successfully made it in their chosen fields of interest. One of the reasons why you may fail constantly is because you are choosing the aspects where you are worst at. Try to ask yourself
the things that you truly care about or even study and review without anyone needing to tell you to. These are
the features that you are most likely talented in.

Remembering Success

Should you encounter success or achieve your goals, use these as motivational tools to remind you that you are always capable of gaining bigger benefits from larger tasks. Look back on your previous accomplishments and use these finished objectives to lead to your ultimate goal. It is also wise to expect failure once in a while,
but you should use this as a way to learn. Failure should always be an opportunity for you to do better the next time.

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

P.S. Request a copy of a Free Special Report on How to Overcome your Fears Easily